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We usually think of distractions or interruptions as coming form the world around us. But is that really the most common source? Consider the following parable drawn from the stories of the early Desert Fathers and from monastic experience: Sometimes there would be a rush of noisy visitors and the silence of the monastery would be shattered.This would upset the disciples; not the Master, who seemed just as content with the noise as with the silence.To his protesting disciples he said one day, “Silence is not the absence of sound, but the absence of self.” The fact is, our greatest...

The Vatican yesterday published the names of participants for the upcoming Synod on the Family, but strangely absent from the list are experts from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, despite the organisation having a faculty in Rome. Professors from the Institute have been some of the most vocal in criticising the possibility of changing pastoral practice regarding Holy Communion for divorced and “remarried” Catholics. Family life will be the focus of the extraordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops that will meet at the Vatican between 5-19 October 2014. The 150...

September 11, 2014Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13 Brothers and sisters:Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.If anyone supposes he knows something,he does not yet know as he ought to know.But if one loves God, one is known by him. So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols:we know that there is no idol in the world,and that there is no God but one.Indeed, even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth(there are, to be sure, many “gods” and many “lords”),yet for us there is...

Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny has published a long letter on the upcoming Synod of Bishops urging the assembly to have the courage to bring the Church’s moral teachings more in line with the lived experience of the laity. "The Church must step away from its defensive, antithetical stance and seek anew the path of dialogue" on moral issues, he wrote in the 22-page letter posted on his diocese’s website in five languages. More Read the letter in full "It must dare once again to start with 'life' and then move on to 'teaching'. The Church has nothing to lose in...

THE “D’ESCOTO CASE” AND THOSE WHO WANT TO WIPE OUT THE WORK DONE BY JOHN PAUL II AND BENEDICT XVI Antonio Socci Libero September 7, 2014 In the era of Bergoglio, the Vatican has practically rehabilitated Liberation Theology, which came into existence in the 1960s and has caused untold disasters, mainly in Latin America, by fostering the Church’s subordination to Marxist thought. Over the past months there have been startling occurrences, such as the “landing” of Gustavo Gutierrez (“the father” of Liberation Theology) in the Vatican itself. A year ago, “L'Osservatore Romano” published large extracts from one of his books...

As summer turns to autumn, the most compelling storyline in Rome is a highly anticipated summit of Catholic bishops from around the world, which shapes up as a key test of how much the status quo in the Church has been upended by a charismatic pope from a foreign land who’s taken the world by storm. Called a “Synod of Bishops”, the meeting seems destined to grapple with the contentious issue of the Church’s ban on divorced and remarried Catholics receiving Communion. Although the Vatican’s German doctrinal czar warns no change is possible, his admonition does little to stifle the...

Analyzing Cardinal Dolan's version of: "Who am I to judge?" (A hypothetical but useful word-substitution exercise) (Imagine Cardinal Dolan or other prominent Catholic leaders voicing these slightly modified questions)           Cardinal Dolan:   "Who am I to judge whether it's right or wrong to promote or engage in homosexual activities?" Cardinal Dolan:   "Who am I to judge whether it's right or wrong to promote or engage in bisexual activities?" Cardinal Dolan:   "Who am I to judge whether it's right or wrong to promote or engage in adulterous activities?" Cardinal Dolan:   "Who am I to judge whether...

Featured Term (selected at random:MIRACLE OF GRACE A sudden and unexpected conversion form ignorance to faith, from doubt to certainty, from sinfulness to holiness. It is not due to ordinary causes but to God's particular special and unmerited grace. It is an effect of divine intervention beyond the ordinary working of Providence. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Homosexual activists in New York are pressing organizers of the St. Patrick's Day parade to include more gay-rights groups in the march. Following up on last week's announcement that Out@NBCUniversal would be allowed to enter the 2015 parade, a group called Irish Queers announced on September 9 that it was applying for a place in the parade. "We want to march up Fifth Avenue as an Irish diaspora that has finally joined Ireland in rejecting religion-fueled bigotry," said a spokesman.

Editor’s note: In response to the news that the St. Patrick’s Parade in New York would now accept “gay” groups in the parade and that Cardinal Timothy Dolan would serve as Grand Marshall of the parade, Catholic Citizens of Illinois has sent an open letter to Cardinal Dolan, which is published below. Catholic Citizens of Illinois, 106 Calendar Court, PMB #122, La Grange, IL 60525-2325An Open Letter to Cardinal Timothy DolanSeptember 5, 2014Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York1011 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10022Your Eminence,We were dismayed and discouraged to read that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York...

Those who would preach or lead in the Church must have great courage, for though we preach a gospel that contains consoling messages, it also contains much that is contrary to the directions and desires of popular culture and human sinfulness. And thus it is true that every preacher who would preach the gospel of a crucified (and risen) Messiah must have courage. And this applies not only to clergy, but also to parents, catechists, and all who are leaders in the Church, family, and community.And if we must have courage it also follows that we must be encouraged. To...

September 10, 2014Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 1 Cor 7:25-31 Brothers and sisters:In regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord,but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.So this is what I think best because of the present distress:that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation.Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife.If you marry, however, you do not sin,nor does an unmarried woman...

The Obama Administration has announced that it will continue its legal fight against the Little Sisters of the Poor over the contraception mandate, which religious liberty advocates say is still unconscionable. “Merely offering the Little Sisters a different way to violate their religion does not ease their conscience,” said Adele Keim, counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the Little Sisters of the Poor in court. “Religious ministries in these cases serve tens of thousands of Americans, helping the poor and homeless and healing the sick. The Little Sisters of the Poor alone serve more than...

Bill Donohue comments on a press conference held today on the steps of the New York Public Library: We had two staff members at the press conference, and what they reported is quite interesting. Three gay groups announced that they have applied to march in New York’s 2015 St. Patrick’s Day Parade: Irish Queers, Lavender and Green Alliance, and St. Pat’s for All. They are furious with parade officials for not including them, and they are particularly angry at NBC (the network that televises the parade) for securing the right of an NBC gay group, OUT@NBC, to march, but not...

Unsettling new Foxtel drama makes for tough watching as it unflinchingly faces child sex abuse within the Catholic church. You’ve read reports about how the Catholic church covered up evidence involving paedophile priests. You’ve followed the hearings of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, established by Julia Gillard in 2012 following the shocking allegations of a cover-up in NSW. But nothing can prepare you for watching the grooming and abuse of an innocent 12-year-old boy by a respected school chaplain as it plays out dramatically in front of you.

A highly intelligent woman, who doesn’t particularly follow ecclesial politics, surprised me the other day. Hearing about Cardinal Dolan’s acceptance of gays marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, she said casually, “there’s going to be a schism in the Church.” An overreaction, to be sure, but she’s far from the only one to be shocked.A priest – steady of judgment – writes to me that since the announcement last week, “I’m meeting a lot of angry people.” The constant challenges to the Church’s teaching authority and countercultural truth-telling produces anger. Real anger. And internal Church weakness – especially in...

From the former North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh's Troy Hill to Australia, 157 victims have accused 31 members of the Marianist order of sexual abuse, records show. Watchdog groups, victims and their attorneys say officials with the religious order failed to stop the abuse or to adequately supervise those accused. Experts say such abuse went on for decades in part because of a culture that granted members of religious groups more credibility than children. A spokeswoman for the St. Louis-based Marianist Province of the United States did not respond to questions about how many members have been accused of...

The Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, recently condemned the barbarism of the Islamic State, but for some reason felt compelled to add: “It has nothing to do with real Islam….”Meanwhile, Amel Shimoun Nona, the exiled Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, warned European and Western Christians that they “will also suffer in the near future” because: you are welcoming in your countries an ever-growing number of Muslims…. You think all men are created equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are created equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand...

Movie : KJB: The Book That Changed the World Of all places, Hulu has this well done, interesting and edifying documentary (with ads) with actor John Rhys-Davies. Describes King James 1 upbringing and and political events, including the Gunpowder Plot and shows historical background and aspects which led to this translation. 1:33 long. Worth watching. Has ads (choose priceline ones)

Featured Term (selected at random:SACRAMENTAL DISPOSITIONS Condition of the soul required for the valid and/or fruitful reception of the sacraments. The dispositions differ between minister and recipient. In the minister is required merely the faculty of conferring a given sacrament, and the willingness to carry out the intention of Christ or the Church, even just to satisfy another person's wish or desire. In the recipient who has the use of reason is required merely that no obstacles be placed in the way. Such obstacles are a lack of faith or sanctifying grace or of a right intention. All items in...