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Featured Term selected at random:NOTITIAE Official publication of the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship. Issued monthly, it contains all significant documents of the Holy See dealing with the liturgy, along with appropriate studies and commentaries. Published by the Vatican Polyglot Press. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Stone-throwing demonstrators set fire to two churches in Niger's capital Niamey on Saturday, in the latest protest in France's former African colonies at French newspaper Charlie Hebdo's cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. .... The death toll from Friday's clashes in Niger's second largest city of Zinder, rose to five after emergency services discovered a burned body inside a Catholic Church.

September 26, 2008 What Language Did Jesus Speak? Mickey AddisonThis week we leave the Culture Wars behind and return to some basic apologetics…well, some interesting information about the Scriptures that informs our apologetics.I once had a discussion with a person who insisted that Our Divine Lord spoke only Hebrew.  The conversation had begun centered around the word “rock” in St Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 16:18), but quickly devolved into a debate about ancient languages.  My friend held that the word “rock” couldn’t possibly refer to St. Peter because the Gospel was written in Greek, and the Greek words used in...

January 17, 2015Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot    Reading 1 Heb 4:12-16 The word of God is living and effective,sharper than any two-edged sword,penetrating even between soul and spirit,joints and marrow,and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.No creature is concealed from him,but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of himto whom we must render an account. Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,let us hold fast to our confession.For we do not have a high priestwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,but...

Word is now circulating around the Catholic world that conservative hero Gary Sinise, along with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, both publicly professed faithful Catholics, cancelled their appearances at a Legatus Summit at the last minute under pressure from the LGBT crowd. Legatus is the organization of Catholic CEOs founded by pizza billionaire Tom Monaghan to advance the spirituality of Catholic men and women in the higher echelons of American business. The primary work of Legatus and its members is the increased holiness of the members and spreading the gospel within corporate America. Certainly there is a conservative tinge to...

Featured Term selected at random:THREE WITNESS The text in St. John which in the Vulgate reads: "There are three witnesses in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one; there are three witnesses on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood" (1 John 5:7-8). These words are not found in the early Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, nor in the best manuscripts of the Vulgate. They are probably a mystical interpretation that found its way as a gloss on the original text. Called the Johannine Comma, the text has more than once been...

Faith is not alone, Scripture is not alone, Grace is not alone. We ought not separate what God has joined. By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere are a lot of “solos” sung by our Protestant brethren: Sola Fide (saved by faith alone), Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone is the rule of faith), and sola gratia (grace alone). (See the Protestant logo to the right.) Generally, one ought to be suspicious and careful of claims that things work “alone.” It is our usual experience that many things work together in harmony, that things are interrelated. Very seldom is anyone or anything “alone.”The problem of...

Pope Francis has weighed into the debate over freedom of expression in the wake of the religious attacks in Paris, saying that anyone who insults a religion can expect a "punch in the nose". ... He said "If my good friend Dr Gasparri says a curse word against my mother [Mary?], he can expect a punch in the nose." Throwing a pretend punch, the Pope said: "It's normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others." ...

January 16, 2015Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 4:1-5, 11 Let us be on our guardwhile the promise of entering into his rest remains,that none of you seem to have failed.For in fact we have received the Good News just as our ancestors did.But the word that they heard did not profit them,for they were not united in faith with those who listened.For we who believed enter into that rest,just as he has said: As I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter into my rest,” and yet his works were accomplishedat...

Ontario Catholic parents hoping their children attending a Catholic school will be spared an explicit sex-education curriculum that allegedly will teach their children about masturbation, to question their sexual identity as male or female, and about diverse family structures are out of luck. Education Minister Liz Sandals stated on TVO’s The Agenda yesterday that Catholic schools will not be able to opt out of the curriculum being forced upon Ontario’s schools by lesbian Premier, Kathleen Wynne. “There is one curriculum document, and it’s our expectation that all four systems [English and French Catholic, English and French public] will be using...

Recovering the pro-life roots of the women’s movement Not all feminists support abortion. Properly defined, feminism is a philosophy that embraces basic rights for all human beings without exception—without regard to race, religion, sex, size, age, location, disability or parentage. Feminism rejects the use of force to dominate, control or destroy anyone. The organization Feminists for Life continues a 200-year-old tradition begun by Mary Wollstonecraft in England in 1792. Decrying the sexual exploitation of women in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft also condemned those who would “either destroy the embryo in the womb or cast it off...

Killing in response to insult, no matter how gross, must be unequivocally condemned. That is why what happened in Paris cannot be tolerated. But neither should we tolerate the kind of intolerance that provoked this violent reaction.

Featured Term selected at random:PENANCE The virtue or disposition of heart by which one repents of one's own sins and is converted to God. Also the punishment by which one atones for sins committed, either by oneself or by others. And finally the sacrament of penance, where confessed sins committed after baptism are absolved by a priest in the name of God. (Etym. Latin paenitentia, repentance, contrition.)   All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Dean Koontz is one of the best-selling authors of all time. He just released "Saint Odd," the final book in one of his most popular series -- a series filled with stories inspired in part by troubles in his own life, CBS News' Ben Tracy reports. "I'm just the guy who lives down the street, and I do books instead of sell cars," Koontz said. If that's true, then Koontz is the Henry Ford of authors. He's written around 100 different books from sci-fi and suspense to horror with a touch of satire. "When I write a novel, I don't...

When Science is Betrayed – and What Lessons We Should Learn By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere is a great reverence for science in our culture. On the one hand, rightly so. Science has made enormous strides that have changed life as we know it. Profound discoveries have eradicated diseases, improved health, increased the world’s food supply, led to a computer revolution, drawn us higher into outer space and deeper into inner space, revealed hidden mysteries of nature, and produced technologies unimaginable to even our recent ancestors.On the other hand, the reverence of science has tipped perhaps too far in the direction of a...

January 15, 2015»Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 3:7-14 The Holy Spirit says:Oh, that today you would hear his voice,“Harden not your hearts as at the rebellionin the day of testing in the desert,where your ancestors tested and tried meand saw my works for forty years.Because of this I was provoked with that generationand I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,and they do not know my ways.’As I swore in my wrath,‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”Take care, brothers and sisters,that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful...

Featured Term selected at random:BLUE LAWS Very strict legal prohibitions affecting moral conduct that originated with the Puritan adherents in England. The term "blue" was probably associated with constant and faithful persons who were considered "true blue." All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Mystery Is Deep and Yet Vertical – A Brief Meditation on the Christian Meaning of Mystery By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn the secular world, a “mystery” is something which baffles or eludes understanding, something which lies undisclosed. And the usual attitude of the world toward mystery is to solve it, to get to the bottom of it, or to uncover it. Mysteries must be overcome! The riddle or “whodunit” must be solved!In the Christian and especially the Catholic world, “mystery” is something a bit different. Here, mystery refers to the fact that there are hidden dimensions in things, people, and situations that...

January 14, 2015Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 2:14-18 Since the children share in blood and Flesh,Jesus likewise shared in them,that through death he might destroy the onewho has the power of death, that is, the Devil,and free those who through fear of deathhad been subject to slavery all their life.Surely he did not help angelsbut rather the descendants of Abraham;therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before Godto expiate the sins of the people.Because he himself...

The upcoming front cover for the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo will picture the prophet Muhammad holding a sign that says "Je suis Charlie." While many in a (let's say hypothetical) march would personally like one expression of free speech, but not necessarily the other, should there be marches supporting free speech for both Charlie Hebdo - and let's say works like Serrano did ("The Piss Christ") and not getting mad at either of the depictions? In other words, temporarily suspending all dislike for either in the name of free speech in this march, as some in the media do...