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“Complaint says crosses at Catholic school offensive, prevent Muslim prayers,” reads the headline at BeliefNet. It’s one of those headlines that sounds like a bad joke, but it isn’t. It’s not exactly a serious complaint, either, and it isn’t coming from actual Muslim students in any event. “Baffled Catholic University officials say they have never received a complaint from any of the schools Muslim students,” writes BeliefNet. In fact, the university expressed its bafflement in a full-length statement: “Catholic University’s faithfulness to our Catholic tradition has also made us a welcome home to students of other religions. No students have...

May 12, 2015Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 16:22-34 The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,and the magistrates had them strippedand ordered them to be beaten with rods.After inflicting many blows on them,they threw them into prisonand instructed the jailer to guard them securely.When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost celland secured their feet to a stake. About midnight, while Paul and Silas were prayingand singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,there was suddenly such a severe earthquakethat the foundations of the jail shook;all...

For decades, Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest, was treated with suspicion and even contempt by the Vatican’s hierarchy, which saw him as a dangerous Marxist firebrand who used faith as an instrument of revolution. Gutiérrez was the founder of a progressive movement within the Catholic church known as liberation theology, and while he was never censured in the manner that some of his philosophical compatriots were, there were often rumblings that Gutiérrez was being investigated by Pope John Paul II’s doctrinal czar, a German cardinal named Joseph Ratzinger who would later become Pope Benedict.

Featured Term selected at random:WAR OF AGGRESSION Unjust military attack on the independence, territory, or any other rights of one nation or part of a nation by another policitcal power. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

Honor to the Martyrs! A Declaration of Gratitude to the Martyrs of Our Day By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn the Divine Office last week we read a remarkable passage on the persecution of the Church. It seems proper to consider a portion of it in times like these; more on that in a moment.Of course in writing of persecution and martyrdom, I write as an American who, though experiencing a lot more scorn these days, does not have to endure grave threat for being a Catholic. But as I consider Catholics and Christians in places like Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Nigeria, the...

May 11, 2015Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 16:11-15 We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace,and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.We spent some time in that city.On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the riverwhere we thought there would be a place of prayer.We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,from the city of Thyatira, a...

On the Paradoxical Connection Between Love and Law – A Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn the gospel today, Jesus cuts right across the modern Western tendency to oppose love and law, and law and joy. Though we oppose them, Jesus joins all three concepts and summons us to a new attitude. Let’s take a look.I. Connections – Jesus says, As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and...

May 10, 2015Sixth Sunday of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 When Peter entered, Cornelius met himand, falling at his feet, paid him homage.Peter, however, raised him up, saying,“Get up. I myself am also a human being.” Then Peter proceeded to speak and said,“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightlyis acceptable to him.” While Peter was still speaking these things,the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peterwere astounded that the gift of the Holy Spiritshould have...

Featured Term selected at random:BAPTISMAL VOWS Profession of the Christian faith by an adult candidate for baptism or by the sponsor in the name of the infant to be baptized. The solemn renewal of these promises is a widespread act of piety usually at the close of a mission or retreat or when receiving First Communion or the sacrament of confirmation. It is a part of the Eucharistic liturgy at the Easter Vigil and on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. BAPTISMAL WATER. The water used for the administration of the sacrament of baptism. For the valid conferral...

May 9, 2015Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 16:1-10 Paul reached also Derbe and Lystrawhere there was a disciple named Timothy,the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,but his father was a Greek.The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,and Paul wanted him to come along with him.On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised,for they all knew that his father was a Greek.As they traveled from city to city,they handed on to the people for observance the decisionsreached by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem.Day...

Let’s face it, there is one route the finance guys have yet to try. You have to pray to a saint! Am I right?We had a problem. A BIG problem! Exactly, it was all about money. We were staring two mortgages in the face. Changing houses is easy if your bank goes along with the idea. We had found our new dream residence. Signed on the dotted line and then our bank refused us a bridging loan. We needed badly to sell our old house.I mused, stared at the sky. My wife was more practical.“We will ask St Anthony,”...

This year marks the 750th anniversary of the death of St Simon Stock I wonder what you were thinking when you dressed this morning. Had you already laid out your clothes for the day? Did certain expectations dictate your choices? The simple fact is that how we dress can say a lot about who we are, what we do, how seriously we take life and its tasks. I have clear memories of one Christmas, when a child, having received a soldier’s outfit as a present and I can remember to this day the sense of pride and purpose that...

Featured Term selected at random:OBSCURANTISM Concerted opposition, on principle and from religious motives, to justified intellectual development. A familiar charge against Christians by rationalist critics who charge the faithful with fear of enlightenment lest they weaken their beliefs. (Etym. Latin obscurus, dark; unintelligible.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

It is the Decision of the Holy Spirit and Us – On the Council of Jerusalem and the Catholicity of the Early Church By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn the first reading at today’s Mass is recounted the Council of Jerusalem, which scholars generally date to around 50 A.D. It was a pivotal moment in the history of the Church, since it would set forth an identity for the Church that was independent of the culture of Judaism per se, and would open wide the door of inculturation to the Gentiles. This surely had a significant effect on evangelization in the early...

May 8, 2015Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 15:22-31 The Apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole Church,decided to choose representativesand to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas,and Silas, leaders among the brothers.This is the letter delivered by them:“The Apostles and the presbyters, your brothers,to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Ciliciaof Gentile origin: greetings.Since we have heard that some of our numberwho went out without any mandate from ushave upset you with their teachingsand disturbed your peace of mind,we have with...

Featured Term selected at random:NATURAL SECRET A truth or fact that should be kept confidential because the obligation not to reveal arises either from the natural law or form the very nature of the case, and its disclosure would cause a grave injury to another. Revealing a serious and shameful secret sin would be the violation of a natural secret. Natural secrets bind under grave sin. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

Pondering Prudence and Its “Parts” – A Reflection on the Sometimes-Misunderstood Virtue of Prudence By: Msgr. Charles PopeAs a follow-on to yesterday’s post on the spiritual work of counseling  the doubtful, I would like to say a little more about prudence.Prudence is often misunderstood by those who reduce it to mere caution or reluctance to act. It is true that sometimes prudence indicates caution and that hasty action is seldom prudent. However, sometimes it is prudent to act quickly. Having long discussions about the best way to put out a house fire before acting is not prudent. Quick, expedient action is the...

May 7, 2015Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 15:7-21 After much debate had taken place,Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters,“My brothers, you are well aware that from early daysGod made his choice among you that through my mouththe Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe.And God, who knows the heart,bore witness by granting them the Holy Spiritjust as he did us.He made no distinction between us and them,for by faith he purified their hearts.Why, then, are you now putting God to the testby placing on the...

Intimacy is the key to your breaking through in your days ahead . So persevere as Daniel and Gabriel for I will send My angels of My Presence as Michael (AS GOD) as you spend time in mine . . . DANIEL 10:12-21 12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael,...

Featured Term selected at random:DEONTOLOGISM The theory associated with Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), that only acts done from a motive of duty have moral value. It is a stern moral philosophy, close to Stoicism, which holds that virtue is its own reward and therefore "duty for duty's sake" is man's highest moral imperative. (Etym. Greek deon, that which is obligatory + logia, science, knowledge.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.