Free Republic

How Envy is Different from Jealously and Is a Diabolical Sin Msgr. Charles Pope • April 18, 2016 • A short while back, we read from First Samuel at daily Mass and encountered an envious Saul. Upon David’s return from slaying Goliath, the women sing a song praising him. Saul should rejoice with all Israel but instead he is resentful and envies David: Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought, “They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.” And from that day on, Saul...

April 19, 2016 Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 11:19-26 Those who had been scattered by the persecutionthat arose because of Stephenwent as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,preaching the word to no one but Jews.There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however,who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well,proclaiming the Lord Jesus. The hand of the Lord was with themand a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.When...

Catholic parishioners in Vermont reportedly are seeking a federal probe into whether Bernie Sanders’ wife committed loan fraud when she was president of Burlington College -- by allegedly exaggerating the amount of money the college could raise in order to secure millions for a land deal. According to a report published Monday morning by Heat Street, the allegations against Jane O’Meara Sanders were laid out in a letter sent by Brady Toensing, vice chair of the Vermont GOP, to the U.S. attorney in January. The claims stem from Sanders’ time as president of Burlington College between 2004 and 2011. Toward...

All Together Now: What the Catechism Has to Say on Assessing Moral Acts Msgr. Charles Pope • April 18, 2016 • The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following regarding moral acts:The object, the intention, and the circumstances make up the “sources,” or constitutive elements, of the morality of human acts (CCC # 1750).Note, therefore, that in assessing a particular moral act we must look not only to what is done, but also to the circumstances under which it is done, and to the intention of the one doing it.For example, to steal is wrong. However, one’s culpability...

April 18, 2016 Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 11:1-18 The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judeaheard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalemthe circumcised believers confronted him, saying,‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,“I was at prayer in the city of Joppawhen in a trance I had a vision,something resembling a large sheet coming down,lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me....

April 17, 2016 Fourth Sunday of Easter Reading 1 Acts 13:14, 43-52 Paul and Barnabas continued on from Pergaand reached Antioch in Pisidia.On the sabbath they entered the synagogue and took their seats.Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaismfollowed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to themand urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God. On the following sabbath almost the whole city gatheredto hear the word of the Lord.When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousyand with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,“It was necessary...

In a “gesture of welcome,” Pope Francis took three families of Syrian refugees with him in the papal plane on his return to Rome from the Greek island of Lesbos Saturday. The Vatican said it will assume responsibility for the upkeep of the three families, and has enlisted the community of Sant’Egidio to provide the initial hospitality. Two of the families come from Damascus, and the other from Deir Azzor, in the area occupied by the Islamic State, and all three families had their homes bombed during the Syrian civil war. All the members of the three families are Muslims,...

<p>On board the Papal plane en route to the Greek island of Lesbos where he is visiting refugees, Pope Francis remembered his predecessor in his prayers saying, "I would like to remind you that today is the 89th birthday of Pope Benedict XVI. Pray for him"</p>

Incorruptibles? Q. Can you explain about the incorruptibles? I know that some saints are given that designation, but is it part of the process of canonization? What does it mean spiritually if a body is incorrupt? Was St. John XXIII found to be incorrupt?Name withheld by request, via e-mail A. The normal process of decay for the human body, especially before embalming was common, was for the remains of a cadaver to be largely skeletonized within just a few years after death. In certain rare cases, however, the usual process of decay seems arrested and the bodies are preserved largely...

Media coverage of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia typically noted that it reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s opposition to gay marriage. Slate’s William Saletan acknowledges the literal truth of that reporting, but suggested in an April 8 article that the document contains seeds that will sprout into Vatican acceptance of same-sex unions, though he admits that process “might take centuries.” Saletan argued that in time, the Church will extend Amoris Laetitia’s treatment of infertile heterosexual couples to same-sex couples: “This double standard, between homosexuality and other forms of infertility, is the cracked pillar at the foundation of the church’s policy against same-sex...

April 16, 2016 Saturday of the Third Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 9:31-42 The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samariawas at peace. She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit she grew in numbers. As Peter was passing through every region,he went down to the holy ones living in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas,who had been confined to bed for eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him,“Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.” He got...

There Has Been No Loss of Wonders, Only a Loss of Wonder - A Brief Summons to Awe Msgr. Charles Pope • April 14, 2016 • A big problem today is that of rampant boredom. One would think, with all the diversions available to us, we would be one of the least bored generations in history. There are various forms of entertainment available to us quite literally at our fingertips: television, radio, the Internet, Netflix, video games, and more.Yet it still seems that we moderns are often bored. The reason for this, I think, is that we are overstimulated.The...

For years there has been disagreement between Catholics and some non-Catholic groups about the Catholic ChurchÂ’s teaching on the Marian Dogmas, particularly, the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother. This will attempt to clear up some of the confusion. Catholics have always held that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and following the birth of Jesus. Many non-Catholics contend that scripture proves that she did not and points to several instances of people being called brothers or sisters of Jesus. When we study the scriptures carefully, paying particular attention to the order of sentences and view the language with precision,...

April 15, 2016 Friday of the Third Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 9:1-20 Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,went to the high priest and asked himfor letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that,if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus,a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”He said, “Who are you, sir?” The...

Priest and Victim Are One and the Same – A Meditation on Offering Our Lives to God as Members of a Royal Priesthood Msgr. Charles Pope • April 13, 2016 • A key aspect of the priesthood, set forth by Jesus in the New Covenant, is that priest and victim are one and the same. Prior to this, the priests of the Old Covenant sacrificed animals: lambs, bulls, goats, turtle doves, etc. But in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the priesthood of the New Covenant, the priest offers himself as victim.Regarding Jesus and His priesthood, Scripture says,For it is...

April 14, 2016 Thursday of the Third Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 8:26-40 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,“Get up and head south on the roadthat goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,a court official of the Candace,that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,in charge of her entire treasury,who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.The Spirit said to Philip,“Go and join up with that chariot.” Philip ran up...

1. An apostolic exhortation is not, by its very nature, a non-magisterial document. It is the content of a papal document that reveals its magisterial relevance, not its name or category -- no one doubts Familiaris Consortio, the John Paul II exhortation on his synod on the family, was extremely relevant in sorting out important Magisterial points. Amoris Laetitia itself does not say that it is not itself magisterial: what it says, in its highly explosive paragraph 3, is that the Magisterium does not need to be invoked or suffer intervention to sort all Catholic questions. On the other hand,...

With the post-synod Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris laetitia, published on April 8th, Pope Francis has officially given his opinion on marital moral issues which have been under discussion for two years now. At the Consistory of 20th and 21st of February 2014, Francis had entrusted the task of introducing the debate on this theme to Cardinal Kasper. Cardinal Kasper’s theses, according to which the Church must change Her matrimonial praxis, formed the leit motiv of the two Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015 and now forms the basis of Pope Francis’ Exhortation. In the course of these two years,...

Pondering the Great Reversal Announced in Scripture Msgr. Charles Pope • April 12, 2016 • One of the strong traditions of Scripture is of the great reversal that will one day come for many. I have often been sobered by it when I consider how blessed I have been in this life. I have also been consoled by it when I struggle to understand why some people in this world seem to suffer so much more that I do, or others do.Life seems a very uneven proposition if we only look at this side of the equation. Only God...

It’s a somewhat obscure apocalyptic novel, much overlooked since its publication in 1907, and yet it comes with a recommendation that just about any best-selling author would covet: the spiritual leader of the whole world says it’s a good read. And not just the current pope, the previous one too.Pope Francis raised eyebrows in 2013 and again in 2015 when he recommended Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World to the faithful as a book that depicts a “globalization of hegemonic uniformity.” Similarly, then-Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, referred to the Universalism depicted in Lord of the...