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Reluctant Prophet – The Story of Jonah Msgr. Charles Pope • October 11, 2017 • Jonah, Michelangelo, Sistine ChapelOf all the prophets, Jonah is perhaps the most reluctant; his struggle with sin is not hidden. We are currently reading Jonah’s story in daily Mass. In the story we see a portrait of sin and of God’s love for sinners. Psalm 139 says, beautifully,Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy face? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art present. If I take my wings early...

October 12, 2017 Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Mal 3:13-20bYou have defied me in word, says the LORD,yet you ask, "What have we spoken against you?"You have said, "It is vain to serve God,and what do we profit by keeping his command,And going about in penitential dressin awe of the LORD of hosts?Rather must we call the proud blessed;for indeed evildoers prosper,and even tempt God with impunity."Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,and the LORD listened attentively;And a record book was written before himof those who fear the LORD and trust...

The Catechism, published 25 years ago today, is no dry-as-dust manual - as I discovered when wrestling with its contentsI have never argued more with a book than the one that sits before me now. When I open my dog-eared copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I see page after page covered in pencil marks. The comments, written almost 20 years ago, read like those of a stranger: someone trying to argue his way out of becoming a Catholic.As I flick through the book, with its yellowed and broken spine, I see expressions of bafflement and even outrage....

Hard Spiritual Truths That Will Set Us Free Msgr. Charles Pope • October 10, 2017 • In today’s post I would like to ponder some hard spiritual truths, but ones that will set us free.In calling them “hard truths”, I mean that they are not the usual cozy bromides that many seek. They speak bluntly about the more irksome and difficult realities we face. If we come to accept them, though, they have a strange way of bringing serenity by getting us to focus us on the right things rather than spending our time chasing after false dreams.A person...

October 11, 2017 Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 4:1-11Jonah was greatly displeasedand became angry that God did not carry out the evilhe threatened against Nineveh.He prayed, "I beseech you, LORD,is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?This is why I fled at first to Tarshish.I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God,slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish.And now, LORD, please take my life from me;for it is better for me to die than to live."But the LORD asked, "Have you reason to...

Something We Can Learn About Ourselves After the Las Vegas Shootings Msgr. Charles Pope • October 9, 2017 • The recent shootings in Las Vegas have caused agony to many. May the dead rest in peace, the injured be healed, and families be consoled in their losses! Another lesser, but clearly expressed “agony” is apparent in the questions it raises: Why did he do it? Why did the shooter (I intentionally do not mention his name), who seemed to give no warning, do such a heinous thing? There is almost a desperation to figure out why. So deep is...

Members of a local Catholic church are in shock because of a crime over the weekend that has also left them hurt and confused. St. Barbara Chaldean Catholic Church was broken into, burglarized, and apparently the target of an attempted arson. "We were shocked," Father Ray Sarkees, the church pastor said. "We're all shocked about it." Several heavy-duty fans cover the floor of the building. They're drying things out after the sprinklers went off. A black scorch mark covers a large area around the altar. Sarkees says a church safe and a sound system were stolen, along with donation boxes....

October 10, 2017 Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 3:1-10The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh,and announce to it the message that I will tell you."So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,according to the LORD's bidding.Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;it took three days to go through it.Jonah began his journey through the city,and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,"when the people of Nineveh believed God;they proclaimed a fast and all of...

Bite Your Tongue! A Reflection on Common Sins of Speech Msgr. Charles Pope • October 8, 2017 • The Office of Readings this week features passages from the pastoral guide of St. Gregory the Great. In the opening line, Gregory reminds us: “A spiritual guide should be silent when discretion requires and speak when words are of service.”This is not easy. Indeed, self-mastery in speech is among the rarer gifts and usually comes later in life!Some of the most common sins we commit are related to speech: gossip, idle chatter, lies, exaggerations, harsh attacks, and uncharitable remarks. With our...

October 9, 2017 Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 1:1–2:1-2, 11This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;their wickedness has come up before me."But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,away from the LORD. The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,and in the furious tempest that arosethe ship...

BOSTON, Massachusetts, October 6, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- Jesuit priest and papal confidant Father Anthony Spadaro said that Pope Francis holds that the Catholic Church can no longer set down general norms that apply to entire groups of people. Spadaro, editor of the Italian magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, made the comment today at a conference at Boston College where liberal Cardinals met with dissident theologians to discuss strategies for implementing Pope Francis’ controversial teachings on marriage and family in dioceses across the United States. The Jesuit priest told attendees that Amoris Laetitia, the Pope's 2016 teaching on marriage and family, recognizes...

Sinner Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass Msgr. Charles Pope • October 7, 2017 • credit: Roland.h.bueb,wikimediaThere is an urgency and clarity about Sunday’s Gospel that is often lacking in modern Christians, including the clergy. The message is urgent, provocative, and clear: there is a day of judgment coming for every one of us and we must be ready for it. The message is a sobering one for a modern world that is often dismissive of judgment—and certainly of Hell. Jesus clearly says that the Kingdom of God can be taken from us for our refusal to accept its...

Also attacks Pope Benedict. Incomprehensible hate of all that is good.

Sinner Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass Msgr. Charles Pope • October 7, 2017 • credit: Roland.h.bueb,wikimediaThere is an urgency and clarity about Sunday’s Gospel that is often lacking in modern Christians, including the clergy. The message is urgent, provocative, and clear: there is a day of judgment coming for every one of us and we must be ready for it. The message is a sobering one for a modern world that is often dismissive of judgment—and certainly of Hell. Jesus clearly says that the Kingdom of God can be taken from us for our refusal to accept its...

October 8, 2017 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 5:1-7Let me now sing of my friend,my friend's song concerning his vineyard.My friend had a vineyardon a fertile hillside;he spaded it, cleared it of stones,and planted the choicest vines;within it he built a watchtower,and hewed out a wine press.Then he looked for the crop of grapes,but what it yielded was wild grapes. Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,judge between me and my vineyard:What more was there to do for my vineyardthat I had not done?Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,did it bring forth...

<p>Thousands of Polish Catholics formed human chains on the country's borders Saturday, begging God "to save Poland and the world" in an event many viewed as a spiritual weapon against the "Islamisation" of Europe.</p> <p>Reciting "Rosary to the Borders", they called to be protected from the dangers facing them. The episcopate insisted that it was a purely religious initiative.</p>

A Washington state woman filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Catholic health organization she works for, saying it discriminated against her by refusing to pay for her child's chest reconstruction surgery as the child transitions to be a boy. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing Cheryl Enstad and her teenage son Pax, who allege PeaceHealth violated both Obamacare and state law in refusing to cover the treatment. The mother worked as a medical social worker for PeaceHealth and received insurance coverage through her employer. When Pax was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, his doctor suggested he have chest reconstructive...

Creedal Differences Q: Why is the phrase “He descended into hell” in the Apostles’ Creed but not in the Creed that we pray at Mass?John, via email A: A creed is not a catechism and hence we should not expect that every possible truth is set forth in them. Creeds were a feature, primarily, of the early Church and generally were written to clarify Catholic teaching and refute errors of the time.Most of the disputes at the time the Nicene Creed was written centered on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the truth of the Incarnation and, to some degree,...

October 7, 2017 Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary Reading 1 Bar 4:5-12, 27-29Fear not, my people!Remember, Israel,You were sold to the nationsnot for your destruction;It was because you angered Godthat you were handed over to your foes.For you provoked your Makerwith sacrifices to demons, to no-gods;You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you,and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.She indeed saw coming upon youthe anger of God; and she said: "Hear, you neighbors of Zion!God has brought great mourning upon me,For I have seen the captivitythat the Eternal God has broughtupon my sons and daughters.With joy I...

A Sobering Reminder on the Liturgy from the Book of Leviticus Msgr. Charles Pope • October 5, 2017 • There is a sobering passage in the Book of Leviticus that speaks to the need for priests to be faithful to the prescribed liturgical norms. While the offense described in this passage is complex, the main point is clear enough: The liturgy is revealed by God and is not the personal plaything of the priest or the congregation. Although some of the liturgical edicts of the Old Covenant have been fulfilled and are therefore no longer binding, only the Church,...