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October 10 2019 Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Mal 3:13-20b You 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...

Among the new cardinals is Liverpool's Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, 82, former papal ambassador to Egypt. Disloyalty in the Church is rooted in a lack of compassion and indifference, Pope Francis said as he made 13 new cardinals in St Peter’s Basilica. The 82-year-old Roman Pontiff, who has faced unprecedented public opposition to his ministry from some high ranking prelates, argued that without a “lively awareness” of God’s compassion, disloyalty to “our own ministry” seeps in. “The readiness of a cardinal to shed his own blood – as signified by the colour of your robes – is secure if it is...

Posted on October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Do You See this Woman? As we read Scripture, we should be very attentive when Jesus asks a question. In particular, we should understand that Jesus is posing the question to us as well. It is easy to treat the Gospels like a spectator sport and wait to see what the response is, but that is not the only way we should engage with the text. Not just the Gospels but the entire biblical narrative is our story, too. We are in the story, and the story is...

October 9 2019 Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 4:1-11 Jonah 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...

The Catholic Church is heading toward an “internal papal schism” whereby Pope Francis effectively leads two opposing factions, Capuchin theologian Father Thomas Weinandy has warned. These are divided, he said, into one loyal to the papacy yet critical of this pontificate, and the other supportive of him due to his tolerance of ambiguous teaching and pastoral practice. “This is the real schism,” observed Father Weinandy, a former chief of staff for the U.S. bishops' doctrinal committee, in a commentary published today in The Catholic Thing. It is a situation “ever growing in intensity,” he added. A member of the Vatican’s...

Here is the man who has been given the task by Bergoglio to hunt down #Viganò. Let us pray that all the Holy Angels bring confusion and obstruction to everything he; Domenico Giani; does to that end! "If Viganò is afraid for his life to the point where he has to destroy his cell phone and go into hiding overseas, it is not only out of fear of being tracked down by a staffer of the apostolic nunciatures and missions of the Holy See spread throughout the world — the "long arm" of the Secretariat of State that has ordered...

[Catholic Caucus] Müller Accuses: From This Synod They Have Driven Out Jesus The Synod on the Amazon has begun. “But it will have consequences for the universal Church,” warns Cardinal Gerhard Müller, in a lengthy interview with Matteo Matzuzzi for the newspaper “Il Foglio,” released on the very day of the opening of the work. “If one listens to the voices of some of the protagonists of this assembly, one understands easily that the agenda is entirely European.”European, and above all German. Also in Germany, in fact, there has been launched a “synodal path” that will take its cue from...

Posted on October 7, 2019October 7, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Reluctant Prophet – The Story of Jonah Of 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 8 2019 Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jon 3:1-10 The 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...

Posted on October 6, 2019October 6, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Words of Wisdom from the Carmina Burana I was at the Kennedy Center last night with friends to hear a performance of the popular cantata Carmina Burana. It was composed by Carl Orff in the mid-1930s and consists of a collection of poems from the Middle Ages (set to music). The poems, mostly of a secular nature, were found in Benediktbeuern Abbey in Bavaria in the early 1800s.Among the poems is Estuans interius (Seething inside), a lament on the price one pays for indulging the passions (e.g., lust,...

October 7 2019 Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary Reading 1 Jon 1:1–2:1-2, 11 This 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...

Posted on October 5, 2019October 4, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Five Fundamentals for a Firm Faith – A Homily for the 27th Sunday of the Year The readings for this Sunday’s Mass richly describe some essential qualities of faith. There are five fundamentals that can be seen:Wanting – The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5-6).There’s an old saying that what you want, you get. Many doubt this, thinking that they have wanted many things that they did not get. The reason for this, however, is usually because they didn’t want it enough. When we...

October 6 2019 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4 How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and clamorous discord. Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;...

October 5 2019 Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Bar 4:5-12, 27-29 Fear 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...

FULL TITLE: Catholic Hospital Faces Lawsuit After Firing Employee Who Planned to Kill Patient in Assisted Suicide A Catholic hospital in Colorado is facing a legal challenge after firing an employee who planned to kill a patient by assisted suicide. Centura Health, a Catholic healthcare network based in Colorado has been challenged by court action after dismissing employee, Doctor Barbara Morris, who wanted to prescribe lethal drugs to a 64-year old patient, Neil Mahoney, in order to end his life. Morris was fired on the 26th of August 2019, after she asked a state court to declare that Centura Health’s...

Posted on October 3, 2019October 3, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Adoration 2.0 – A Unique Insight from a Spiritual Master When we think of the word “adoration,” we think of a high form of love, perhaps the highest. Theologically, we equate adoration with latria, the worship and love due to God alone. In the vernacular, to say “I adore you” is to indicate an intense and elevated form of love.Liturgically, adoration of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament indicates a period during which one enters into the experience of loving God and gazing upon Him in that love....

October 4 2019 Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi Reading 1 Bar 1:15-22 During the Babylonian captivity, the exiles prayed:"Justice is with the Lord, our God;and we today are flushed with shame,we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem,that we, with our kings and rulersand priests and prophets, and with our ancestors,have sinned in the Lord's sight and disobeyed him.We have neither heeded the voice of the Lord, our God,nor followed the precepts which the Lord set before us.From the time the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egyptuntil the present day,we have been disobedient to...

Former Scientologist and King of Queens star Leah Remini said she has found “amazing” comfort in returning to the Catholic Church after leaving Scientology two years ago, contrasting Scientology’s abusive policies with Christianity. During an interview with Howard Stern Tuesday morning, the 45-year-old actress said she was so happy to be “reconnecting” to the faith of her childhood.Initially, Stern tried to lump all religions together as equally fanatical, but Remini jumped in, telling the shock jock he was making a big mistake.“I’ve come to the conclusion in my life that all religions are sorta nutty,” Stern said. “And, you know,...

Posted on October 2, 2019October 2, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope What Conscience Dreads and Prayer Dares Not Ask The Collect (Opening Prayer) for this weekÂ’s Masses (27th Week of the Year), though directed to God, teaches us that our prayer is not always about things with which we are comfortable. It sometimes leads us to examine areas of our life in which we struggle with sin or we struggle to desire to be free of sin. Here is the prayer:Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who...

October 3 2019 Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 The whole people gathered as one in the open space before the Water Gate,and they called upon Ezra the scribeto bring forth the book of the law of Moseswhich the LORD prescribed for Israel.On the first day of the seventh month, therefore,Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly,which consisted of men, women,and those children old enough to understand.Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate,he read out of the book from daybreak until midday,in...