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Featured Term (selected at random:MYSTERY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The sacrament of confirmation, especially in Eastern Christianity. It is called a mystery because it confers invisible grace through visible anointing. And it is the distinctive sacrament of the Holy Spirit as power according to the promise of Christ to his followers before Pentecost, that they would receive power to be his witnesses, i.e., martyrs, even to the ends of the earth. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

The Heavenly Elements of the LiturgyBy: Msgr. Charles PopeIn November, Catholics are encouraged to meditate on the “Last Things.” As you know, I write quite often on Hell. But I have written on Heaven, too. In this post I propose simply to set forth how much of our liturgy is a kind of dress rehearsal for Heaven.Indeed, Catholics are often unaware just how biblical the Sacred Liturgy is. The design of our traditional churches; the use of candles, incense, and golden vessels; the postures of standing and kneeling; the altar; the singing of hymns; priests wearing albs and so forth are...

TEOLO, Italy — Scattered around the steel table of a monastery in the Veneto region of Northern Italy are manuscripts, one with green, red and intensely blue medieval miniatures of dragons, another adorned with ornate leaves culminating in golden flowers. A monk gently lays an off-white leather book on the table, and opens it at a long letter A drawn in red ink, the start of a paragraph in gothic letters. “I never thought I would have had these in my hands,” said the Rev. Pierangelo Massetti, responsible for the restoration laboratory at the Praia Abbey, near Padua. “St. Francis...

Pope Francis on the family: an inestimable and irreplaceable good 2013-10-27 Vatican Radio(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St Peter's Square on Sunday, October 27th, 2013, to mark the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time and the World Family Day at the close of the 21st Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family, which met in Rome this past week to reflect on the theme of living the joy of the Faith. In his homily, the Holy Father spoke of the Christian family as an institution that prays, keeps faith, and experiences joy. Listen: Over 100 thousand people...

If someone were to ask you how many Catholic Churches there are in the world, what would be your response? Not small ‘c’ churches referring to church buildings, but rather, Church with a capital ‘C’, indicating the grouping of believers who call themselves Catholic. You may very well respond to the question that there is one Catholic Church and to a large extent you would be correct. One can look to the Scriptures to see that the Lord deliberately founded a living Church built on his Apostles in order that his teachings and sacraments would continue down through time. Indeed...

The true story is told, in Reader’s Digest, of a man by the name of Marcel Sternberger. Marcel Sternberger took the same subway train every day, on the Long Island railroad. Every day, he was on that same subway. Until, one day, a friend of his was critically ill. Sternberger instead visited his friend in the hospital, and wound up spending the morning. Sternberger then had to take a noon train to work – a train he had never been on before. Sternberger was confounded by the noon crowds. He walked into one of the subway cars, which he knew...

Featured Term (selected at random:PANTOKRATOR Greek title of God, "the all mighty." It is also a familiar image of Christ depicted as ruling from heaven. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Archdiocese of WashingtonA Homily for the Feast of St John Lateran By: Msgr. Charles PopeToday is the Feast of St. John Lateran in Rome. This is the Pope’s true Cathedral (not St. Peters). And thus, in celebrating this Feast, we celebrate the unity of the Church. The Pope’s work is to unite and strengthen the members of the Church whom the devil would like to sift (divide) like wheat (see Lk 22:31ff). On this feast we do well to examine a few teachings about the Church that the readings supply.I. The Shock of the Church - One of the more...

The natural law requires sacrificeIn the first place it is to be seen that the Natural Law requires us to sacrifice. Saint Thomas states in the first place that there are three main types of laws. There is first and foremost human laws (positive laws), there is the Natural Law, and lastly there is the Divine and Eternal laws. It is precisely the Natural Law that we will focus in for this specific article. The natural law is basically the “structure which God creates in man so that he inclines man to specific types of actions. He designs man to...

U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are gathering at a moment of turbulence for them and the American church, as Pope Francis moves toward crafting new policies for carrying out his mission of mercy - a prospect that has conservative Catholics and some bishops in an uproar. The assembly, which starts Monday in Baltimore, comes less than a month after Francis ended a dramatic Vatican meeting on how the church can more compassionately minister to Catholic families. The gathering in Rome was only a prelude to a larger meeting next year which will more concretely advise Francis on church practice. Still, the...

Trumpets of Warning! — Part III    AFTER Mass several weeks ago, I was meditating on the deep sense I’ve had the past few years that God is gathering souls to himself, one by one… one here, one there, whoever will hear His urgent plea to receive the gift of His Son’s life… as though we evangelists are fishing with hooks now, rather than nets. Suddenly, the words popped into my mind: The number of Gentiles is nearly filled.This, of course, is based in Scripture: …a hardening has come upon Israel in part, until the full number of the Gentiles comes...

Featured Term (selected at random:FIRST CRUSADE The mainly French expedition (1096-99) inspired by Pope Urban II, which ended with the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. Godfrey of Bouillon (d. 1100), who was one of the leaders of the crusade, was elected ruler of Jerusalem. He called himself "Defender of the Holy Sepulcher," refusing to call himself king or to wear a crown, "through respect for Him who had been crowned in that place with the crown of thorns." All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Not all those who claim to be Christians really are, said Pope Francis Friday morning. Some are Christians “in name only,” he said. “They bear the name of Christians but live a life of pagans.” In his homily at Mass, the Pope that there have always been two types of Christian, those who truly followed Christ and those who only pretended to. At the time of Saint Paul, there were “worldly Christians, Christians in name only, with two or three Christian features, but nothing more.” The Pope called this sort of people “Pagan Christians,” whom St. Paul called “enemies of...

Featured Term (selected at random:IMMOVABLE MOVER God as the ultimate cause of all motion or change in the universe, himself remaining unchanged. The term used by Aristotle and later by St. Thomas Aquinas, i.e., motor immobile, where motor means the one who changes, and immobile is unchangeable. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Faith Brings Comfort, But Not at First – A Reflection on a Teaching by Peter Kreeft By: Msgr. Charles Pope For ongoing education and spiritual growth, I am always reading. One of the books I am currently reading is Peter Kreeft’s Angels and Demons. As most of you know, I have often expressed concern that angels have been sentimentalized and even trivialized. Most people’s conception of angels is far from what the Bible describes! If you have read Peter Kreeft, you know that very few people can express things as well as he does. Thus I would like to give you...

The Church and the world do urgently need intrepid and candid witnesses of the whole truth of the commandment and of the will of God, of the whole truth of ChristÂ’s words on marriage. Modern clerical Pharisees and Scribes, those bishops and cardinals who throw grains of incense to the neo-pagan idols of gender ideology and concubinage, will not convince anyone to either believe in Christ or to be ready to offer their lives for Christ - said + Athanasius Schneider Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan in interview with Izabella Parowicz. Your Excellency, what...

Featured Term (selected at random:VINCIBLE IGNORANCE Lack of knowledge for which a person is morally responsible. It is culpable ignorance because it could be cleared up if the person used sufficient diligence. One is said to be simply (but culpably) ignorant if one fails to make enough effort to learn what should be known; guilt then depends on one's lack of effort to clear up the ignorance. That person is crassly ignorant when the lack of knowledge is not directly willed but rather due to neglect or laziness; as a result the guilt is somewhat lessened, but in grave matters...

Why Did Christ Humble Himself in the Face of Evil? By: Msgr. Charles PopeEarlier this week we read the magnificent hymn from Philippians, which sings of the Humility of Jesus:Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,Who, though he was in the form of God,did not regard equality with Godsomething to be grasped.Rather, he emptied himself,taking the form of a slave,coming in human likeness;and, found human in appearance,he humbled himself,becoming obedient to death,even death on a cross (Phil 2:5-8).Why this incredible humility? The Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, had always enjoyed His Father’s love...

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! We heard what the Apostle Paul says to the Bishop, Titus, how many virtues we bishops must have, we all heard, no? And it’s not easy, it’s not easy because we are sinners. But we entrust ourselves to your prayers so that we can at least hope to be closer to the things that the Apostle Paul advises for all Bishops. Do you agree? Will you pray for us? In previous catecheses, we were already able to underline how the Holy Spirit always fills the Church abundantly with His gifts. Now, in the power...

His face has become a symbol for resistance against oppression, a marker for those who demand accountability and in the minds of some – anarchy. In the modern day, the Guy Fawkes mask has been a way for people to anonymously stand against an entity. Guy Fawkes Day is observed Wednesday in the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. Also known as Bonfire Night, the holiday has been given special attention with such cultural items as the famous "Remember, Remember the Fifth of November" poem and the film and graphic novel "V for Vendetta." The date marks the anniversary of...