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Should People Stop Saying “Absolutely” So Much? Absolutely! – A Short Rant on an Overused Expression and Why it Should be Avoided By: Msgr. Charles PopeOne of the most overused terms in modern speech is the word “absolutely.” As in, “Do you want some gravy with those potatoes?” “Absolutely!” Or, “Would you agree that solution ‘X’ is the best solution to problem ‘Y’?”  “Absolutely!” What to call this … an expression? A semantic substitution for “yes?” A logism? A hyperbole? A grandiloquence? A periphrasis? Why this obsession with saying “absolutely” or its strange step-sister, “exactly”?It is a strange paradox...

Few points of faith can be more satisfactorily traced back to the earliest ages of Christianity than the veneration of relics. The classical instance is to be found in the letter written by the inhabitants of Smyrna, about 156, describing the death of St. Polycarp. After he had been burnt at the stake, we are told that his faithful disciples wished to carry off his remains, but the Jews urged the Roman officer to refuse his consent for fear that the Christians "would only abandon the Crucified One and begin to worship this man". Eventually, however, as the Smyrnaeans say,...

EWTN Global Catholic Television Network: EWTN Live - Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. - Sr. Margherita Marchione - Pope Pius XII

Wielding astonishing influence over Scotland in the sixteenth century, John Knox (c.1514–72) was one of the most heroic leaders and towering figures in the annals of church history. Regarded as ‘the Father of the Scottish Reformation’ and ‘the Founder of the Scottish Protestant Church,’ Knox was a spiritual tour de force of unmatched vigor in spreading the kingdom of God. With resolute convictions, this fiery Reformer established his native land as an impenetrable fortress of biblical truth, one that would reverberate throughout the known world. If Martin Luther was the hammer of the Reformation and John Calvin the pen, John...

Featured Term selected at random:MONITION An official warning, provided by canon law, either personally or through a third person. The purpose of a monition is to warn a person that if he or she does not amend, certain formal measures will be taken against them, e.g., canonical censure; suspension of a priest from his pastoral duties; removal of a bishop from his office; dismissal of a religious from his or her institute. Monitions may be given either publicly or secretly. If public, they should be made before a notary, or before two witnesses, or by letter. (Etym. Latin monitio, from...

A Parable on the Lies of the Devil and the False Promises of the World By: Msgr. Charles PopeOne of the great illusions under which we labor is that if we just get one more thing from this world, then we’ll be happy. Perhaps if we just had a little more money, or a better job, or the latest iPad, or if we were married to so-and-so, or if we just lived in a better neighborhood … then we’d be satisfied and content at last. But “at last” never comes, even if we do get some of the things...

As I was sitting down to write about the atrocity in France, my wife Barbara hove into view, always a delicious sight, and announced that she was writing elsewhere on the same subject and that I could not do it. So I will not, other than to say that France had to admit more than a million Algerian Muslims in the mid-sixties, who had been loyal to France in the savage war of independence in that country, as well as a million European Algerians. It has been comparatively indulgent of Muslims since then, but this incident, or a few others...

Guiding Our Children to Discover Their Vocation Jessica Archuleta We all know there is a vocations crisis in the Church. We have a shortage of priests, deacons, and religious. Fewer people than ever want to get married or stay married (I would also add, there is a shortage of single people who are living out holy lives).To add to the problem, there is a lot of talk about discerning one’s vocation that can be confusing to young people. Some are waiting for a sign–some great experience that will leave them without a doubt as to God’s calling in their lives. Others feel they must follow a...

I’ve been plowing through season five of “Downton Abbey,” the saga of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in early 20th-century Britain, which premieres on Sunday, Jan. 4, on PBS’ “Masterpiece Classic,” and a few thoughts have come to mind. They’re not particularly organized, but here goes (warning, if you want to remain utterly spoiler-free, you may want to stop now. I don’t tell, but I do hint).Creator and writer Julian Fellowes is a Catholic, and while not born to British aristocracy, he married into it (meeting his wife while having an affair with someone else’s), and has become...

Wading in the Troubled Water Saves You, Not Taking a Bridge Over It – A Homily for the Baptism of the Lord By: Msgr. Charles PopeToday’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord provides a moment to reflect not only on the Lord’s baptism, but also on our own. For in an extended sense, when Christ is baptized, so are we, for we are members of His body. As Christ enters the water, He makes holy the water that will baptize us. He enters the water and we follow. And in these waters He acquires gifts to give us, as...

“Father Benedict”: Five Must-Reads James Day “If we look closely, in every moment, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the self, or God?”—Pope Benedict XVI, 13 February 2013As the two-year anniversary of Benedict XVI’s resignation from the Chair of St. Peter approaches, a decision that ultimately gave the church and the world the papacy of Francis, the impact of Joseph Ratzinger—Benedict XVI’s canon of thought to both theology and culture is only beginning to dawn. Dr. J. Steven Brown, the editor of the essential compendium A Reason Open To God, which features dozens of Benedict’s greatest...

Featured Term selected at random:VOW OF CHASTITY The vow by which a person freely gives up the right to marriage, and adds the obligation of the virtue of religion to the duty of abstaining from all indulgence of sexual pleasure. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Check out this 2-part Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast series originally airing in October 2012 by clicking on the following links: Part 1 Part 2When the Constitution “Hangs by a Thread” – The White Horse Prophecy in Modern MormonismFollowing the Mormon expulsion from Missouri in 1838, Joseph Smith made a trip to Washington, D.C. “to present to the National Congress the petition of the Saints for a redress of their grievances, suffered in Missouri” (History of the Church 4:xxvi). Arriving in November 1839, Smith met with several powerful politicians of that day, including President Martin Van Buren, and left Washington in...

One of the profound changes wrought by LBJ's landmark program was a huge increase in government-sponsored family planning at home and abroad. President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Medicare Bill at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. [Wikipedia.com] President Lyndon Baines Johnson had spoken the words “Great Society” before, but on January 4, 1965 he brought the pieces together as a legislative package for Congress. His State of the Union message stirred a remarkable flurry of congressional activity that in short order produced major new programs in civil rights, health care, and anti-poverty. In the half-century since then,...

Featured Term selected at random:DIALECTICAL THEOLOGY A system of thought, developed by Karl Bath, which holds that the main feature of the Christian religion is an inherent opposition among its revealed mysteries. The fundamental opposition, or dialectic, is between God and man. Other oppositions, such as time and eternity, finite and infinite, creature and Creator, nature and grace, are derived from the primary conflict. Moreover, dialectical theology claims that these oppositions cannot be reconciled by the human mind. Only God can bridge the gap that separates them. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary,...

What Do the Scriptures Mean which speak of “the flesh?” By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere is a common misunderstanding of the meaning of the Biblical phrase “the flesh.”  There are many references to “the flesh” in New Testament Scripture, especially in the letters of St. Paul. The phrase confuses some, who think it synonymous with the physical body or merely with sexual sin.It is true that there are many times when Scripture uses the word “flesh” to refer to the physical body. However, when the definite article “the” is placed before the word “flesh” we are most often dealing with something...

O magnum mysterium,et admirabile sacramentum,ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,iacentem in praesepio:Beata Virgo, cuius viscerameruerunt portare Dominum Christum.What a great mystery,what a wonderful sign,that animals should see the Lord, new-born,lying in a manger!Blessed is the Virgin, whose wombwas privileged to carry Christ the Lord.      ∼  From the Roman Breviary, the Matins of ChristmasWe’re in Rome, in the year 1572. The great Pope Pius V has passed to glory. Just one year before, the naval forces of the Holy League had crushed the superior fleets of the ever-marauding Turks at Lepanto, giving maritime Europe a chance to breathe free...

Featured Term selected at random:PARACHURCH An unconventional religious assembly, generally of only a few people or of persons who are unsatisfied with any of the established churches. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Living on the Dark Side of the Cartesian Divide – A Reflection on the Gnosticism of our Times By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere is a line in the first letter of John, read this week at Mass, that is of critical importance to many difficulties we see today with heresy, unbelief, and moral decay. The line says:Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in...

Featured Term selected at random:SUFFRAGES The prayers prescribed or promised for specific intentions. More particularly, suffrages are the Masses, prayers, or acts of piety offered for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.