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Jesus Wants to Feed You! Corpus Christi Msgr. Charles Pope • May 28, 2016 • On the Feast of Corpus Christi, we do well to mediate on the desire of the Lord to feed His people and the shocking indifference many have to this fact. This indifference is not just on the part of those who do not come to Mass; it is also found among those in the pews, many of whom don’t seem to care that so many people no longer attend. We should recognize the passionate concern the Lord has to feed all His people—yes even...

The Evangelical Quality of Joy, As Seen in an Animated Short Film Msgr. Charles Pope • May 27, 2016 • All of us have wounds and imperfections. Some of us make do, even living joyfully in spite of them. Others of us brood or withdraw.An old saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln goes, “Most folks are about as happy as they decide to be.”An old Stephen Foster classic, “Some Folks,” goes as follows:Some folks like to sigh,Some folks do, some folks do;Others long to die,But that’s not me nor you. Chorus: Long live the merry, merry heartThat laughs by night...

It’s Not About You: A Meditation on the Abrupt End of the Acts of the Apostles Msgr. Charles Pope • May 26, 2016 • Last week as we finished the Easter Cycle and crowned it with Pentecost. We also finished the lengthy reading of the Acts of the Apostles. There are two parts of the Acts of the Apostles: The Acts of Peter and those of Paul. But to be honest, the book has an unfinished quality to it. Let’s consider that.First, a quick summary: The second part of Acts is focused on the evangelical mission of St. Paul...

Everyone talks about the four consecutive "blood moons," but they were part of a larger story: 11 eclipses falling on Jewish holy days.  Jesus said there would "be signs in the sun, moon, and stars" (Luke 21:25). 1. April 15th, 2014: the first "blood moon," a total lunar eclipse, on the Feast of Passover 2. October 8th, 2014: the second "blood moon," a total lunar eclipse, on the Feast of Tabernacles 3. March 20th, 2015: a total solar eclipse on Nisan 1, the biblical New Year 4. April 4th, 2015: the third "blood moon," a total lunar eclipse, on the...

On the Issue of the Orthodox "Diaspora" Introduction It seems, during the course of work on the Great Orthodox Council, that the issue of the "diaspora" will be the most important, in the sense that there is no issue more important than it. Due to serious disagreements that currently exist between the Orthodox Churches, mostly due to historical factors, the other working papers, most of which have been agreed upon, were formulated according to the lowest common denominator of agreement and not at the level hoped for by the people of God. The issue of the "diaspora," however, has remained urgent because...

And Out You Go! Why Fainting Is So Common in Church Msgr. Charles Pope • May 24, 2016 • In my over 26 years as a priest (even longer serving in some capacity at the Holy Liturgy) I have witnessed more than a few people faint. Some just slump over; others go out with a real bang. Weddings are a big source of fainting spells, but just about any long Mass produces its share of “lights out” experiences. Some years ago, when I was serving as First Assistant Deacon for a Pontifical Solemn High Mass in the Basilica, we...

How much do you know about the Sistine Chapel? Did you know, for example, that it began as a private chapel for Church elites—the “ultimate ecclesiastical man cave”? The Chapel, which attracts 5 million visitors per year, isn’t just an obligatory stop on an art history tour of Italy, it is a living history of the Church and its influences—influences that range from global, geopolitical change to petty personal feuds. This TED talk, by art historian Elizabeth Lev, outlines the evolution of the Chapel in three stages. The full talk, which Lev delivered in Geneva last December, is well...

Why Does Jesus Call the Father Greater If We Teach That the Members of the Trinity Are Equal? Msgr. Charles Pope • May 23, 2016 • Many of you know that I write the Question and Answer column for Our Sunday Visitor. Given the celebration of Trinity Sunday this past Sunday, I thought I might reproduce here on the blog a question/answer regarding the Trinity. It is a fairly common question; perhaps you have it, too. Remember that my answers in the column are required to be brief.We read in a recent Sunday Gospel (May 1, 2016) that Jesus...

The longtime personal secretary to Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI has spoken of a "dramatic struggle" at the conclave of 2005, and insisted that the former Pontiff did not resign because of the "Vatileaks" scandal. Speaking at the launch of a book about Pope Benedict, Archbishop Georg Gänswein-- who continues to act as secretary to the retired Pontiff, while also serving as prefect of the pontifical household-- said that the "Vatileaks" scandal had "little or nothing" to do with the Pontiff's decision to resign. He said that Benedict XVI was motivated by his realization that he was growing weaker. By resigning, Archbishop...

Is Love the Cause of Hatred? The Answer May Surprise You Msgr. Charles Pope • May 22, 2016 • There is an old saying that the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference. Indeed, it’s pretty hard to hate or even to have a strong aversion to something or someone we don’t really care about. But when we do love, we care. And the stronger our love, the more intense our concern, anger, or even hatred for what is wrong.But does this mean that love is the cause of hatred? Our instinct is to recoil and say,...

Christ, before his Passion, said to his apostles, “My soul is sorrowful even to death.”1 He was about to enter the garden to pray, and his disciples would soon fall asleep, flee him, and become divided. Christ’s agony in the garden envisaged the entire history of the Church; perhaps one of the Church’s most enduring traditions, unfortunately, has been division. William Blake (1757-1827) once wrote that, “It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend.”2 One of the more ill-fated examples of division in the Church is the antagonism between the Eastern Catholic priest, Father Alexis Toth (1853-1909), and...

One and One and One Are One - A Homily for Trinity Sunday Msgr. Charles Pope • May 21, 2016 • There is an old spiritual that says, “My God is so high you can’t get over Him. He’s so low you can’t get under Him. He’s so wide you can’t get around Him. You must come in, by and through the Lamb.”It’s not a bad way of saying that God is “other.” He is beyond what human words can describe, beyond what human thoughts can conjure. And on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, we do well...

     The Lord Jesus Christ is the one true example of what God calls man to be. The Lord is the Father's Great High Priest, Prophet like unto Moses, and King of Kings. He is all of these by nature of Who He is. Throughout the history recorded in the Old Testament various men had risen to these positions as called by God. Prior to the establishment of the Law under Moses there was one man who served as a prototype of God's great Priest, Prophet, and King, known for the agonizing trial he had to endure at the...

The Rapture? Q. Many of our Protestant brethren say that, before Jesus comes, there will be a rapture wherein all the faithful will be taken up, I guess, to meet Him in the sky. When I tell them that the Bible says we will “see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven” (Mt 24:30) and “he will send his angels ... and they will gather his elect from the four winds” (Mt 24:31), and then ask them who will be left to “gather” if everyone has previously been “raptured,” they say it will be the Jews. What...

Forty-five years after he served as a U.S. Army chaplain in Vietnam, Redemptorist Father John Bauer continues to expand his admiration for the resourcefulness and resolve of the men and women who were under his pastoral care during wartime. Father Bauer, now on the staff of his childhood parish in Highlandtown, is among a half-dozen Catholics featured in "Maryland Vietnam War Stories," a 3-hour documentary airing over as many nights, May 24-26, on Maryland Public Television. Father Bauer was among the participants who attended a recent advance screening, where a fellow veteran noticed his clerical collar and approached him during...

Can the Church change its doctrines? Full QuestionI was amazed to read recently where a Catholic priest theologian said that the Church is not infallible and that it has changed its doctrines. Apparently he felt Jesus' words in Matthew 18:18-19 ("Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted them by my heavenly Father") mean that the Church can change its doctrines as times...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Christian officials have launched historic restoration work at the Tomb of Jesus inside the Church of Holy Sepulcher, site where tradition holds Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Nine Brief Examples of the Power of Metaphor Msgr. Charles Pope • May 19, 2016 • Words, while an important part of our toolset, can also get in the way of reality. But how can we live without them? On some level we must allow a deep level of language to help us in sorting out reality; words are something that help us to form a mental picture. In particular, we sometimes turn to metaphors and extended metaphors (parables, allegories, stories, etc.).A metaphor is a figure of speech in which two different things are equated for rhetorical effect. It...

Babylon Rises By Philip Cottraux I normally avoid controversial topics, preferring Bible teachings to divisive political issues. However, I have addressed gay marriage, church shootings and abortion, and now a particular firestorm has come against my state in recent weeks that I can no longer ignore. God is calling His people to take a stand. As homosexual fascism has swept America into embracing immorality under the phony guise of “civil rights,” ethical dilemmas have been created for local governments to deal with. North Carolina recently passed House Bill 2, which states that a transgendered person should use the restroom of...

An interfaith group is laying the groundwork for what will likely be the world’s first ever joint house of prayer. The center of worship, which will be called the "House of One," will combine simultaneous Jewish, Muslim, and Christian prayer services. The House of One is planned to be built on the site of Berlin’s first church, the Petrikirche. One of the organizers of the interfaith group behind the planned church/mosque/synagogue, Rabbi Tovia Ben Chorin, said that the House of One is a reminder that despite the dark history of Berlin in the 20th century it is now a center...