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When God Says No – A Meditation On the Sometimes Mysterious Providence of God Msgr. Charles Pope • June 6, 2016 • In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard the story of the widow at Nain, whose son Jesus raised from the dead. Beautiful though that story is, there are some who may wonder sadly why they did not receive a better answer to their prayers; why their loved one died. Such stories might even serve to deepen their sorrow.All of us struggle with the great mystery of God’s providence and will. Sometimes it is our own struggle and sometimes...

Pondering the Collection Basket in an Age of Electronic Giving Msgr. Charles Pope • June 5, 2016 • New financial realities and mechanisms raise questions for the traditional collection and offertory procedures at Mass. For as far back as most of us can remember, the “collection” has always taken place after the Creed and Intercessory prayers. A basket is passed and people drop in cash or a check, often inside an envelope. It is often brought up along with the bread and wine as an actual offering to the Lord and His Church.But the problem is that cash, and...

A recently completed restoration and exhibit shows how Christians put their mark on Rome after the emperors exited the stage.For 1200 years the Roman Forum thrived as the legislative, religious and administrative nerve center of Rome. From the little kingdom founded in 753 BC to the SPQR of the Roman Republic to the mighty Empire, the little open area grew from marketplace to city center to hub of the world. But then what happened? When the Empire fell in 476, did the Forum just cease to be? No, it did not. Despite the implosion of the Roman government, the Forum...

A Prescription for Peace in a World of Woe – A Homily for the 10th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • June 4, 2016 • Today’s Gospel provides a kind of prescription for peace in a world of woe. Let’s look at this Gospel in four stages. I. The Place – The text says plainly, Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.The name of the city, Nain, means fair (in the sense of beautiful). And it was, for it sat upon a high hill and commanded a magnificent...

Is every lie intrinsically evil? Q. Is every lie intrinsically evil? I remember 60 years ago, when the Jesuits were still faithful teachers of Holy Mother Church, being taught that if a person was not entitled to the truth, one could, in fact, lead them away from the truth, by lying. For example, if I knew the hideout of Anne Frank, and the Gestapo asked me if I knew her whereabouts, according to you (“Intrinsically Evil?” TCA Faith, November/December 2015), if I said I did not, that would be intrinsically evil? Ed Siering, Muscatine, Iowa A. Permit a personal reply...

The mantra of progressivism over the past century has been the unstoppable 'progression' of human society, government, and technology towards a supposed utopian future free from war, disease, and poverty - a future where humans are masters of their own universe, unshackled from anything and everything holding us back and united as citizens of the world. Yet no "progressive" (be they communist, socialist, technocrat, or humanist) stops to ask if this is a possible or even worthwhile goal.  No one of that political persuasion questions whether their philosophical outlook is the right one to have nor why it is justifiable...

A Consideration of the Human Tendency to be Stubbornly Unrepentant Msgr. Charles Pope • June 2, 2016 • One of the consistent observations that God makes of our human family, and we, the individual members of it is that we are stiff-necked (cf Ex 32:9; 33:3; Deut 9:3; 10:16; 2 Chron 30:8; 2 Kings 17:14; Jer 7:26, and many, many other texts). That is to say we tend to be stubborn, prideful, and difficult to correct. And when reproved we easily become resentful and tend to harden our hearts.One of the more humorous and true things God ever said...

Childlike Qualities the Spiritually Mature Should Possess Msgr. Charles Pope • June 1, 2016 • There are times when Scripture seems to contradict itself. On the one hand we read, Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mk 10;15). And yet elsewhere Scripture says, then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all...

On Saturday thousands of Muslim worshippers descended on Istanbul's world famous Hagia Sophia, the towering former Byzantine church that is now a museum, to demand the right to pray there, Turkish media reported. An imam led a prayer in front of the vast building that was once a Greek Orthodox basilica, then a mosque and now a museum before crowds called for it to be restored as a Muslim place of worship. "Let the chains break, open Hagia Sophia," chanted the crowds who gathered on the plaza in front of the museum, according to Turkey's Dogan news agency. "In the...

Learn the Latin of “O Salutaris Hostia” and “Tantum Ergo Sacramentum” Msgr. Charles Pope • May 31, 2016 • As a further reflection in the wake of Corpus Christi Sunday, permit me to offer a reflection on the two great Eucharistic hymns of Benediction. I sometimes get requests for help in understanding the Latin texts of these very familiar hymns for Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.“O Salutaris Hostia” and “Tantum Ergo Sacramentum,” though familiar to many Catholics, remain only vaguely understood in terms of a word-for-word translation. They are sometimes referred to as just “O Salutaris” and “Tantum Ergo.” Most...

On the Need to Receive the Eucharist Worthily Msgr. Charles Pope • May 30, 2016 • In light of Sunday’s Feast of Corpus Christi, I would like to recall the need for the reverent and worthy reception of Holy Communion and to develop an explanation for the Church’s practice of what some call “closed Communion.” Not everyone who uses this terminology means it pejoratively, although some do. But to some extent it is fair to say that we do have “closed Communion.” For the Catholic Church, Holy Communion is not a “come one, come all” event. It is reserved...

Jubilee of Mercy: A Final Gift, Prophecies, End TimesKathleen Beckman Not yet half way through the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the universal Church continues to invite the faithful to focus on the need to ask for Divine Mercy and to be reconciled with the Father of Mercy. Repentance and conversion are central to the call to become ambassadors of the Father’s mercy for others. Acknowledging the deep need for Divine Mercy and cultivating a merciful heart is more challenging than it appears.St. John Paul II’s 1980 encyclical, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy), taught, “The present day mentality, more perhaps...

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...