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Chapter 11 of the Acts of the Apostles says that Antioch was the city in which, for the first time, the disciples of Jesus were called “Christians.” Tradition has enthroned Peter as the founder of the Church of Antioch, following the narration of the very same Book of Acts, which tells not only of the arrival of Peter and Barnabas to the Turkish city, but also of their preaching.Moreover, this very same tradition claims that it was in the Knisset Mar Semaan Kefa (“Grotto of St. Peter” in Aramaic) where Peter would celebrate the Eucharist for this community. That is to...

In her book, The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run, on the life of Fr. Stanley Rother, America’s first declared martyr, María Ruiz Scaperlanda details how poor scholarship, possibly stemming from a learning disability, almost derailed Rother’s ordination. Recently Aleteia featured a prayer for struggling students to Saint Joseph Cupertino, another famously weak theologian, and it got us thinking about how God uses the sublimely brilliant, like Aquinas and Augustine, as well as everyday folks who do not feel called to be scholars, for his divine purposes.For instance, look at these three saints who failed numerous academic examinations, but continue to...

A Warning from Amos - What Do We Face? Msgr. Charles Pope • June 28, 2016 • Though he lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, the prophet Amos was sent north by God to preach to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Perhaps no other prophet was as searing in his condemnation and as demanding in his call as was Amos. His prophecies of doom largely came true in the form of a huge earthquake that struck the region in 760 B.C. (two years after his death) and forty years later in the utter conquest and destruction of Israel...

With World Youth Day in Krakow just around the corner—a look at how the Catholic Church guarded Polish identity and culture throughout the centuries.This year is doubly important for the Catholic Church in Poland. In addition to hosting this year’s World Youth Day, Poland also celebrates the 1,050th anniversary of its Christian heritage in 2016. Since 966, Poland has often been Antemurale Christianitatis, the bulwark of Christianity against invasion, and has time and again defended our civilization. Now is the perfect opportunity to revisit the always dramatic, constantly inspiring, and often tragic history of the faith in this land that...

What Does It Mean When Scripture Says That God Hardens Certain Human Hearts? Msgr. Charles Pope • June 27, 2016 • One of the more difficult biblical concepts to understand is that of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain people. The most memorable case is that of Pharaoh: before sending Moses to him, God said that He would “harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Ex 4:21). And there are other instances in which biblical texts speak of God hardening the hearts of sinners, even from among his own people.What are we to make of texts like these, which explicitly or...

The name was terrible, but the “K Disease” was not a lethal virus. It was actually the clever invention of Professor Giovanni Borromeo and a religious of the Hospital of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, to save the lives of dozens of Jews persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.When the SS entered the Fatebenefratelli hospital located on the Tiber Island in Rome, medical personnel and religious explained to the Germans that behind the doors of two special wards, there were patients suffering from this terrible K Disease, some of whom were terminally ill. The...

In an amazing and unexpected turn of events the Brexit vote actually passed despite a massive and coordinated effort by the powers that be, EU bureaucrats, Obama, and major corporations to prevent it.  Yesterday the betting odds favored Remain with an astonishing 84%, yet they were all wrong. Leave won 52 to 48. I can't begin to tell you the significance of this, suffice to say I think things may speed up substantially in the realm of Bible prophecy for the following reasons: 1. The EU is seemingly coming apart with other minority parties in other countries calling for...

In the Presence of a True Prophet, No One Escapes Msgr. Charles Pope • June 26, 2016 • In daily Mass, we have begun reading from the prophet Amos. Amos was perhaps among the sternest of the prophets of old. But if you’ve ever met a real prophet, you know that being in the presence of one can be very disturbing. Prophets love God’s people, but they love them too much to withhold the truth.Prophets were famous for goring everyone’s ox. No one left the presence of a prophet untouched. Prophets didn’t choose sides; they didn’t excoriate only popular...

Five Disciplines of Discipleship - A Homily for the 13th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • June 25, 2016 • The Gospel today portrays for us some disciplines that are important for disciples. They are portrayed in the life of Jesus, but are to be applied in our lives. Let’s look at each of them in turn. I. Purposefulness – The text says, When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him.Note that Jesus was resolute. He was heading to Jerusalem to...

Turkey says Pope Francis' description of the WW1 mass killing of Armenians as genocide shows "the mentality of the Crusades". The pontiff's remarks have "no relation to reality", Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said. Armenia and many historians say up to 1.5 million Armenian Christians were killed by Ottoman Turkish forces in 1915. But Turkey disputes the figure and denies the deaths constituted genocide. It says the deaths were part of a civil conflict triggered by WW1. The row continues to sour Turkish-Armenian relations, drawing in other countries such as Germany, whose parliament recently declared the killings to be...

Living Near the Edge - A Meditation on Some of God’s More Terrifying Gifts Msgr. Charles Pope • June 23, 2016 • Some of God’s gifts come in strange and terrifying packages. I was reminded of this when I read the following lines from the book of Job in the Office of Readings:The earth, though out of it comes forth bread, is in fiery upheaval underneath (Job 28:2).We live just above a fiery cauldron, separated from it by a thin membrane of earthly crust rife with cracks through which fire routinely flares in volcanoes, a crust that is always...

Like Any Progressive Disease, Sin Has Stages Msgr. Charles Pope • June 22, 2016 • How does it happen that so many people insist on living obstinately in sin until they are ultimately lost? As with all progressive diseases, sin is a sickness that moves through stages, further debilitating and hardening the sinner in his ways.St. Alphonsus Liguori laid out five stages through which sin (if not resisted and repented of in its initial attacks) takes an increasing toll on the human person, making repentance less likely and more difficult.While the names of the stages are mine, I am...

JERUSALEM — Work has begun to save the holiest shrine in Christendom. It won’t be a simple patch-and-paint job. This is the alpha and omega of restoration projects. They are going to repair Jesus’ tomb — with titanium bolts. Over the next nine months, a team of Greek conservationists will restore the collapsing chapel built above and around the burial cave where the faithful believe that Jesus was buried and rose from the dead after the Crucifixion. To fix the chapel, which is buckling under its own weight, the crew will have to enter a few square meters of the...

New exhibit route at the Israel Museum highlights origins of Christianity and pilgrimage in JerusalemFor many Christian pilgrims worldwide, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a once-in-a-lifetime highlight of their faith. Few, however, may reflect on the fact that they are a link to a religious ritual that has played out for centuries — one that dramatically changed the landscape of Jerusalem during the Byzantine era of the fourth and seventh centuries A.D. It was during this period that the Byzantine Empire began funneling tremendous amounts of funds to support infrastructure for the growing flow of Christian pilgrims who...

Three Hard Sayings of the Lord That Offend Against Modern Sensibilities Msgr. Charles Pope • June 21, 2016 • The Gospel for today’s Mass features three hard sayings of the Lord. They are difficult for us moderns to hear because they offend against modern sensibilities; we easily taken aback by their abrupt quality. Here are the first two “offensive” sayings: Do not give what is holy to dogs, (Mt 7:6) or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces (Mt 7:6).The modern notion offended against here is this: You’re not...

The Lord’s Judgment Will Not Be Delayed Forever – A Meditation on the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel Msgr. Charles Pope • June 20, 2016 • This post is a kind of follow-on from yesterday’s post as we read the stories of wickedness in ancient Israel and what God did about it.The first reading from Monday’s Mass (of the 12th week of the year) describes a crucial, crushing moment in the history of ancient Israel: the loss of the Northern Kingdom and the destruction and deportation of what came to be called the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.Shalmaneser, king...

Marching to Save Lives and a Nation Msgr. Charles Pope • June 19, 2016 •  The following is from a Homily I preached just prior to our march and prayer vigil at the Planned Parenthood “clinic” being built here in Washington, D.C.The first reading at Mass today (Saturday of the 11th week of the year) is from Second Chronicles; it details the reforms of King Joash and then his sad decline. Joash’s grandmother Athalia, a worshipper of Baal, was Queen of Judah and proved to be much like her mother Jezebel; she rose to power by having every possible...

Today many in the United States are crying out to President Obama and Government (i.e., Washington D.C.) to do more and more to fix our national ills. The notion that Big Government has all our answers and the solutions we need in this very chaotic and unstable world is fairy tale. Our Founding Fathers wisely understood that the less power government possessed the better off we as Americans would be. Our Foundering Fathers fully comprehend that with the abandonment of Judeo/ Christian foundations and principles that our government would be transformed into an ever controlling monster with a tyrant as...

Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? A Meditation on the Gospel for the 12th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • June 18, 2016 • Today’s Gospel sets forth some parameters for picturing Christ. Sadly, just as in the time of Jesus, many today worship a “designer Messiah.” It is not the real, revealed Christ whom they acknowledge and worship. Rather, it is a Christ of their own fashioning, whom they “carve” in the form of an idol and then worship.Let’s examine some of the parameters Jesus sets forth for our acknowledgement and worship of Him. As...

Who knows our sin? While Scripture could be taken to mean saints in heaven are aware of details of our sin, it is unlikely Msgr. Charles Pope Question: Do the souls in heaven know our sins, or is that knowledge reserved to God alone?— Peter Tate, Long Beach, California Answer: We are in the realm of speculative theology when it comes to answering questions like this. However, it does not seem to pertain to God’s justice that he would reveal our sins to others (even the saints in heaven), especially our more hidden sins. We are not to reveal to...