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“‘And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock’” (Matthew 7:25). Faithfulness in discipleship will mean we are prepared for the worst possible adversity and trial. People are often unprepared for life’s unexpected upheavals. This was vividly illustrated by the once-in-500-year floods that struck the Northern Plains of the United States in the spring of 1997. One community on the Red River in North Dakota was especially devastated by the surprising events. After working diligently for days to...

The twelve apostles included "James the son of Zebedee" (Matt. 10:2). Zeal without sensitivity can destroy your life and ministry. There's the story of a Norwegian pastor whose motto was "All or nothing!" His life and preaching were stern, strong, powerful, uncompromising, and utterly insensitive. Reportedly the people in his church didn't care much for him because he didn't care much for them. In his zeal and ambition to advance the kingdom and uphold God's standard, he neglected everything else—including his own family. One day his little daughter became so ill the doctor warned him that if he didn't move...

Equality of the Trinity While Jesus states God is ‘greater,’ it is only in the sense that the Father is the principal source of being Msgr. Charles Pope 5/11/2016 Question: We read in a recent Sunday Gospel (May 1), that Jesus says the Father is greater than him (Jn 14:28). Since we are all taught that each divine person of the Blessed Trinity fully possesses the nature of God, equally to be adored and glorified, what did Jesus mean by such statement?— Dick Smith, Carrollton, Texas Answer: Theologically, Jesus means that the Father is the eternal source in the Trinity.All...

ROME, May 11, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) -- Cardinal Raymond Burke stated on the weekend that faithful Catholics must “resist” a perspective within the Church that seeks to undermine the truths of the Catholic faith regarding the indissolubility of marriage and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The general theme of the talk was “Martyrdom for the Faith in Our Times".“Of particular concern to me is a growing mundane perspective, a man-centered and world-centered perspective, especially in the Church,” he said, adding that the perspective expresses itself in a “secular understanding of the divine realities.” He was speaking to pro-life...

In this author's humble opinion these are the 20 clearest signs that the end of the age is quite literally imminent: 1. In a technical sense the Gospel has now been preached to every nation on earth in fulfillment of Mark 13:10.  Some scholars argue that we must interpret the Greek word for "nation" strictly as an individual ethnic group, but even if that is the correct interpretation, this prophecy was likely fulfilled sometime toward the end of the 20th century or the beginning of this century.  There are certainly still several isolated tribes where the Gospel has not been...

A Meditation on Being Overwhelmed Msgr. Charles Pope • May 12, 2016 • The first video at the bottom of this post presents a portrait of a man who is simply overwhelmed. He can’t seem to live up to expectations, neither those that are self-imposed nor those that are imposed by others.One of the paradoxes of our time (at least in the West) is that we have so many creature comforts yet in many ways have never been so uncomfortable. Our high standard of living is accompanied by stress, worry, and a gnawing dissatisfaction. It seems that the more...

A major Evangelical figure in the US says that Catholics were right about The PillOne surprising effect of the rise of same-sex marriage in the United States may be a convergence between evangelicals and the Catholic Church. The best evidence for this is a recent book by Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and one of the nation’s most prominent Evangelical thinkers. In We Cannot Be Silent: Speaking Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage, & The Very Meaning of Right & Wrong, he tackles the challenge of same-sex marriage. From a scriptural point of view, the idea...

“God has not given us a spirit of timidity [fear], but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). The true follower of Christ has no reason to fear potential sufferings and trials. Concerning frustration and fear at the 1992 Winter Olympics, speed skater Dan Jansen said, “What happened was I skated a race that I can only describe as tentative. I looked good. I didn’t slip. Yet something kept me from going flat out.” The favored Jansen, haunted by well-publicized failures to win medals in 1988 or 1992, finally overcame his fear and triumphed in 1994 in the...

The twelve apostles included "James the son of Zebedee" (Matt. 10:2). God can use overzealous and ambitious people for His glory. Like Peter and Andrew, James and John were fishermen. One day as Jesus walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He saw them in a boat with their father Zebedee and some hired servants. When Jesus called them to follow Him, they immediately left the boat and went with Him (Mark 1:19- 20). James and John were zealous and ambitious men—so much so that Jesus nicknamed them "Boanerges," which means, "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). At times their...

“But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position; and let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away” (James 1:9-10). God does not exempt any believer, rich or poor, from trials and suffering. There is a basic principle of life that we all know to be true—namely, that trials and sufferings do not exclude privileged people. This is a humbling truth that we don’t always like to acknowledge, yet it operates before us regularly in such things as natural disasters. No one can deny that large-scale floods, hurricanes, or...

The twelve apostles included "Andrew" (Matt. 10:2). Andrew is a picture of all believers who humbly minister behind the scenes. It's been said that no one likes playing second fiddle, but that wasn't Andrew's perspective at all. Growing up in the shadow of an aggressive, outspoken brother like Peter would be a challenge for anyone. Even in the biblical record Andrew is known as "Simon Peter's brother" (e.g., John 1:40). Yet when Andrew met Jesus, his first response was to tell Peter, knowing full well that once Peter became a disciple he probably would run the group. But Andrew was...

Of all the dozens and dozens of signs pointing to the imminent return of Christ, two clearly stand above the rest: 1. In a technical sense the Gospel has now been preached to every nation on earth in fulfillment of Mark 13:10.  Some scholars argue that we must interpret the Greek word for "nation" strictly as an individual ethnic group, but even if that is the correct interpretation, this prophecy was likely fulfilled sometime toward the end of the 20th century or the beginning of this century.  There are certainly still several isolated tribes where the Gospel has not been preached,...

The Pope Francis effect? Some express hope, others dread, still more argue that day-to-day church life is business-as- usual, with little change. But Sulpician Fr. Phillip J. Brown, rector of the Theological College, the national diocesan seminary of the Catholic University of America in Washington, said the Francis effect is alive and well, and growing, at least among seminarians. It's been a sudden development. Last fall, asked by reporters about the impact of Francis on the seminary, which educates and forms 84 men sponsored by dioceses across the U.S., the rector said it was too early to gauge. That's not...

Mind your Mind! A Reflection on the Battleground of the Mind Msgr. Charles Pope • May 11, 2016 • In the Gospel for Mass yesterday (Wednesday after Ascension), the Lord said that the world would hate and persecute the disciples and He thus prayed that we would be consecrated in the truth. In the first reading, St. Paul warned the presbyters that after his departure “savage wolves” would seek to mislead the faithful. We hardly ever talk like this today, but there is a great battle for our hearts and minds. How seriously do we consider this battle?There is...

“‘But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living’” (Job 28:12-13). God’s wisdom is our source for understanding life and all its trials. The supernatural wisdom believers need in order to understand their trials is simply not available from our society. During Job’s ordeal he soon learned the utter inadequacy both of his reason and his friends’ misguided advice. That led him to the profound conclusion that the Lord’s wisdom is the only source for comprehending life and all its...

The twelve apostles included "Andrew" (Matt. 10:2). Leading others to Christ should be a top priority in your life. Andrew was Peter's brother and a native of Bethsaida of Galilee. From the very start we see him leading people to Christ—beginning with his own brother. The gospel of John records his first encounter with Jesus: "John [the Baptist] was standing with two of his disciples (Andrew and John), and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. . . . One of the...

Justice and Mercy Are Alike for God Msgr. Charles Pope • May 10, 2016 • I recently prepared a talk to present to a group of lawyers on the relationship between justice and mercy. The following is a summary of the basic points: I. Distinctions – From our perspective as humans, we tend to distinguish sharply between justice and mercy.For us, justice is the rendering to each person what is due to him or her. There is a kind of “You did it, you get it” mentality (whether praise or rebuke, reward or punishment). For us, justice is about...

John Smeaton, SPUC’s chief executive, and co-founder of Voice of the Family called for a Catholic resistance movement to respond to “the crisis of truth and the crisis of leadership within Catholic Church structures” that seriously threatens the well-being of children and the family. He ended his talk by reading out a letter that he intends to send to Pope Francis, calling on him “to recognise the grave errors in the recently published Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, in particular those sections which will lead to the desecration of the Holy Eucharist and to the harming of our children, and to...

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). God entrusts comfort to us, often through trials, so that we may comfort others. The nation of Ireland is nicknamed the “Emerald Isle” for good reason—it contains some of the greenest countryside of any location on earth. In visiting there I have noticed that abundant...

The twelve apostles included "Simon, who is called Peter" (Matt. 10:2). God knows how to get results. God makes leaders by taking people with the right raw material, putting them through the right experiences, and teaching them the right lessons. That's how he trained Peter, and the results were astonishing. In the first twelve chapters of Acts we see Peter initiating the move to replace Judas with Matthias, preaching powerfully on the Day of Pentecost, healing a lame man, standing up to the Jewish authorities, confronting Ananias and Sapphira, dealing with Simon the magician, healing Aeneas, raising Dorcas from the...