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April 23, 2015Thursday of the Third Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 8:26-40 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,“Get up and head south on the roadthat goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,a court official of the Candace,that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,in charge of her entire treasury,who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.The Spirit said to Philip,“Go and join up with that chariot.” Philip ran up...

BEHOLD, YOUR SPIRITUAL MOTHER… MARCH 26, 2011 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (Jn 19:25-27). By F. K. Bartels 1/23/2011 It was bishop Fulton J. Sheen who said, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” It is helpful to contemplate how the...

Behold the Wood of the Cross Looking at the reality of the wooden cross Crosses come in all sizes, shapes and material. Some are jeweled, others are intricately carved. Good Friday brings us back to the reality that it is about a wooden cross and, more importantly, about the One who died upon it. 3/29/2013 WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - When Catholics and Protestants have opportunities to talk about their Christian faith, at some point the topic will turn to the crucifix versus the cross. The Protestant argument usually ends (or sometimes begins) with the words - "but don't you know...

A German cardinal has publicly opposed the words of two other German bishops who have suggested that the nation’s Church can form its own policies without direction from Rome. Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes published a letter earlier this month objecting to the pronouncements of prominent leaders of the Church in Germany that the nation's bishops' conference will pursue its own program of pastoral care for marriages and family regardless of the outcome of October's Synod on the Family. At a Feb. 25 press conference following the German bishops' plenary assembly, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, who is president...

CONFESSION " Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained" - John 20:22"He that covers his sins shall not prosper; but whosoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy" - Prov 28:13 "My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me" - Josh 7:19   The Biblical TeachingThe Catholic Priest forgives sinners of their sins in the name of Jesus Christ, by the Authority given to priest...

Satan hates the Blessed Virgin Mary. In fact, he has been doing everything in his power to discourage devotion to her and instill hatred for her for two millennia. Have you ever noticed that it is Marian dogmas and devotions that stir the strongest reactions in those who reject the Church? Even some good Catholics are embarrassed by devotion to our Lady, and they feel we should not be too extreme in our veneration of her. Perhaps you, too, have wondered why the Church holds the Immaculate Virgin in such high regard. Perhaps you have wonder why God has chosen...

In his canonization Wednesday morning of Sri Lanka's first saint, Pope Francis cited three reasons why Joseph Vaz sets an example, even today: — Exemplary priest: "He teaches us how to go out to the peripheries, to make Jesus Christ everywhere known and loved." — Transcending religious divisions: "His example continues to inspire the Church in Sri Lanka today. (The Church) gladly and generously serves all members of society. She makes no distinction of race, creed, tribe, status or religion." — Missionary zeal: "I pray that, following the example of Saint Joseph Vaz, the Christians of this country may be...

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...

[While Rome burns] Perhaps future historians will document that they were dancing the tango in the year 2014 in St. Peter’s Square while Christians were being massacred in the Middle East and the Church was on the verge of a schism. This frivolity and irresponsibility is not new to history. In Carthage, Salvian of Marseille records, they were dancing and feasting on the eve of the invasion of the Vandals, and in St. Petersburg, according to the testimony of John Reed, an American journalist, while the Bolsheviks were taking power, the theatres and restaurants were always packed. As Holy...

Pies, damned pies, and statistics: Is the Catholic population growing? Are you Catholic and in need of something to be thankful for this year? The Catholic Church in America is growing and may be primed to grow significantly in the next few decades. What did he just say? All the Catholic-related stories in the news are about parish and school closings, a Church in crisis, and people leaving the faith… First, the news is not always a good reflection of reality. A big part of the problem is that many reporters and commentators on religion seemingly have a limited understanding...

Where in the New Testament are "priests" mentioned? Full QuestionThe New Testament mentions three categories of Church leaders: bishops, presbyters, and deacons. So how can the Catholic Church justify its office of "priest"? The New Testament writers seem to understand "bishop" and "presbyter" to be synonymous terms for the same office (Acts 20:17-38).  AnswerThe English word "priest" is derived from the Greek word presbuteros, which is commonly rendered into Bible English as "elder" or "presbyter." The ministry of Catholic priests is that of the presbyters mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 15:6, 23). The Bible says little about the duties...

I’ve been following with some bemusement the interchanges between Cardinal Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). For readers unaware of the developments, I'll present them here in abbreviated form:CDF: “Sisters, do you believe and affirm that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of the Father, begotten and not made, the second Person of the Holy Trinity?” LCWR: “Why are you asking us that question? What gives you the authority to ask it?”
     CDF: “Again, Sisters, do you believe and affirm that Jesus Christ is the eternal...

Understanding the EucharistThe Greatest Need in the Church Todayby Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.I believe the place to begin this conference is to justify the title. We are using the superlative; the greatest need in the Church today is "Understanding the Eucharist." How can we justify this superlative? On two grounds: On the grounds of the Eucharist and On the grounds of Understanding. What are we saying? We are saying that the most comprehensive mystery of our Catholic faith is in the Holy Eucharist. To believe in the Eucharist is to believe in every other revealed mystery of Christianity....

Bible prophecy related to the end times mentions many nations, including Libya, Iran, Iraq Ethiopia, and possibly even China and Russia, but not the United States of America. In an article on his blog, Pastor Greg Laurie gives three plausible reasons for the nation's exclusion. "Where is the United States? Why are we not in the last-days scenario?" asks Laurie, pastor of Harvest Church in Riverside, Calif. One reason why the United States is not mentioned in Scripture is perhaps because the nation "might be devastated by a nuclear war," the pastor writes. "It is a horrible scenario and one...

The Sacrifice Sacrament of the Holy Eucharistby Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. The purpose of our present meditation is to explain how the Mass is the sacrifice sacrament of the Eucharist. Again, we will draw on the church’s teaching on the Mass, especially focusing on definitions from the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century. We will also examine Pope Pius XII’s teachings on the mass, upon which the Second Vatican Council built its base document on Eucharist liturgy.The Council of Trent and the MassWe have been drawing on the church’s teaching at Trent mainly because during the sixteenth century...

The Eucharist as the Living Christby Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.The real crisis of faith in Catholic ranks today is the crisis of disbelief in the Eucharist. The most dramatic reason for this is the same as what happened when Christ first announced that He would give us His Body and Blood to eat and drink as described by St. John. You recall that many people who had until then been devoted to Christ began first to wonder, then to murmur, and finally doubting, left His Company. This has always been so since this mystery of faith was first...

The second Vatican Council was the most important event of the twentieth century for Catholicism. It has also been the most misunderstood. The Church has seen 21 ecumenical councils; Vatican II was the second to be held in Vatican City. An ecumenical council is a gathering of the bishops, cardinals, abbots, and prelates called by the pope to undertake a solemn exercise of the Church’s teaching authority. Papal cooperation is a sine qua non for the legitimacy of a council; without his assent its teachings have no binding force. Pope Pius IX summoned the First Vatican Council, which met from...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church needs to find a way to offer healing, strength and salvation to Catholics whose marriages have failed, who are committed to making a new union work and who long to do so within the church and with the grace of Communion, Cardinal Walter Kasper told the world's cardinals. Jesus' teaching on the indissolubility of sacramental marriage is clear, the retired German cardinal said, and it would harm individuals and the church to pretend otherwise. However, "after the shipwreck of sin, the shipwrecked person should not have a second boat at his or her...

2/1/2014 5:36:00 PMModern church reflects traditional valuesMembers of St. Edward Parish in Keizer gather for dedication of new church Catholic Sentinel photos by Clarice Keating Father Gary Zerr, pastor of St. Edward Parish, (right) leaves new church during dedication wtih visiting priests. Archbishop Alexander Sample holds the Eucharist aloft in the new St. Edward Church in Keizer. Clarice KeatingOf the Catholic SentinelTo see more photos, log on to www.facebook.com/CatholicSentinel KEIZER — A key that opens the main entrance to the newly constructed St. Edward Church here was attached to a large white cross. Archbishop Alexander Sample handed the cross to...

Michael Voris attended the March for Life and some of the pro-life gatherings in the past few days.  He interviewed a number of young people at the Capital Hyatt in Washington.  Just prior to the march, it is filled with pro-life people.  I believe one of the major pro-life groups has a convention there.  At any rate, Voris interviewed a number of the pro-life youth in attendance and obtained some very disturbing replies.  Ladies and gentlemen, please watch the video, then see my comments below it. (video at link) There are those who say that these young people point to...