Free Republic

istory is the account of vast social movements and cultural changes. To be sure, individuals play their part. But they are usually understood to be products of their times. The Reformation, though, whose five-hundredth anniversary we observe this year and whose impact on not only the church but the world has been monumental, was largely precipitated by one man: Martin Luther. Yes, vast social movements and cultural changes were at work in sixteenth-century Europe. But Luther caused many of them, such as the educational explosion that would lead to universal literacy, the rise of the middle class, and eventually democratic...

Pope Francis has been quoted as saying that “there is no place” in the clergy for gay people... Italian news outlets have published excerpts from a four-hour interview between Pope Francis and Spanish Missionary Fernando Prado, published as a book titled "The strength of vocation"... Avvenire published on November 29 the full excerpt in which Prado asks the Pontiff specifically about the inclusion of “people with homosexual tendencies.” Francis admits that this is “something that worries me..." He calls homosexuality “a very serious matter, which must be discerned adequately from the beginning” with those who seek to become clergy. “We...

ROME—Remember back in 2013, shortly after Pope Francis was elected when he shocked the world with his words: “If a person seeks God and has goodwill, then who am I to judge,” when asked about a gay priest? What was then seen to be a change in decades of dogma sent shockwaves around the world, landing the pontiff on the cover of Advocate and winning him praise among LGBTQ groups and lapsed Catholics. In some ways, Francis has been eating his words ever since, constantly called to explain by conservatives in the church what he meant. Now it seems Francis...

I am an Indian Catholic of Portuguese Descent. I am originally from Goa, India but I have lived all my life in Mumbai- formerly known as Bombay. I am 44 years old going on 45. I am interested in joining an English Speaking Trappist Monastery somewhere in the West as there are none in India. I still live in Mumbai. I am writing about Trappist Monasteries and about the Trappist Vocation as not much is known about them in the West as well as in the East. The Trappist Vocation : Trappists are Catholic - Christian Monks who live a...

Today there is a demand for sex without love, for a licentiousness in sex which has wrought a heartless society in which individuals do not care for anyone but themselves. The fruit of this demonic theology is the slaughter through abortion and euthanasia of human beings created in the Imago Dei. It is a theology of violence which is rooted in hatred of truth. For at the heart of immorality is falsity, the hatred of truth. Fr. Vincent P. Miceli, in an essay entitled "The Taproot of Violence," explains: "...violence entered creation from the rebellion of Lucifer. This rebellion arose...

think all of us who embark on a certain career path, or status or vocation have a certain file in our life called “other duties as assigned.” Priests, and especially pastors are no exception. Since most of us live on site, there are many custodial duties that often find their way into our “other duties as assigned” file.

Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand reminds us, in his essay entitled "Is Unity among the Faithful the Highest Value?," that, "There is another great danger which goes together with the distortion of love of neighbor: the danger of putting community above truth, and of implicitly making peace the highest value. Unfortunately this tendency to regard community as more important than truth is very widespread in the holy Church today. The first great error which we find here is the separation of community from truth. All genuine community among men presupposes that they encounter one another in a certain realm of goods....

  Trading Vocations for Vacations David C. Stolinsky Nov. 14, 2011 Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.− Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.− William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming” Recently I was listening to an interview with author Theodore Dalrymple on the Dennis Prager show. Dalrymple is a psychiatrist who worked with convicts and has insights into what causes people to remain in the underclass. His current book, “The New Vichy Syndrome,” is subtitled, “Why European Intellectuals...

Anchorage, Alaska, Oct 16, 2011 / 01:16 pm (CNA).- As young girls, Anastasia Kenney and her little sister played Mass. They cloaked their heads in a white curtain, draped accordingly as a bridal veil or a nun’s habit, and served crackers and grape juice to each other as they pretended to receive Holy Communion.Some 30 years later, Kenney is moving into a convent and aspiring to wear a white habit in earnest.The religious vocation startled even her.“I was horrified! I was the least nunnish person I knew,” said Kenney, 35, of her initial inclination. “I thought the last group of...

The Province of St. Joseph of the Dominican Order, sometimes called the "Eastern" province, released some pictures of their novices, who, traditionally, receive the habit on August 8, St. Dominic's feast day. This photo shows the novices who just finished their novitiate together with those coming in. Please pray for them.

The Perez family's agony and ecstasy: From abortion to ordination When Victor (hereafter referred to as Vic) and Karen Perez’s son was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on June 4 in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, the Perez family was all together and shed tears of joy at this blessed moment. Everyone, that is, except the oldest sibling. However, Vic and Karen believe that the child they named Joseph Manuel was with them in spirit, and that his presence filled the cathedral-and their hearts-with gladness rather than sadness.Joseph is the child and sibling the Perez family never had the privilege...

God’s ways are mysterious and marvelous. I had the great honor of attending World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. And it was there that I marveled at the work of the Spirit in my own life. As I walked the streets of Toronto, attended the workshops, observed the spirit and enthusiasm of thousands of young men and women from around the world – my heart was full of deep memories. And it was filled with a fresh spirit of joy. ...

I received a DVD of the documentary film "The Calling", a documentary by David A. Rhanghelli, just before Thanksgiving. I was intrigued by the topic and the subtitle, "Life is a calling. what is yours?" ...From the beginning scene this film melted away my cynicism, rejuvenated my weary soul and restored within me the hope of the season. It is a must gift for every Christmas list. More than a movie; it is an invitation to love and an encounter with the God who is Love. Watching this film I was repeatedly moved to prayer, tears, repentance and reflection on...

After attempting suicide several years ago at a Cumberland penitentiary, a prisoner spent his days lying alone on the floor of his tiny cell. Staring at the ceiling and speaking few words, the man seemed lost. Father Milton A. Hipsley, then the pastor of St. Mary in Cumberland and a chaplain for the area’s prisons, was moved by the man’s despair. Wearing his black clerics and white collar, the priest entered the cell and lay down beside the motionless figure. He became a channel of God’s mercy. “Inmates are good people,” Father Hipsley remembered. “They are lonely and they’re frustrated....

...Grant Desme spoke with great candor in an interview in November of 2009. His response was telling - and instructive for what it revealed. It reflected the thinking of a young Catholic Christian who lived his life reflectively, open to hearing the Lord call. He spoke with Sports writer Bill Mitchell of “Baseball America” concerning the effect that a separated shoulder injury had upon him in 2008. Of course, that injury was painful and constituted a possible career setback. However, Desme, with the eyes of faith and the insight which only faith can provide, said this: "I think it needed...

Reporting from Chicago - Alicia Torres must raise $94,000 in order to take a vow of poverty. Drawn to the Roman Catholic sisterhood while she was a student at Loyola University here, Torres faces the same barrier as many others considering such a religious life: college debt. Today, Torres and a group of friends will run Chicago's Half Marathon -- 13.1 miles along the lakefront -- in hopes of receiving enough pledges to pay off $94,000 in student loans. "You can't live a vow of poverty with a bunch of debt," said Torres, a 2007 graduate. "If God wants you...

FOB LOYALTY — District leaders, administrators and hundreds of students attended the reopening of the Civil Support District Training Center in Baghdad’s Al Karadah district, Dec. 30. Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers were also in attendance to assist in security measures and meet the center’s administrators in a show of partnership. The center teaches students vocational skills, offering courses in road repair, generator repair, plumbing, electrical installation, sanitation and landscaping. Renovations took approximately six months to complete. More than 550 students are currently enrolled at the center. Students must complete a six-month training course in their desired career paths and...

http://www.airmaria.com/?sn=37&vp=1988&prefx=finews&plyrnb=1&ttl=FI%20News Video - FiNews #37 - FI Vocations Video (Short Version) FI News #37 - The life and charism of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. ( 04min) >>> Play Ave Maria! Here is the short version of our vocations video. The long one (8 min) is to come out in a week or two. Enjoy this video of our charism and life as Franciscan friars totally consecrated to the Immaculate and if you know anyone who is discerning a vocation or you think has a vocation, please forward them the link. And most of all, please pray for vocations....

Reality Check on College by: Lance Nation, September 15, 2008 Does everyone need a college education? According to Charles Murray, “No, too many people are going to college. A Bachelor of Arts in and of itself tells you nothing. We have exalted a meaningless document.” Murray, a W. H. Brady Scholar at American Enterprise Institute (AEI), does not argue that people should not be educated. “Everyone deserves a liberal education. However, they do not need to attend a four-year college or university to obtain it,” he said recently at AEI. Murray discussed his new book. Real Education: Four Simple Truths...

ZE08091106 - 2008-09-11 Pope Calls Politics a Big Part of Lay Vocation Says Laity Need to Instill Christ in World CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A big part of the vocation of Christian laypeople is their participation in politics, says Benedict XVI. The role of the laity in the temporal order, and especially in politics, is key for the evangelization of society, the Pope affirmed today when he received in audience the bishops of Paraguay. The prelates have been in Rome since Sept. 8 on their five-yearly visit. Led by Bishop Ignacio Gogorza Izaguirre of Encarnacion,the president of...