Archive for March, 2008
« Previous EntriesCooperating with Evil
Sunday, March 30th, 2008Last week I received through our Catholic Responses department a question regarding the support of businesses that contribute to Planned Parenthood, and related issues concerning cooperation with evil. Since I’m frequently asked about this, I thought I would post the substance of my response on our blog.
The starting point must be the crucial distinction between […]
School Choices
Friday, March 28th, 2008When I was growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, Catholic education didn’t seem all that complicated. Like most of the other kids from St. Elizabeth parish, I attended the parochial elementary school for eight years and then went to one of the Catholic high schools in the area.
Now, as the father of six children, […]
In Defense of Marriage
Thursday, March 27th, 2008As I conclude this series of posts on same-sex marriage, I want to leave our readers with some positive things they can do to defend traditional marriage.
First, we need to educate ourselves when it comes to same-sex attractions (SSA). I’ve recommended various resources, organizations, and websites throughout this series. If you need somewhere to start, […]
The Road to Emmaus
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008Every year at Easter Wednesday Mass we hear St. Luke’s account of Our Lord’s appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
This Gospel passage brings to mind the Eucharistic “amazement” that Pope John Paul II sought to rekindle in the faithful through his final encyclical letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia:
The Prophets
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008When Pope Paul VI issued his landmark 1968 encyclical on marital chastity, Humanae Vitae, he predicted dire consequences from the growing acceptance of unnatural methods of birth control. He was widely ridiculed at the time by those who dissented from Humanae Vitae, but today nobody is laughing. In fact, each passing year more and more people proclaim […]
Chants Occurrence
Monday, March 24th, 2008When my daughter Virginia was about a year old, I twice received calls that she was unconscious and being rushed to the hospital. (I hope you fathers out there never receive such a call.) Thanks be to God, on both occasions, by the time I arrived at the emergency room, she was awake and fine.
The […]
He Is Alive!
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008In his Gospel commentary for Easter Sunday, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the pontifical household preacher, pointedly asks: “Did Jesus really rise? What assurances do we have that we are dealing with something that really happened and not an invention or suggestion?”
In response, Father Cantalamessa says that “the strongest argument that Christ is risen, is that […]
He Descended into Hell
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008Our Lord’s descent into hell, under whose aegis Holy Saturday stands liturgically in the Church’s year, is an article of faith that is of particular significance to modern man. On Good Friday we contemplate Christ on the Cross, and on Easter Sunday we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection.
In the interim, on Holy Saturday, the words of Nietzsche, […]
Another Prayer for the Jews
Friday, March 21st, 2008Much has been written in recent weeks concerning the revised prayer for the conversion of the Jews that Pope Benedict XVI wrote for the Good Friday service. The revised prayer, of course, is for the extraordinary form of the Latin liturgy, but a similarly worded prayer has been in effect in the ordinary, so-called ”Novus Ordo” form […]
Sheep and Goats
Thursday, March 20th, 2008In recent years I’ve spilled perhaps an inordinate amount of ink on the Holy Thursday foot-washing rite, which surely has been the cause of some controversy in recent years. At the same time, though, the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper has never ceased to be one of my favorite liturgies of the year, […]
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