Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Go, Mother!
Where would the Catholic Church be without Mother Angelica? I shiver to think...
The Pope seems to agree.
The Pope seems to agree.
On Evangelization
Jon Leonetti over at the Catholic News Agency has just published a three-part series on Catholic evangelism. The first part can be found here, and the second and third parts can be found through the link on the first page.
The third part addresses what often is going wrong when someone leaves the Catholic Church, and I think he is right. Peter Kreeft makes the same general point that Leonetti does when the former states that "spirituality abhors a vacuum." Kreeft notes that if a soul is not getting fed (as it ought to) in a particular Catholic parish, it will find another group. Of course, many people also leave the Catholic Church because they are not willing to live up to the exacting moral requirements the Church upholds (in obedience to Jesus and the apostles), such as the prohibition of remarriage after divorce, artificial contraception, abortion, homosexual behavior, etc. Sadly, however, there still remain many people who are not hearing the gospel proclaimed at their neighborhood Catholic parish, and so they go elsewhere. Why is this sad? Because they end up missing out on the riches of grace Jesus wants to pour into their lives through the sacraments, most especially the Eucharist. But of course, the sacraments are not magic. The soul must be open to receiving the torrent of grace that Jesus wants to give, and if these same souls are not hearing the Gospel proclaimed, how will they then be properly disposed to receive the sacraments, the Word made flesh?
The third part addresses what often is going wrong when someone leaves the Catholic Church, and I think he is right. Peter Kreeft makes the same general point that Leonetti does when the former states that "spirituality abhors a vacuum." Kreeft notes that if a soul is not getting fed (as it ought to) in a particular Catholic parish, it will find another group. Of course, many people also leave the Catholic Church because they are not willing to live up to the exacting moral requirements the Church upholds (in obedience to Jesus and the apostles), such as the prohibition of remarriage after divorce, artificial contraception, abortion, homosexual behavior, etc. Sadly, however, there still remain many people who are not hearing the gospel proclaimed at their neighborhood Catholic parish, and so they go elsewhere. Why is this sad? Because they end up missing out on the riches of grace Jesus wants to pour into their lives through the sacraments, most especially the Eucharist. But of course, the sacraments are not magic. The soul must be open to receiving the torrent of grace that Jesus wants to give, and if these same souls are not hearing the Gospel proclaimed, how will they then be properly disposed to receive the sacraments, the Word made flesh?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
If no one is Pope...
I recently came across two interesting discussions of authority. The first is an article by Msgr. Charles Pope titled If No One is Pope, Everyone is Pope. The fundamental question addressed is: who speaks for Christ?
The second discussion is from Fr. Robert Barron of Wordonfirevideo. I discovered this video a couple weeks ago, and Msgr. Pope includes it at the bottom of his article. I'm attaching it here for convenience. It is worth viewing, especially for his umpire analogy.
The second discussion is from Fr. Robert Barron of Wordonfirevideo. I discovered this video a couple weeks ago, and Msgr. Pope includes it at the bottom of his article. I'm attaching it here for convenience. It is worth viewing, especially for his umpire analogy.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Mark Shea on the Sacrament of Confirmation
Mark Shea is continuing his study of the sacraments by looking at the second sacrament of initiation: confirmation.
Here is the first installment.
I'm looking forward to the next, which I'll post when he publishes it.
Here is the first installment.
I'm looking forward to the next, which I'll post when he publishes it.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Little Flower
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, my wife's patron saint, has her feast day today.
I love St. Therese, and I invite everyone to get to know her by reading this article.
Read about St. Therese's intercession in my own life in my post "My History, and My History with Baptists."
St. Therese, thank you for letting fall a shower of roses in my life! Thank you for your humble example of love for our savior. Thank you for your holy obedience. Thank you for your profound love!
I love St. Therese, and I invite everyone to get to know her by reading this article.
Read about St. Therese's intercession in my own life in my post "My History, and My History with Baptists."
St. Therese, thank you for letting fall a shower of roses in my life! Thank you for your humble example of love for our savior. Thank you for your holy obedience. Thank you for your profound love!
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