A Treasure To Be Shared

Scripture tells us that when faced with trials, faithful Jews remembered their story and held on to their identity. Faithful Catholics know their story and retain their identity. Faithless Catholics forget their identity and attempt to manufacture limp narratives that differ little from absurd contemporary ideologies. Saint Stephen held the feet of those judging him to the fire of history and truth. And for that, he was stoned to death. Who is prepared to stand up to those who defy the law of God and accuse others of blasphemy for refusing to cooperate with deadly ideologies? In the first centuries, Romans targeted Christians who refused to burn as little as a single grain of incense to one of the pagan gods. Devotees of contemporary deities are no less determined than their ancient kin to persecute others who refuse to participate in today's dark rituals and sinister programs. In modern temples, policy is prayer, and procedure is ritual. Anyone who resists following inhumane polic...

[ Estimated read time: 9 minutes ] A familiar quote for witnesses to the dirge of lukewarm religion. The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult; and left untried. ― G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World According to the enlightened, it is essential that we Catholics update our thinking so that we can live without guilt or shame or any of those nasty habits of mind that non-Catholics think we like to punish others with.  After all, God accepts us just as we are—right?  Despite the biblical record and apostolic teaching, the "progressive" way asserts that there is little or no need to change or grow in holiness or to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Holiness, for some, is a bad word, an outmoded concept. For the progressive religionist, spiritual success is measured by involvement in social justice projects that make one feel good about oneself. In contrast to heterodox ways of thinking, th...

Been there heard that? Next to the music of the Mass, the homily or sermon suffers the most and, like the music of the liturgy, it is still in need of improvement in many parishes. There have been repeated official attempts to inspire positive change. There is no shortage of gifted orators. Sadly, sermons are too often filled with banal wanderings and cheap references. A younger generation of priests is stepping up to the challenge by following clear guidance that - if unimpeded by leaden thinking that traps clergy in the mess of an older generation's rebellion - can lead to profound positive renewal. Certain older prelates - not all, mind you - have little formation, or have abandoned what formation they were given, to celebrate Mass in a way that acknowledges the sublime character of the Sacred Liturgy. They seem to demonstrate antipathy toward anyone or anything that promotes beautiful - artful, good, traditional - liturgy. A younger generation is reclaiming authenticity. Those ...

The Catholic Church's teaching on the Filioque , the doctrine that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, can be summarized as follows: The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (CCC 246). This is based on the Council of Florence in 1438, which explained that "the Holy Spirit is eternally from Father and Son; He has his nature and subsistence at once ( simul ) from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one spiration". The Catholic Encyclopedia further clarifies that this "dogma of the double Procession of the Holy Ghost from Father and Son as one Principle is directly opposed to the error that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, not from the Son". This doctrine was first explicitly denied by heretics in the 7th century, but the Church has consistently affirmed the Filioque as part of its Trinitarian faith. The Catechism notes ...

[6 minute read] A recent incident involving a Florida Catholic priest and a bully would-be communicant has set forth a reminder that adequate formation in the Faith is a never ending necessity. https://www.ncregister.com/cna/florida-priest-charged-for-biting-arm-of-woman-he-says-was-desecrating-eucharist Communion on the tongue emphasizes docility and therefore reception. In order to receive (the Body of Christ), one renders oneself vulnerable, receptive. Kneeling in adoration is an appropriate accompanying posture for the creature encountering his Creator. In the Eucharist, as at His incarnation, birth and crucifixion, Jesus makes Himself vulnerable and allows Himself, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, to be subject to humans, those (with the exception of His Immaculate Mother who was spared from Original Sin by a singular act of God) Jesus came to rescue from sin and death. Should we not acknowledge the sublime reality of Jesus' humility by adopting the approach of Jesus ...

Mickey Sean Winters [ 3 minute read ] Hey Doris, how is it that you always manage to arrive at the beginning of the Gospel, crochet your way through the homily until the Lamb of God, and then vanish right after Communion? Is there some kind of dispensation I don't know about? Mickey, I guess you'll be adding one more item to your confession today, eh? That of cutting in line, aka elbowing one's way in, aka jumping the queue. Have you enrolled your daughter in catechism class? What is catechism?! That's a program to help you mentor your child in the Faith and provides support for your child to help educate her allegedly Catholic parents. Are you new here at Saint Gregory's? You're a regular? It's just that you seem so unfamiliar with the prayers and responses. Ohhh,... you were speaking in tongues. Maybe try sticking to the script. Little Mickey really seems to enjoy causing a commotion during the consecration. That must be frustrating for you and your husban...

[ Estimated read time 5 minutes ] Yes and no. We are present to all of history in the Mass. Christ makes all of history and eternity present to us. The past, present and the future become "now" in the Mass. Or, perhaps the "now" becomes past and future. Perhaps the past and future expand into the present. And... . Catechism of the Catholic Church - Sacrifice of Calvary 1330 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church 1363 In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God f...

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes We Catholics have one foot planted on God's green earth and another in heaven. Human beings are enfleshed souls. The Catechism reminds us that 365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body: 234 i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature. Despite misguided popular assumptions, we are not angels nor will we ever be. This Lent, if we are earnest about our intention to praise God by refining our witness to His goodness and mercy, we might reach out to ask God to direct our guardian angel to render a specific form of assistance. Or, we might ask God to send our guardian to help someone - a friend or stranger, a coworker or family member - in need of assistance beyond our capacity to offer assistance. Who or what are angels? L...

But the ethos of the modern world is precisely synthetic and grounded in a false imitation. Ancient mimesis sought to emulate in the microcosmic world of man the “music of the spheres” and to align the human realm with the divine. But modern imitation is Titanistic insofar as it begins and ends with a repudiation of the normativity of the formal structures of existence and thus seeks to make everything plastic and fungible in the interests of “control and domination”. - Larry Chapp The Church has relied on vivid imaginations nurtured by a continuous recollection of prior explorations in art, architecture and music, bound to the will of the Chief Architect, the Holy Ghost, so that contemporary expressions may become part of the language of worship, to infuse the imagination with authentic desire for holiness and to lead souls to God. We live in times, however, when cheap imitations abound, and Catholics are all too happy, it seems, to endorse the plastic and trivial. Church official...