The Lord speaks to us today of one of the most central struggles in our life: fear. Yes, fear is one of our deepest drives and though it has a positive purpose, too often we miss the mark in directing its energy. The positive role of fear is to alert us that something is wrong … Read more
I am very pleased that Dr. Ralph Martin has published A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward. It is a revised and updated version of a critically important book he first published in the early 1980s. I call it a critically important book for personal and important reasons. Permit a brief story before we examine the … Read more
Continuing this small series on the decline of culture, a word from the Prophet Amos in today’s reading (Thursday of the 13th week of the year) paints a brief picture of what happens when we a nation demand that the Word of God be banished from it hearing. The picture is not complete and may … Read more
Jesus said many paradoxical things. For example: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Mat 10:39). For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it (Mat 16:25). The basic rule of life the … Read more
If one in a state of mortal sin — no matter what the sin — has not sacramentally confessed and been absolved, he must not receive Holy Communion. There are no exceptions. Judge Sara Smolenski, Chief Judge of the 63rd District Court in Kent County, Michigan, was recently advised by her pastor, Father Scott Nolan, … Read more
Catholics cannot avoid responsibility for the current moral morass. No one is exempt from the duty to repudiate error and speak the truth. The books of First and Second Maccabees, which we read every year at this time in the Divine Office, are especially pertinent for us today, when religious syncretism and outright idolatry are … Read more
Pray for an apostolic exhortation that glorifies and lifts up Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation. I, like many of you, feel overwhelmed by the events of the past month in Rome. Many an evening, late into the night, I have come before the Lord in the rectory chapel in lament for the … Read more
Bishop Robert Barron recently published Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis. It is an excellent book — a meditation, really. It gives a sobering summary of the sexual-abuse crisis and a historical perspective and offers encouragement to believers in the aftermath of the recent and horrific events. It also comes … Read more
By Monsignor Charles Pope There comes a time when something is so egregious and boldly sinful that it must be met with strong ecclesial and canonical penalties and remedies. We have certainly seen this in the Church with the Archbishop McCarrick case and other matters and scandals of a similar nature. And, as we … Read more
Let there be fulfilled in us the Scripture that says, “Even the anger of man will serve to praise you, O Lord” (Psalm 76:10) Many today rightly speak of the need for courage in the midst of the current sexual abuse scandal and its coverup. It does indeed take courage to speak out and engage … Read more