Should the Catholic Church adapt herself and get up to date? Holy deacon Kandra reports here on a survey on why Catholics stop going to Mass. four major reasons why some Roman Catholics stop going to church, among them: Disagreement with church doctrine on birth control, women as priests, homosexuality; A view that there are too many scandals in the church; A feeling parishioners are being judged by the church or are not welcomed. Here’s a sampling of some of... Read more
So many saints tell us that the Blessed Virgin has great power over Satan. “The rosary is the weapon against evil” they say. “Call on the Blessed Mother in time of need!” they command us. The exorcists say how the demons hate with a terrible hatred the Mother of the Lord. Why is this and where do we get the idea that Mary defeats Satan? The first passage is at the very beginning of the Bible. In Genesis 3:14-15: So... Read more
Today is the feast day of St Joseph of Cupertino. To learn about his life go here. Joseph was born into a poor family in Cupertino, Italy in 1603. His father was a poor carpenter who died before he was born, and his impoverished mother gave birth to him in a stable. The poor boy started out with no advantages and his misfortune continued. To put it bluntly, he was stupid to the point of being unteachable. Everything he attempted... Read more
Today is the memorial of the Stigmata of St Francis. Stigmata are one of those unusual phenomena within the Catholic religion which remind us of that the body, mind and spirit are completely interlinked. The word stigmata comes from the Greek word stigma or “mark” and this word is used in Galatians when St Paul says he bears in his body the “marks of the Lord”. Scholars are unsure if this means St Paul was actually a stigmatic or whether... Read more
With the upcoming Synod of the Family some Catholics are biting their nails that there is going to be a revolution in church discipline and that suddenly all divorced and re-married Catholics will be permitted to receive communion. Probably not according to Cardinal Pell. The fathers of the church realize that Our Lord’s teaching on the indissolubility of marriage is clear. They can’t really change the discipline of the church to allow for open ended remarriage after divorce without contradicting the... Read more
Some Catholics are worrying themselves over whether the pope will allow Catholics who are divorced and remarried to receive communion. I am as concerned as anyone else about this issue and feel that the rule cannot be changed without changing the Catholic understanding of marriage. Indissoluble marriage is part of the revelation from Adam and Eve through the the teachings of Jesus himself. We can’t mess with it, and when we tinker with the Catholic understanding of marriage we are... Read more
I always meet fascinating people and new friends when I come to EWTN to tape programs. I had lunch today with Sharon Giganti of the New Age Deception website. We discussed what made the New Age Movement so attractive to so many Catholics. I traveled to EWTN today in my clericals, and as usual I had a good number of conversations with people–all of whom were pleased to see a priest. One woman told me how she was a Catholic, but... Read more
It never ceases to amaze me how soft and spineless we are when it comes to our Catholic faith. Everything else takes precedence. “It’s the annual retreat for your sons and daughters. Your kids have to be there.” “They’ve got a volleyball game that weekend we’re so busy I don’t feel comfortable asking my child to do something he doesn’t want to do he’s got homework I know we had the dates six months ago but she really needs to... Read more
In observing the Christian world in which I live and move and have my being it occurs to me that we too often fall into one of two different traps: we are charitable without truth or we are truthful without charity. By “charity” I mean the desire and inclination to be loving, kind and good to others. This inclination most likely springs from various sources. It has to do with our personality type: we are simply wired with our heart... Read more
John Allen reminds us that two thirds of the world’s Catholics are outside the developed world and their concerns about moral matters and family issues are not always the same as ours. While we debate divorce and re-marriage for Catholics and think same sex “marriage” is a hot topic, in many African cultures the difficulties are with traditional African acceptance of polygamy. Discussion of polygamy is likely to surface at the Oct. 5-19 Synod of Bishops on the family in... Read more
Fr. Dwight Longenecker
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