Source: EWTN News Nightly via YouTube.com Reaction is pouring in after the Vatican’s release of a document this week on the faithful and Freemasons. The Holy See says Catholics are forbidden from becoming Freemasons. The document was in response to a question from a bishop in the Philippines. He says […]
Teaching
Catholic teaching on a range of topics.
Wonder: Light from Light
Source: Word on Fire Institution via YouTube.com Word on Fire is delighted to share a beautiful new film series entitled “Wonder: The Harmony of Faith and Science.” In the first episode, see how mysteries of physical reality discovered by science—especially the mystery of light—harmonize with mysteries of faith. Learn more: […]
Without Adoration, There’s No Evangelization
Source: Editorial via National Catholic Register. Reprinted with permission. Pope Francis reminded us of an irreplaceable, foundational element that is often overlooked — or even derided — in our implementation of the Great Commission: the need for prayer and, especially, Eucharistic adoration. The world is in desperate need of the […]
The Parasite of Evil
Friends, we are reading during these weeks of summer from the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, which contains many of the great parables of Jesus. But I want to focus just on one today because it’s so rich both theologically and spiritually: the parable of the wheat and the weeds. […]
Hell is Easier to Choose Than you Think!
Source: Ascension Presents via YouTube.com Is Judas in Hell? The overwhelming consensus over time is that he must be. But has the Church proclaimed that he definitely is? Surprisingly… no. Why? Jesus teaches us that, while we can evaluate “a tree by its fruits,” it is left to God alone […]
Agents of Divine Mercy
Friends, we continue our celebration of the Easter season on this Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday. Mercy, St. Thomas Aquinas says, is compassion in regard to someone else’s suffering; thus, God’s mercy is his compassion reaching out to us precisely in our suffering. Keep that in mind as […]
Let Christianity be Weird!
Friends, Happy Easter! Christ is risen—Alleluia, Alleluia! Recently, I had a public conversation with the popular historian Tom Holland. Someone from the crowd asked him, “What’s the call of our time?” and he said, “Let Christianity be weird.” When I was coming of age, there was a tendency to reduce […]
All the Way Down
Source: Bishop Barron via YouTube.com Friends, on Palm Sunday, the culminating point of Lent, the Church reads from one of the great Passion narratives from the synoptic Gospels. But I want to look at the second reading today—a passage from the second chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, the […]
Was Vatican II a Failure?
Source: Bishop Robert Barron’s, Word on Fire Show via YouTube.com. Friends, we just marked the 60th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II, the Second Vatican Council. Six decades later, can we say the Council was a success? A failure? Something in between? On today’s episode of “The Word on […]
What is Synodality?
Friends, many people in the Church, including the Holy Father, have been talking about “synodality.” But what is it? What does it mean? How can it help the Church, and what are possible dangers? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s episode of “The Word on Fire Show.” […]
God Became a Baby
Source: Bishop Robert Barron via YouTube Merry Christmas, friends! As you gather today with family and friends, it is likely that someone, at some point, will bring in a newborn. And everybody will want to see the baby. The whole room will stop whatever they are doing to see this […]
The ‘New Paradigm’ Can’t Deliver
Source: Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek via thecatholicthing.org. Reprinted with permission. Since the 1960s, progressive Catholics have promoted a new morality to replace older, normative approaches that they believe foster guilt and exclusion. Prominent cardinals and bishops have embraced this “New Paradigm” and are using the international synodal process to spread […]