Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
At my Question and Answer Column at the Sunday Visitor I was recently asked the following question. I hope you might find the answer informative and encouraging. Fight on, soldiers of the Cross. The phase “Non serviam” has been associated with Satan and his response to God when being cast from heaven in a war. …
Continue reading “On the Victory that is Already But Not Yet. A Encouragement to the Weary.”
We live in times in which there is a widespread notion that to correct sinners is to “judge” them. Never mind that it is sin that we judge, not the sinner. Never mind that in accusing us of judging, the worldly-minded are themselves doing the very judging they condemn. Never mind any of that; the …
In the reading for Friday Mass St Paul links the matter of sexual morality to justice: This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who …
One of the more difficult Biblical themes to understand is the concept of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain human beings. Here are some examples where it seems he does: The LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you …
The first reading at Mass this past week (17th Sunday cycle A) focused on the kingship of Solomon. Perhaps the high point of his life when he was given the opportunity to ask anything whatsoever from God and chose not gold or glory but wisdom. On Wednesday we read about the visit of the Queen …
At Sunday Masses the past two weeks we have heard parables about seeds and sowers. In Sunday’s Gospel we pondered the mystery that God permits weeds to grow and counsels patience in too radically seeking to prevent or remove them. This demonstrates his respect for our freedom and his power to draw good even from …
Continue reading “Why Would God Sow Seed He Knows Will Bear Little or No Fruit?”
We in the West live in a place and at a time in which almost every burden of manual labor has been eliminated. Not only that, but creature comforts abound. Everything from air conditioning to hair conditioning, from fast food to high speed internet, from to indoor plumbing to outdoor grilling, from instant computer downloads …
Continue reading “Stop Yoking Around – A Homily for the 14th Sunday of the Year”
The Catholic approach to the end times is different from that in certain (but not all) Protestant circles, especially the Evangelicals, who have a strong and often vivid preoccupation with signs of the Second Coming of Christ. Many of the notions that are expressed there are either erroneous or extreme. Some of these notions are …
Continue reading “Are These the End Times? What the Catechism Says”