1 – The purpose of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus. Too many people have a false understanding of the purpose of the Catholic Church. After Jesus made the Church, He gave a clear mission statement to His apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” -Matt 28:19-20. Everything else the Church does, feed the hungry, perpetuate the Sacraments, etc. is in service to this mission. Evangelization isn’t optional. 2- …
Author: Manuel Xavier
1968 at 50 Years
Robert Royal is a Catholic author and the editor-in-chief of the Catholic Thing and the president of the Faith & Reason Institute based in Washington, D.C. Royal received his BA and MA from Brown University and his PhD from The Catholic University of America. He has taught at Brown University, Rhode Island College, and The Catholic University of America. From 1980 to 1982 he was editor-in-chief of Prospect magazine in Princeton, New Jersey. From 1986 to 1999 he served as vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, along with president George Weigel from 1989 to 1996. His most …
12 Claims Every Catholic Should be Able to Answer
Deal W. Hudson is the director of the Morley Institute for Church & Culture, and is the former publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine, a Catholic monthly published in Washington, DC. He is the author of seven books: Onward Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States; Understanding Maritain: Philosopher and Friend; The Future of Thomism; Sigrid Undset On Saints and Sinners; Happiness and the Limits of Satisfaction and his autobiography, An American Conversion. Freedom of speech is a great thing. Unfortunately, it comes at an unavoidable price: When citizens are free to say …
10 Books That Belong in Every Catholic Library
Carlo Dolci (1616-1686), “St. Catherine Reading a Book” ‘Reading has made many saints’ Father John P. Cush I have to admit that I am not easily scandalized. Not to sound jaded or world-weary, but it takes an awful lot to shock me, and yet, as a very young priest, a simple statement spoken by an older priest, which, unfortunately was not made in jest, shook me to my core. He stated simply, clearly, and directly that, after his first three years of priesthood, he never, ever wrote another homily. After all, he had gone through the lectionary cycle, and, although …
7 Things You Need to Know About The Catholic Church
1 – The purpose of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus. Too many people have a false understanding of the purpose of the Catholic Church. After Jesus made the Church, He gave a clear mission statement to His apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” -Matt 28:19-20. Everything else the Church does, feed the hungry, perpetuate the Sacraments, etc. is in service to this mission. Evangelization isn’t optional. 2- …
On Sackcloth, Ashes and Staying Catholic During the Abuse Crisis
Tod Worner is a husband, father & Catholic convert. He is a practicing internal medicine physician, lectures on World War II history, and writes regularly for Aleteia and Patheos (as “A Catholic Thinker”). Follow him on Twitter (@thinkercatholic), Instagram (Catholicthinker) and Facebook (A Catholic Thinker). On Sackcloth, Ashes and Staying Catholic During the Abuse Crisis By Tod Worner Baldassare Franceschini (1611–1690), “St. Catherine of Siena” The truth of Christ taught by the Church is not undone by the wickedness of some of his shepherds. Recently, we have seen the release of Pennsylvania’s sweeping grand jury report on decades-long, stomach-turning …
Legion of Mary
Mary invites you to join her Legion! “I am all yours, my Queen, my Mother, and all that I have is yours.” The Legion of Mary is an Association of Catholics who, with the sanction of the Church and under the powerful leadership of Mary Immaculate, Mediatrix of all Graces, have formed themselves into a Legion for service in the warfare which is perpetually waged by the Church against the world and its evil powers. The unit of the Legion of Mary is called a praesidium, which holds a weekly meeting, where prayer is intermingled with reports and discussion. The …
Callused Consciences
Callused Consciences A callus, the dictionary informs us, is “a thickened and hardened part of the skin or soft tissue, especially in an area that has been subjected to friction.” There we have a description of our contemporary moral condition. We have been subjected for so long to the “friction” of so much moral mayhem that we have been stupefied by it. A few years ago, I gave a homily about abortion. After Mass, the visiting priest chastised me, “Jim, you seemed downright angry during that homily. You can’t preach if you’re angry!” I was compelled to disagree, “Father, we’ve …
Sorry USA Today, Evolution Isn’t “Settled” Science
Sorry USA Today, Evolution Isn’t “Settled” Science By Nicholas Satin Nicholas Satin is a secondary level history teacher and currently works in a public middle school. He received his BA from Central Connecticut State University and his …
The Liturgical “Sign of Peace”: Move or Remove
The Liturgical “Sign of Peace”: Move or Remove By Gerard T. Mundy Gerard T. Mundy is a writer and a university professor of philosophy and political theory at a Catholic institution in the New York area. At the request of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a requisite inquiry into the timely appropriateness of the Latin Rite’s gesture of peace shared amongst the people during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass commenced almost a decade ago. The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (“the Congregation”), under the papal authority of a new Holy Father, Francis, disseminated publicly …