“In a divided and fragmented world, I want to invite all believers, and also all people of good will, to reconciliation and fraternity. Our faith leads us to spread the values of peace and mutual understanding, of the common good. We pray that Christians, followers of...
Dress to Impress For Catholic Mass? I want to make something clear from the outset. This article is NOT about dressing to impress on Sundays. The Church is not about fashion; though, there are many beautiful chasubles, habits, stoles, and the like in the Church’s two...
The “O” Antiphons The “O” Antiphons are part of the ancient and venerable tradition of the Roman Church going back to at least the eighth century, if not earlier. They are associated with Pope St. Gregory the Great. An antiphon is a short sentence that comes before or...
Voting No man is an island. As Catholics, we have a profound understanding that the human person, body and soul, can only find fulfillment in a sincere gift of themselves (cf. GS 24). This means, primarily, that we are concerned with sharing the Gospel with others in...
Context of the Catholic Controversy In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, there is a liturgical battle brewing between two allowed postures of the priest: ad orientem and versus populum. The Catholic Church, in both the East and the West, for the vast majority of...
The Divine Plan is a film by Robert Orlando, played across the United States in theaters only on November 6, 2019. This documentary asks the question: Were President Ronald Regan and Pope St. John Paul II to credit for the downfall of the Soviet Union and Communism?...
If you have not read part one of this series entitled: “Music in the Roman Church, part 1 – What is Sacred Music?” please go read that first for background. In this part of the series, we will get a bit deeper into the specifics of restoring Sacred Music in the Latin...
What is Sacred Music? Maybe you know! Maybe you think you know. Maybe you have no idea. What does the Church say is “Sacred Music?” In January of 2019, Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon wrote a pastoral letter on Sacred Music in...
As fathers, as Catholic men, what are we doing with our free time? Certainly, there are many activities which can help us grow in virtue. And there are many activities which are distractions or diversions. These activities have their place, but are they truly...
Being Catholic in today’s world is difficult. Being a parent in today’s world is, arguably, even more difficult. Parenthood is a great gift from God. Children are an absolute joy. The responsibility, though, is overwhelming at times. There are so many things of which...
Meet The Princess Saint Who Loved To ServeThe Princess of Aragon St. Elizabeth of Portugal, also known as Isabel, was the daughter of Pedro III, King of Aragon, and the granddaughter of Emperor Frederick II, Constantia. She was born in 1271 and died in 1336. She was...
Time for Vacation Summer is here and school is out. It’s time for a vacation. Many families, the world over, go on vacation to get away from the normal day in, day out of busy schedules. Some people stay at home and have “stay-cations.” Some go to the beach or the...
There are four Marian (related to Mary) Dogmas. Dogmas are those doctrines of the Church which have been defined by the Pope and the teaching authority of the Church. Dogmas are teaching, or doctrines, of the Church that have been bolded, underlined, and...
In the Fourth Century, St. Ambrose of Milan used a beautiful title for the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Mother of the Church.” This title was officially used by Pope St. Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council. In 2018, Pope Francis added a new feast to the Roman...
What I Notice About My Wife I am by no means a perfect husband. I have many faults and do not always show my wife how much I love her. Even when I do not mention the things I see, I do notice quite a bit. Here is what I notice. I notice when my wife gets up early to...
What is RCIA? What are the Steps? For the past few decades, the normal way for an unbaptized non-Catholic to enter the Catholic Church is the RCIA process. This stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. There is an entire book of the Church (aptly named...
The Mother of All Vigils The Easter Vigil is the most extraordinary liturgy of the entire year in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. The Roman Missal guides the celebration of this great night and even refers to the Easter Vigil as the “mother of all vigils,”...
When filling out any number of government documents or certain applications, there is usually a box to self-report religion. Inevitably, one of these boxes, in the English speaking world at least, will read “Roman Catholic.” Growing up, I called myself a “Roman...
The Church is in the midst of multiple crises. The sex abuse scandal reemerging, around the globe, has shown that while great progress has been made, there is much work to do and much justice left unpursued. There are countless victims of abuse who have not felt...
Mass With Kids: A Seemingly Impossible Task Parenting young children at Mass seems like an undoable task. How can they be expected to be still and silent for an hour or more? Should I take turns with my spouse and do Mass in shifts? Will the other parishioners be...
Priest, Prophet, and King A Baptized man shares in the offices of Christ of priest, prophet, and king. A Baptized man who is the father of children is a priest, prophet, and king in a particular way. His house is his domestic church and his children are the flock that...
What is Apologetics? Are we apologizing for being Catholic? Are we sorry about the Faith? No way! Apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia meaning a “defense.” In his first letter, Peter says, “… Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you a...
The Holy Mass There are two main parts of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: the liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that these two main parts “together form ‘one single act of worship… (CCC 1346).’” Let’s...
Pope Francis has canonized several new saints are Pope Paul VI, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Father Vincenzo Romano, Sister Nazaria Ignacia de Santa Teresa de Jesús March Mesa, Father Francesco Spinelli, Sister Maria Katharina Kasper, and Nunzio Sulprizio. Let’s take a...
Historical Introduction of the Nicene Creed We call the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is professed every Sunday at Mass in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. In the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church and in our separated...