Theology

8 10, 2015

Marriage Prep and “Annulments”

By Father David Nix|2015-11-02T02:19:05+00:00October 8th, 2015|Theology|

The basics of annulments can teach us a lot about the beauty of marriage. The first thing to realize about an annulment is that it is not a Catholic divorce. The starting point for why divorce does not exist in the Catholic Church is simple: Jesus said: But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. ’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. ’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.—Mark 10:6-9. No man (not even a priest or bishop [...]

3 10, 2015

Incarnation Meditation

By Father David Nix|2015-10-03T08:41:41+00:00October 3rd, 2015|Theology|

“One will be sent in the flesh,” thundered the most beautiful Trinity to the angels and all the courts of heaven eons ago. In perfect harmony they rejoiced. But later, they wondered if anyone but a lowly archangel like Raphael (still more glorious than a burning star) could dare condescend again to take flesh as Raphael did for Tobit. Their best guess for the new assignment was Gabriel. God said “Gabriel will go…but in spirit as preparation. One much higher than he will become flesh.” “But how?” the angels wondered, “A cherubim's eyes would melt the trees and mountains. No human warrior's body could even instantaneously hold the power [...]

11 09, 2015

9/11 Hope

By Father David Nix|2015-10-18T22:18:44+00:00September 11th, 2015|Theology|

Bear with the background story before a bit of a show-stopper. My good friend Msgr. Philip Reilly, founder of Helper of God's Precious Infants is my hero of diocesan life. This Irish priest from NYC fasts all day (until 5pm) in front of an abortion mill in Brooklyn. God has closed over 60 abortion clinics due to his work. He trained the Franciscan Friars in sidewalk counseling. They believe he'll be canonized (literally, not figuratively.) This man lives all three munera of the priesthood to the maximum! (See my last post to get that one.) In any case, he was in front of an abortion clinic in Brooklyn when he [...]

9 09, 2015

End of the Priesthood

By Father David Nix|2017-11-01T00:57:40+00:00September 9th, 2015|Theology|

Today is the feast of the 17th century Jesuit, St. Peter Claver. He's seen above in his untiring work in Cartagena, Columbia to the slaves who were brought there from Africa. The "end of the priesthood" doesn't mean that the Catholic priesthood is coming to an end. By "end," I mean the final-end of something. As I wrote in the post The End of the Mass, "end" simply means telos or goal of its existence. What is the end of the priesthood? The answer: The glory of God and the salvation of souls. What is the means to this end? If you answer "the sacraments," then you're only a third correct. [...]

3 09, 2015

Offertory

By Father David Nix|2015-09-04T14:01:44+00:00September 3rd, 2015|Theology|

A friend recently e-mailed me and he said that reading my blog is "like drinking sparkling water while pulling nose hairs." Well, this is going to be one of those sparkling water ones without the pulling of nose hairs. Despite the seemingly-boring topic of this post, the Offertory of the Mass, I’m going to make a tall promise: What I show you on the Offertory of the Mass will transform your weekly worship into something new, interpersonal, meaningful and even thrilling if you enact it, as Mega-Churchy as that promise sounds. The offertory is the part of the Mass after the homily when the priest prepares the altar for the sacrifice. In sung Masses, the offertory prayer is sung. In the sung Latin [...]

2 09, 2015

Trust or Virtue?

By Father David Nix|2015-09-02T23:53:05+00:00September 2nd, 2015|Theology|

Salvation is a free gift that we receive from God at our baptism (1 Pt 3:21.) However, for salvation to be realized, we must cooperate in a life of virtue (Mt 24:13). Maybe we ask the question: Does virtue come from God or from me? Even the gift of virtue or discipline comes from God. While some Catholics try to earn their way to heaven without any trust in Jesus Christ, other Catholics commit the opposite heresy of “once saved always saved,” which usually leads to a life of laziness. This post is not a Scriptural apologetic for the Catholic view of salvation. It’s a short writing where I look [...]

29 08, 2015

Marriage Defenders: Part 2 of 2

By Father David Nix|2015-08-31T19:13:37+00:00August 29th, 2015|Theology|

A friend of mine who is a beautiful wife and mother of seven children was in a supermarket this week. A 50 year old man stopped her and then sarcastically asked her if she knew what "caused" having seven kids. She texted me about this and then added her and her husband's thoughts on this: Some days the world just wears you down and a part of you starts to feel like maybe you are a freak. Not just about having a lot of kids, but about everything. And then you realize you need to spend some time in adoration and start to once again see life through Jesus' eyes [...]

27 08, 2015

Marriage Defenders: Part 1 of 2

By Father David Nix|2015-09-20T00:47:17+00:00August 27th, 2015|Theology|

The reason why the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox hesitantly accept divorce and remarriage today can be traced back to a 9th century synod, where Greece had a pre-emptive episode of England’s Henry VIII’s libido issues. In fact, the Greek bishops of the 9th century held a synod to recognize the legitimacy of the emperor Constantine’s second marriage. A Greek monk, St. Theodore, stood alone in the breach, calling this synod the “Adultery-Synod,” moecho-synodus in Greek. Like history that would be repeated seven hundred years later in England with Henry VIII versus St. Thomas More, the Greek bishops and the emperor stood behind the synod of adultery, not behind the saint. St. [...]

16 08, 2015

Planned Parenthood and Priests

By Father David Nix|2015-09-21T01:20:17+00:00August 16th, 2015|Theology|

When I was sidewalk counseling at an abortion clinic last Friday, it hit me that it's good that there's actually a few priests and bishops speaking out against Planned Parenthood, but there’s still something worse than abortion. "For no crime is there heavier punishment to be feared from God than for the unholy or irreligious use [of the Holy Eucharist.]”—Council of Trent, De Euch v.i., 16th century. This could either refer to sacrilegious Masses or sacrilegious reception of Holy Communion. Of course, the interior state of a person who is receiving Holy Communion can never be judged by another, especially based on exterior indications. However, a priest or a bishop who publicly tramples the rubrics of his [...]

15 08, 2015

Immaculata Dedication

By Father David Nix|2015-08-15T19:26:21+00:00August 15th, 2015|Theology|

I petition the intercession of the following two saints as I consecrate this blog to St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Holy Mother of God, aka the Holy Theotokos, the Immaculata, Mary Most Holy..."Mamma Mary!" as all the Philippina women at my parish lovingly call our mother. I also dedicate it to all the guardian angels of the entire world, and especially the angels of any people the Eternal Father has destined to read my mediocre but true blog. May I suggest St. Maximilian Kolbe's consecration prayer to the Mother of God? I believe St. John Paul II prayed this every day: O Immaculata, Queen of heaven and earth, refuge of sinners [...]