23 04, 2017

Why you should stop confessing pornography

By |2018-02-04T16:51:13+00:00April 23rd, 2017|Theology|

Really, a better title of this article is "Why to stop confessing pornography badly." Or: “Why confession without amendment will still lead to the loss of your soul.” People do not realize the danger in confessing pornography without a firm resolution of amendment to totally change their life.  That is the purpose of this blog post. Going to confession within a week (before or after) of Divine Mercy Sunday totally relieves the soul of not only the eternal effects of sin (hell) but also the temporal effects of sin (purgatory.) Jesus said to St. Faustina, "The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness [...]

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20 03, 2017

5 Things You Might Not Know About St. Joseph

By |2017-03-19T02:22:32+00:00March 20th, 2017|Theology|

I’m going to write on five surprising things of St. Joseph in celebration of his feast day today. 1) St. Joseph was probably born without original sin. I know this one sounds heretical, but follow me here. A nun in Ohio received private revelations from Mary and Joseph in 1956, all of which were approved by Cardinal Burke in his letter to the USCCB in 1997. These apparitions are known as “Our Lady of America.” St. Joseph said the following about himself in this apparition: “It is true, my daughter, that immediately after my conception I was, through the future merits of Jesus and because of my exceptional role of [...]

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10 03, 2017

40 Martyrs of Sebaste

By |2017-03-10T04:28:00+00:00March 10th, 2017|Theology|

Today is the Memorial of the 40 Roman Soldiers who banded together in modern day Armenia, refusing to renounce Christ.  St. Basil writes of their glorious and manly martyrdom: These holy martyrs suffered at Sebaste, in the Lesser Armenia, under the Emperor Licinius, in 320. They were of different countries, but enrolled in the same troop; all in the flower of their age, comely, brave, and robust, and were become considerable for their services. St. Gregory of Nyssa and Procopius say they were of the Thundering Legion, so famous under Marcus Aurelius for the miraculous rain and victory obtained by their prayers. This was the twelfth legion, and then quartered [...]

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13 02, 2017

How God Loved Your Soul Before It Existed

By |2018-07-13T02:27:34+00:00February 13th, 2017|Theology|

Last night, a spiritual directee in Europe emailed me a quick question on Scripture and philosophy.  I typed out a medium-length answer, but it hit me that this might actually help my other readers to understand God's love in a new way.   I normally don't publicize emails to me, but she gave me permission and I changed her name.  The above picture is Aristotle, and you'll see how he fits into the answer. Happy Sunday, Padre! I have questions. Souls don't exist before our bodies, right? At conception, is when God first creates the soul and joins it to the body. Right? That's when we first 'began' but the soul has no end. I don't fully understand [...]

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20 01, 2017

How to Pray for Your Enemies

By |2017-01-20T17:41:58+00:00January 20th, 2017|Theology|

The Catholic Church has taught from the days of St. Paul that it is the duty of state to use the death penalty. "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. [...]

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26 12, 2016

St. Stephen and Rogue One

By |2016-12-26T19:03:03+00:00December 26th, 2016|Theology|

Spoiler alert on Rogue One for the second half of this blog post. Today is the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Catholic Church. His martyrdom is found in Acts chapter 7 and it contains the jarring testimony of a young deacon who chooses God’s religion over man’s intertwined religious games. Although engaging the high-powered Jewish religious leaders of Christ’s own time, St. Stephen is fearless in proclaiming how Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of all the Hebrew Scriptures. Before being stoned to death, Stephen recounts to the Pharisees all of Salvation history. Then he accuses them: "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. [...]

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25 12, 2016

Christmas Prose

By |2016-12-25T08:27:13+00:00December 25th, 2016|Theology|

This is a poem/prose that I wrote in seminary.  I quoted this poem in my Sunday Midnight Mass Christmas homily.  The homily was only four minutes, and it's found here: “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 [...]

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20 12, 2016

Why Catholic Men are Bored in Church

By |2018-07-13T02:22:22+00:00December 20th, 2016|Theology|

Although Colorado’s Supermax is the federal prison that is featured on all the TLC shows, Colorado’s death row for our homegrown felons is actually on the Eastern Plains. For my second assignment as a priest, I was sent to a parish containing within her bounds that very Correctional Facility. Upon arrival, I had a plan to reach not just the Catholics, but all the semi-professed Christians at the prison. I would hold a Bible Study called “What the First Christians Believed,” but not write “By Padre Peregrino” on the flyer. It was an immediate success. Many people from all denominations arrived. Great discussion ensued for the first two weeks. However, [...]

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30 11, 2016

Were the Apostles Buffoons before Pentecost?

By |2016-11-30T15:58:01+00:00November 30th, 2016|Theology|

I must admit that there is something attractive and even accurate to the thesis that the Apostles were buffoons before they had the full transformation that happened at Pentecost.  First, Mother Angelica points out that they never seemed to catch anything on their own even as fishermen!  "Jesus chose a bunch of stinky fishermen" she reminds us as to why God chose someone like her to be a cloistered-evangelist to the nations in founding EWTN. We have Christ's disciples' obvious sins, like Peter's threefold denial of Jesus.  And yet, after the Resurrection, Jesus does not say "Peter, about denying me three nights ago...You can still remain my disciple, but I'm going to have [...]

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29 10, 2016

Martin Luther, Catholics and Jews

By |2017-10-23T12:41:45+00:00October 29th, 2016|Theology|

Luther's rebellion against the Apostolic Faith turns 500 years old, and yet some Catholics actually consider his "reforms" to be a cause of admiration and celebration.  Instead of theological alarms, lets just do some myth-busting of bad European history.  Let's consider the truths of German history, both medieval and 20th century. The First Myth to be busted is that Martin Luther was a gentle, reforming monk.  The truth is that by any modern standards, he was a sociopath.  Like Hitler, Luther chose to incite violence by declaring that "Jews and Papists are ungodly wretches.  They are two stockings made of one piece of cloth."  He once wrote a book called The [...]

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