5th Sunday After Easter: The Precepts of the Church
The old list has six precepts. The new list has five precepts.
21
05, 2017
30
04, 2017
Second Sunday After Easter
aka Good Shepherd Sunday This sermon recognizes the wolves that have caused the current crisis in the Catholic Church. In this sermon, I also describe the shepherds that God may be currently raising in order to shepherd the Church, as Christ and the early Apostles led and guarded the Church. This Sunday is appropriately called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” due to the Gospel from St. John chapter 10. Today is the eclipsed feast day of St. Catherine of Siena in the old calendar. In line with today's sermon, it is worth noting the seven things that God the Father told St. Catherine of Siena would restore the Catholic Church in times of [...]
23
04, 2017
Why you should stop confessing pornography
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 [...]
29
03, 2017
The Passion of Jesus
This is a talk I gave to the North Shore Latin Mass Society. It considers the historical, mystical and theological perspectives of the five sorrows of the Rosary.
20
03, 2017
5 Things You Might Not Know About St. Joseph
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 [...]
28
11, 2015
10 Last Things
The Four Last Things refer to death, judgment, heaven and hell. The 10 Last Things as a phrase does not exist, but all are found in Scripture and Tradition. Remember, Advent (starting tonight) is the time to prepare not only for Christ's first coming, but also His second coming. So, when is Jesus coming back to earth? The answer: At the end of the world. When is the end of the world? Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”—Mt 25:13. A theologian of Scripture here in the USA said he believes one reason why so many men have left the Catholic faith for Protestantism is because the Catholic [...]
20
11, 2015
Christianity vs. Islam
Today's feast honors St. Felix of Valois, a 13th century saint who gave himself to be the ransom (replacement) of Christians taken hostage by Muslims. At Mass tonight, I preached my sermon on St. Felix and the theology of both Christianity and Islam.
5
11, 2015
Colbert vs. Mother Teresa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5weP79J7bM In this short video, Stephen Colbert (comedian-turned-theologian) says “Faith ultimately can’t be argued; faith has to be felt." Let's cut through his poor philosophy and consider reality: 1) Feelings are often no different from biochemical pleasures. God uses feelings in all stages of prayer, but it is not central to the substance of the soul where the Blessed Trinity resides. If faith must be "felt" as Colbert said, then where does that leave Mother Teresa who couldn't feel anything for 60 years of prayer? But false-positives abound, too: If I drink an enormous Chemex hipster coffee and feel like a saint who could take on the world, did I just "feel" an increase in [...]
2
11, 2015
Repost: The Greatest Work
All Souls Day and all of November is the month to pray for the dead, so I decided to run my first "re-post" on this very topic. (Don't worry. I have a new blog post coming out Friday called "Stephen Colbert vs. Mother Teresa," and also don't miss my recent commentary on New York Times' Ross Douthat.) Every Christian is called to do the "Works of Mercy," upon which our final judgment will be based, as seen in Matthew 25: The Final Judgment “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered [...]