30 04, 2018

Two Modern Myths of Ancient Church History

By |2018-05-02T03:44:24+00:00April 30th, 2018|Theology|

Myth 1: Catholic means universal, as in what all Catholics believe in the 21st century.   Truth:  Catholic is that which is believed everywhere, always and by all.Many people believe that the term "Catholic" means universal in Latin. This is true, but the Greek root of this word is even older: As you can see, Catholic means "according to the whole." By whole, that means everything in the Bible and oral tradition (2 Thess 2:15.) It means the fullness of the truth. The modern myth is that "Catholic" means universal—but only today. The problem with this definition is that it falls short of the original Patristic definitions of Catholic. The [...]

12 09, 2017

What Muslim Invaders Could Not Accomplish

By |2017-09-12T12:02:03+00:00September 12th, 2017|Theology|

I am rarely shocked by what I see in the media, but this one got me: https://youtu.be/npj5MqcNPJU This 60 second video is Dutch children learning to pray to Allah in a small mosque in the Netherlands.  So, the full title of this blog post will be “What Muslim invaders could not do against Europe, Europe did to herself.” But it is actually a hopeful blog post with a strong resolution.  I want to get a little into the world of Divine Providence to ask why God would allow this. I don’t know the mind of God, but I think I may have a decent answer. Let’s consider that the only [...]

30 06, 2017

10 Years After Summorum Pontificum

By |2021-04-07T14:40:07+00:00June 30th, 2017|Theology|

Ten years ago this week, Pope Benedict XVi issued an apostolic letter called Summorum Pontificum that decreed that all Roman Catholic priests could offer "the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite," also known as "the Traditional Latin Mass" that preceded Vatican II.  In fact, Pope John Paul II had encouraged bishops to allow their priests to do this, but Pope Benedict went a step further in saying that priests did not need permission from their bishop to do the old Mass in private.  Restrictions were to be loosened for this Mass offered in public, too.  The Roman Catholic priest was also given permission to give the old absolution in Latin [...]

27 06, 2017

The Over-Intellectualization of the Catholic Faith

By |2017-06-28T14:35:31+00:00June 27th, 2017|Theology|

I have only been a priest for seven years. About halfway through that period, I switched from the Novus Ordo to the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments. It was also during this time that I stopped saying a line that I was famous for in seminary: “We do not have a crisis of sacraments. We have a crisis of catechesis.” I used to say this because I knew how many people received Holy Communion in this country without knowing Who they were receiving. In fact, I put my money where my mouth was:  As a young priest, I taught a Eucharistic class just off-campus of Colorado State University, a school [...]

30 04, 2017

Second Sunday After Easter

By |2019-04-05T16:10:45+00:00April 30th, 2017|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

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 [...]

28 06, 2016

On Eternal Rome

By |2018-05-22T16:40:11+00:00June 28th, 2016|Theology|

This is an edited re-post of a little-known blog I wrote when I was last in Rome. I originally called it "Peter and Paul" but two other titles that fit are: "Why Eternal Rome will Triumph over Temporary Rome" or "Why the hierarchical Church was no different from the charismatic Church." Most of us Americans picture the early Christians of Rome being physically underground but spiritually free. Then, everything changed in 313 when Constantine’s edict of Milan reversed the course of history, allowing Christians to be physically “above-ground” but spiritually oppressed by the Emperor and Pope who inadvertently became strange bedfellows. The idea of the pre-edict-of-Milan Christians being “more free” [...]

21 07, 2015

Ransom Note

By |2015-07-22T14:11:20+00:00July 21st, 2015|Theology|

Last week, Planned Parenthood was exposed for handing over the tissue of dead babies for research.  The president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, immediately made a press release explaining that Planned Parenthood itself did not make any money on this. Here's proof she was lying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjCs_gvImyw America will be shocked, but the question remains:  What will end abortion?  Today, a woman in Louisiana texted me the answer:  "Our Response: Prayer and fasting isn’t enough! We need to sacrifice all for the love of God." We need to sacrifice all for the love of God. America has seen the evil of abortion, but we continue to slaughter 3,500 children a day.  Why?  Most [...]

4 07, 2015

America’s Passion

By |2015-07-05T10:48:55+00:00July 4th, 2015|Theology|

     Driving across the country just two days ago, I came into DC during the night.  Fireworks had already started over our Nation's Capital.  As I drove, I had been listening to the unabridged version of the book that probably many of you have read:  Unbroken.  It's the story of resilience of an American soldier from WWII named Louie Zamperini, liberated from a Japanese concentration camp.  (See above.)  Louie belongs to what Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation."  The Greatest Generation had what it means to be an American: passion.      In The Greatest Generation, Brokaw interviews an older couple about divorce, and why divorce flattened future generations so severely.  The older woman's remedy [...]

17 06, 2015

Sons of Thunder

By |2015-07-10T13:26:32+00:00June 17th, 2015|Theology|

By a strange turn of events, I have to spend a day in Istanbul while trying to get home from Spain—even though it's the opposite direction. The reason this is especially strange is because these two countries were evangelized by the brothers James and John, sons of a Galilean fisherman named Zebedee.  These two men became first century Apostles of Jesus Christ.  Jesus nicknamed them "Sons of Thunder" because of their attitude towards life.  After His resurrection, Our Lord sent St. James to Spain and St. John to Turkey (with His own Blessed Mother.)  I flew from James' land to John's land today, and I'm tryıng to navigate a keyboard set up for the Turkish language at 9pm here in the city [...]

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