Big Pulpit – Page 230

SATVRDAY EDITION

9 February AD 2019

The second story is darker. Due to what appears to be a possible unfolding scandal regarding a whistle-blower, a new activist group of Catholics in the Diocese of Gaylord is calling on Bishop Steven Raica to immediately reinstate a young priest. Bishop Raica suspended Fr. Matthew Cowan last month after Father Cowan filed a complaint of sexual harassment against a top diocesan official. ☩ Rod Dreher of The American Conservative

Why Abel’s Sacrifice Was Better

The early Christians understood this. St. John Chrysostom observed that Abel’s piety is demonstrated by “the fact that he did not casually offer any one of his sheep but ‘one of the firstborn,’ that is, from the valuable and special ones,” whereas in Cain's case, “nothing of the kind is suggested”; Genesis 4:3’s description of Cain bringing “an offering of the fruit of the ground” suggests a lack of zeal or care. ☩ Joe Heschmeyer, J.D., of Catholic Answers Magazine

FRIDAY EDITION Read More »

THVRSDAY EDITION

7 February AD 2019

5 Causes of Infertility that (Almost) No One Talks About

Infertility is a part of life for 1 in every 8 couples in the U.S. Most people know that risk factors like age and tobacco use can make having a baby difficult, yet, there are young, tobacco-free families who struggle to get pregnant in every community. Because knowledge is critical in safeguarding your reproductive health, here are 5 causes of infertility you may never have heard of. ☩ Margaret Brady of Natural Womanhood

THVRSDAY EDITION Read More »

VVEDNESDAY EDITION

6 February AD 2019

Awe & Apostolate: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings Explained

Our Readings for this Sunday combine two major themes: awe & apostolate. Both Isaiah and Peter are awed & ashamed to find themselves in the presence of God; but both are subsequently sent out (in Greek, apostello) on mission for the Almighty. We, too, feel our unworthiness and need of mercy in God’s presence, & also our responsibility to spread the Good News of mercy to all people. ☩ John Bergsma, Ph.D., of The Sacred Page

Why Renewing Cultural Catholicism Might Be the Solution to the Declining Church in America

Fr. Matt Fish, the pastoral administrator at Holy Family Catholic Church in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, wrote a detailed twitter thread describing reasoning for the “collapse” of the Catholic Church in America, or the West. He explained that because our culture has disposed of what is truly “cultural Catholicism,” the Church as a whole suffers from the consequences. ☩ ChurchPOP

Thees & Thous: Anglican Usage’s Familiar God

I have been blessed to attend occasional Mass & Evensong celebrations at a not-so-nearby Anglican Usage Parish, St. Thomas More (Scranton, PA). Blessed, in that the liturgy leads me closer to our Lord. It is a return to traditional liturgy, an escape from “inclusive language” & liturgical elevator music, those elements that hide the true message of the liturgy, communion with our Lord, the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. ☩ Robert Kurland, Ph.D., of Catholic Stand

VVEDNESDAY EDITION Read More »

TVESDAY EDITION

5 February AD 2019

Did Pope Pius XII Prophesy Warnings About the “Suicide” of Altering the Faith in Its Liturgy?

In 1933, Pope Venerable Pius XII was Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, Secretary of State to Pope Pius XI. As Secretary of State, then Cardinal Pacelli had a close working relationship with his longtime friend, Count Enrico Pietro Galeazzi. Sixteen years after the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Pacelli made prophetic remarks to his close confidant & intimate collaborator. Until last year when a complete English translation was produced, only partial copies of his full remarks to Count Galeazzi ever appeared in Catholic publications. ☩ Billy Ryan of uCatholic

TVESDAY EDITION Read More »

MONDAY EDITION

4 February AD 2019

Is The Bible Reliable?

I often hear from skeptics & atheists on my channel who say that there’s no evidence for the things that Christians believe about Jesus. As soon as they are presented with the volumes of written material about the life & miracles of Jesus, including those of the New Testament, the immediate response is that those sources are inadmissible because they are written by Christians & this makes them biased &, therefore, unreliable. The first problem with this objection is that it doesn’t follow. Just because someone believes the things that they’ve recorded, doesn’t mean that they aren’t telling the truth. In fact, that’s a pretty strange objection. ☩ uCatholic

Is the Hierarchy Really Serious About the Abuse Crisis?

. . .the Church’s public witness has been badly damaged and is likely to suffer further damage. The scandals will certainly affect the credibility of Catholic teachers and clergy when they teach about sexual ethics. But because the scandals also involve lying, cover-ups, cowardice, financial fraud, cronyism, abuse of power, and possible blackmail, they will result in a general loss of confidence in the Church’s authority to speak on any moral matter. ☩ William Kilpatrick, Ph.D., of Crisis Magazine

MONDAY EDITION Read More »

SVNDAY EDITION

3 February AD 2019

St. John Fisher by Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs

An artist whose work I have been intending to feature for a little while now is the painter, Gwyneth Thompson Briggs. Ms. Briggs, in the words of her own website, is "a contemporary sacred artist in the perennial tradition of Western sacred art. She is dedicated in particular to reviving techniques from the Renaissance & Baroque eras to reveal the glory of God in the midst of today’s ecclesial & civilizational crises." ☩ Shawn R. Tribe of Liturgical Arts Journal

SVNDAY EDITION Read More »

FRIDAY EDITION

1 February AD 2019

FRIDAY EDITION Read More »

THVRSDAY EDITION

31 January AD 2019

How to Survive the Present Crisis in the Catholic Church

The crisis in the Catholic Church is no secret. The Church is infested, at the highest levels, with homosexualists (people who want to normalize homosexuality), homosexual harassers (men who use positions of power to manipulate younger men into gay sex), pederasts (men who engaged in sex with post-pubescent teenage boys), financial criminals, heretics and liturgical abusers. This isn’t the first time in Church history we’ve seen a time such as this, but it may be the worst time, and the consequences are only now beginning to take shape. ☩ Shane Schaetzel of Complete Christianity

THVRSDAY EDITION Read More »

MONDAY EDITION

28 January AD 2019

MONDAY EDITION Read More »

SVNDAY EDITION

27 January AD 2019

The Resurrection of the Dead; Last Days: Quantum Logic, Cosmology

In an article in Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature, a Russian mathematician, Andrej Grib, has speculated on how resurrection might follow from quantum mechanics. I’ll attempt to summarize some of his novel ideas about how quantum mechanics is to be interpreted, what that means in terms of cosmology, & finally, how it suggests the possibility of resurrection. ☩ Robert Kurland, Ph.D., of Catholic Stand

SVNDAY EDITION Read More »

SATVRDAY EDITION

26 January AD 2019

SATVRDAY EDITION Read More »