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Scrupulosity: When Piety Becomes an Affliction…
[embedded content] Do you know someone who is VERY strict with their spiritual and moral practices, to the point where you think it might be a problem? Or, do YOU sometimes struggle with feelings of unworthiness of our Heavenly Father’s love? If so, this episode is for you. Scrupulosity is a spiritual and psychological affliction that can sprout from a desire to be pious and virtuous, and can be associated with obsessive compulsive behaviors. Dr Malinoski and I discuss the roots of this affliction, how to combat it, and how to find a solid therapist who respects your Catholic faith to help you overcome it… Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews Entertainment blogs & Forums
‘Be unapologetic in your masculinity,’ Super Bowl winning kicker Harrison Butker tells Benedictine College male students…
‘Pervasiveness of disorder’ to blame for societal breakdown, bad leadership Super Bowl winning kicker Harrison Butker ripped into COVID lockdowns and pro-abortion Catholics, like President Joe Biden, during his graduation speech at Benedictine College. But he also encouraged students to be open to marriage and having kids, particularly directing his comments towards female students. To male students, he told them to “be unapologetic in your masculinity,” and not listen to voices telling them they do not matter. “As men we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in,” he said. The Kansas City Chiefs kicker addressed the class of 2024 at the conservative Catholic college in Kansas on Saturday, noting they had missed out on opportunities due to...
Pope Meets Head of Divided Syro-Malabar Church, Tells Kerala’s Faithful: ‘Unity Is a Duty’…
Meeting with the head Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, which has been divided for a number of years by a fierce liturgical dispute, Pope Francis emphasises the importance of obedience to ecclesiastical authorities. By Joseph Tulloch Pope Francis met on Monday morning with Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, the head of Kerala’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The Pope’s address to Archbishop Thattil ranged over a number of topics, from the ancient history of the Church in Kerala to the liturgical dispute which has been raging there for a number of years. An ancient history Pope Francis began his address by reflecting on the ancient faith of the Syro-Malabar Church. “The faithful of your beloved Church”, he said, “are known not only in India, but throughout the whole world, for the ‘vigour’ of the...
Cardiac Attest: How the Sacred Liturgy Can Ignite Souls with Sacred Heart of Christ…
Dr. Lynne Bissonnette-Pitre is a psychiatrist, musician, schola director, and iconographer based in Portland, OR. For several years she had known the positive impact of goodness, truth, and beauty on mental health and well-being, but this knowledge rose to new heights in 2005. After Pope Benedict XVI was elected, Bissonnette-Pitre started a schola, which drew the attention of listeners who wanted to know more about this audible artform. Bissonnette-Pitre responded to this interest by planning and conducting workshops on Gregorian chant. These explorations of the “how and why” of sacred song eventually became the Sacred Liturgy Conference (SLC). The Sacred Liturgy Conference has been graced by the guidance of several outstanding Church leaders over the years. Cardinals, archbishops, monsign...
The transitional diaconate is integral to the Catholic Church…
Is the transitional diaconate still necessary? In other words, is it necessary for a priest to first be ordained a deacon before being ordained to the priesthood? In the recent essay “The Catholic Church doesn’t need transitional deacons.” for America Magazine, Deacon William T. Ditewig argues a resounding no. According to him, the diaconal step on the path to the priesthood is no longer necessary or beneficial. However, I disagree. Reimaging the diaconate should proceed with greater caution and theological care. Discontinuity or reform? In the conversations on the potential reform of the diaconate, as voiced by Cardinals McElroy and Cupich and detailed by Deacon Ditewig, we encounter a pivotal theological crossroad: Should the Church embrace a hermeneutic of discontinuity, severing the tr...
Exploring little-known sites in the Holy Land: Stairway to the Sanhedrin, Chapel of the Ascension, St. Stephen’s Battleground, and the (Empty) Tomb of Our Lady …
Notes from the Author: 1) First and foremost–I offer this post to Our Lord through the intercession of His Mother, St. Joseph, and St. Stephen: in reparation for my sins and the sins of the world, for our repentance, and for an enduring peace throughout the Middle East and the world as quickly as possible. 2) It has been a while since I have posted. My previous post can be read here: https://zistezesto.wordpress.com/2023/12/20/chapter-6-exploring-little-and-some-well-known-sites-in-the-holy-land-bethlehems-bright-streets-the-sky-shattered-by-glorias-holding-our-eucharistic-lord-in-the-cave-of-the-nativit/ 3) As a reminder, copy/paste GPS Coordinates listed below into Google Maps to see or travel to each location. 4) I apologize for any annoying ads wordpress.com aut...
Did you know that this beautiful Irish island was once a concentration camp for Catholic priests under Cromwell?
[embedded content] This video is presented by Dominican Father Conor McDonough and shot and edited by Patrick Grant. Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews Entertainment blogs & Forums
What is love? Love is to will the good of the other. But what does that mean?
Open the pages above to reveal more options! Home What is Love? Love is to will the good of the other. Ok, but what does that mean? “I love you.” Imagine sincerely saying this to someone for the first time, and getting the response, “what do you mean?” In that moment, the stakes would be too high to pause for a calm, honest exploration of this question. That’s why this site exists. God is love. 1 John 4:8 Maybe the answer is obvious, though. Think of the far-reaching impact of sayings like “love is love”, “love is all you need”, and “love conquers all”. They’re practically cliches at this point. Even the phrase “what is love” itself is notable for being the title of a 90’s dance anthem, which everyone reading this has probably heard more times than they can count. If that’s the case, eve...
Pope Francis: ‘We Entrust Mothers to the Protection of Mary, Our Heavenly Mother’…
“May Mary, she who has already arrived at the destination, help us to walk together with joy toward the glory of heaven,” he said. The pope noted that Italy and many other countries celebrate the solemnity of the Ascension on Sunday. He said that Jesus shows us the way to heaven “step by step,” like a mountaineer ascending a summit, in the Gospels and through the sacraments. “What are these steps that must be taken?” he asked. “Today’s Gospel says: ‘preach the Gospel, baptize, cast out demons, pick up serpents, lay hands on the sick’ (cf. Mk 16:16-18).” “In summary, perform the works of love: to give life, bring hope, steer away from any form of wickedness and meanness, respond to evil with good, be close to those who suffer.” Pope Francis added that the more we do these “works of lov...
10 Life-Changing Daily Rules of Life, From St. John XXIII…
Pope John XXIII’s morning resolutions provide practical means to help you become a saint. In high school, I stumbled across The Journal of a Soul by Pope John XXIII. Besides the knowledge that he convened the Second Vatican Council, was affectionately known as “Good Pope John,” and had a sense of humor, I had not known much else about him. His journal — which he began as a young seminarian — provides a glimpse into John XXIII’s spirituality as he himself once admitted: “My soul is in these pages.” Each entry speaks of his desire for perfection, from the time he was a young seminarian until his last entry as pope, and contains the practical methods he created to pursue holiness. As any saint, the Pope focused on finding God and striving for sanctity in the present, never worrying abou...
Beethoven, Garth Brooks and Tom Brady Converge at the Vatican…
It was an inspired choice for the Vatican to hold its World Meeting on Human Fraternity in the same week as the bicentennial of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a sublime anthem and prayer for universal brotherhood. From the sublime to the … well, less sublime; Garth Brooks and Tom Brady will be on hand, too. Brooks will sing at the closing concert in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday. It is possible that Pope Francis will give Standing Outside the Fire the same Holy Spirit gloss which Pope St. John Paul II gave to Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the Wind at the 1997 Eucharistic Congress in Bologna. It is unlikely that Vatican organizers, when asking Brady to participate in a sports roundtable entitled “Competing in Mutual Esteem,” knew that he would arrive less than a wee...
Bishop Thomas Paprocki: Biden mocked the Catholic faith by invoking the Blessed Trinity in his pro-abortion message…
“Making the sign of the cross is one of the most profound gestures a Catholic can make in showing reverence for Christ’s death on the cross and belief in the Holy Trinity as we sign ourselves in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” the bishop said. Paprocki expanded on his criticism of Biden on the diocesan “Dive Deep” podcast the following day, May 9, saying Biden is “mocking the gesture” of the sign of the cross because he was doing it “to promote something that was evil, and that’s what makes it sacrilegious.” In his original video, Paprocki discussed the provisions by which one could excommunicate himself and provided the definitions for heresy, schism, and apostasy. However, he stopped short of attaching any of those terms ...
