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The Parable of Two Sons, Jesus Christ and Us…

26th Sunday in Ordinary TimeBy Fr. Victor Feltes The father in Jesus’ parable has two sons. He tells the first, “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.” That son refuses but later changes his mind and goes. The father comes to the other son and gives the same command. That son replies, “Yes, sir,” but does not go. When Jesus asks the chief priests and elders which son did the father’s will, they answer, “The first.” Were those Jewish leaders correct? Yes and no. Yes, it is true that it is better to do the right thing than to merely say the right thing. Nevertheless, it is a father’s will that all his children would do both, obeying in word and deed. In Jesus’ parable, neither son did the father’s will perfectly. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is perfectly faithful to our Father. “Ho...

God can use anything, but He shouldn’t have to…..

In understanding Sunday’s Gospel, we cannot overlook the audience Jesus was addressing. The text begins, Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people …. In other words, He was addressing the religious leaders and religiously observant of His day. He calls at least three things to their attention, three common sins of the pious, if you will: lost connections, leaping to conclusions and lip service. Let’s look at each of these in turn, remembering that although they are not exclusive to the religiously observant, they are considered in that context. Let’s also learn how they are particularly problematic when it comes to our mandate to hand on the faith through evangelization. I. Lost Connections The text says, A man had two sons. It goes on to describe these two sons as very diff...

Five Cardinals (Burke, Sarah, Zen, Brandmüller and Sandoval) Send Five New ‘Dubia’ to Pope Francis Ahead of Synod on Synodality…

VATICAN CITY — Five cardinals have sent a set of questions to Pope Francis to express their concerns and seek clarification on points of doctrine and discipline ahead of this week’s opening of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican.  The cardinals said they submitted five questions, called “dubia,” on Aug. 21 requesting clarity on topics relating to doctrinal development, the blessing of same-sex unions, the authority of the Synod on Synodality, women’s ordination, and sacramental absolution.  Dubia are formal questions brought before the pope and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) aimed at eliciting a “yes” or “no” response, without theological argumentation. The word “dubia” is the plural form of “dubium,” which means “doubt” in Latin. They are typically raised b...

The globe hums with 7,100 different languages. Which one is the world’s oldest?

The globe hums with thousands of languages. But when did humans first lay out a structured system to communicate, one that was distinct to a particular area? Scientists are aware of more than 7,100 languages in use today. Nearly 40 percent of them are considered endangered, meaning they have a declining number of speakers and are at risk of dying out. Some languages are spoken by fewer than 1,000 people, while more than half of the world’s population uses one of just 23 tongues. These languages and dead ones that are no longer spoken weave together millennia of human interactions. That means the task of determining the world’s oldest language is more than a linguistic curiosity. For instance, in order to decipher clay tablet inscriptions or trace the evolution of living tongues, linguists ...

9 Interesting Facts About St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Whose Feast Day is October 1…

The Little Flower is the patroness of missions, even though she never went on one herself St. Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the most renowned saints of modern times and yet, surprisingly, there are some little-known details about the Little Flower. In honor of her feast day, here are 9 things that you probably didn’t know about her. 1. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Most photographs and statues depict Thérèse with dark brown hair, when, in fact, she had luscious blonde curls and blue eyes. Her hair is encased above her bed at her house — Les Buissonnets — in Lisieux, France. 2. Thérèse was canonized only five years after her favorite saint. Growing up, Thérèse had a special devotion to St. Joan of Arc — depicting her in plays and reading excessively about her. It’s ironic that these two...

New Study Shows That Now Almost Two-Thirds of US Catholics Believe in Real Presence…

“Regardless of the official teaching of the Catholic Church, what do you personally believe about the bread and wine used for Communion?” A few options shown below were given for answers. “During Catholic Mass, the bread and wine…  1. Actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ  More in US 2. Are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ  3. No answer” The problem with the question, the report said, is that respondents could choose both 1 and 2 and still be correct, citing the U.S. bishops’ conference, which said: “The transformed bread and wine are truly the Body and Blood of Christ and are not merely symbols.” The Eucharist is “substance and symbol,” the CARA report said.  Mass attendance and education Respondents in the CARA study were also surveyed ...

Ecumenical Gathering at the Vatican Will Be a ‘Little Assisi’…

COMMENTARY: Three points are worthy of note as the heads of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion come together to pray ahead of the Synod on Synodality. Saturday will be a day like none other in Vatican history. It begins with a consistory for new cardinals in the morning — always a big event in Rome, but a regular occurrence. The same day in the afternoon, however, will be an ecumenical meeting to pray together ahead of the Synod on Synodality. Indeed, the event is entitled “Together — Gathering of God’s People.” It will include both Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the head of Orthodoxy, and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the Anglican Communion. With the two of them joining the Holy Father, it will be the rare occasion when ...

California governor signs bills that would penalize schools that refuse to teach LGBT content…

Under this law, the state superintendent will also have the authority to purchase textbooks for students within a school district and recoup the costs from the school if it refuses to provide textbooks in line with the state’s diversity and inclusion standards. The bill was signed amid a feud between the state and the Temecula Valley Unified School District, which rejected a controversial state-approved social studies textbook over its inclusion of pro-homosexual and pro-transgender themes. Newsom criticized the school district when he signed the bill. “From Temecula to Tallahassee, fringe ideologues across the country are attempting to whitewash history and ban books from schools,” Newsom said in a statement. “With this new law, we’re cementing California’s role as the true freedom state:...

Dispatches From Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenian Christians Flee Another Genocide…

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Is the Synod on Synodality ignoring the concerns of most Catholics in the pews?

The lead-up to the upcoming Synod on Synodality in Rome has me discouraged. Pope Francis has invited all the baptized to participate in the theme of “Communion, Participation, and Mission.” He has also given clear instruction that participating in the synod means first listening—not so much to others or to ourselves but to God in personal prayer. That is how we prepare for the second step, walking together. And walking together is how we get to the third step, witnessing to each other. But instead, so far we have seen a battle between different visions of what the church is or should be, often waged on social and traditional media by people who are not even directly involved in the synod. The preparations for the synod could have provided moments where the church could teach while at the s...

This Sunday, We Say ‘Amen’ … But Do We Do What He Asked for His Vineyard?

Jesus tells a story that’s deceptively simple on the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. The Parable of the Two Sons seems so slight and so obvious it almost isn’t worth talking about: A man tells his two sons to work in the vineyard. One says he’ll go but doesn’t; the other says No, then goes. Which did the father’s will? The one who went to the vineyard. My natural reaction when I hear that is to shrug my shoulders and say, “Got it. Thanks.” But then I remember two things that make me shiver and want to beg for mercy and grace. The first thing I remember is what “Work in the vineyard” means, and then I remember how I spent my week. The vineyard is the Church, and our work is, first, to love God by following Christ’s command to make disciples and teach his commandments and, second, to lo...

German Bishops Conclude Tense Gathering With All Eyes on Synod on Synodality in Rome…

As the Synod on Synodality approaches, the Catholic world will be watching how Germany’s controversial Synodal Way integrates (or collides) with the global Catholic event. As German bishops wrapped up their plenary meeting on Thursday with a final press conference amid tensions over same-sex blessings and a whole host of underlying issues, the focus was clear: All eyes were turned toward the fraught relationship with Rome and the forthcoming Synod on Synodality.  Bishop George Bätzing of Limburg, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, took public issue with the apostolic nuncio in Germany, Archbishop Nikola Eterović, for reminding the German bishops of statements by Pope Francis on anthropology, including gender ideology.  Citing Pope Francis, the papal ambassador had addre...