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How is racism like abortion?
The devil always militates against the dignity of the person made in the image of God. So how is racism like abortion — and sexual abuse, for that matter? The original temptation of the Serpent that lured Adam and Eve in the garden was, “You will be like gods.” See, God’s plan all along was to make us partakers in divine nature. He wanted us to be like him! The problem with the Serpent is that he was promising a path when we become like gods, without God, without grace. And without grace to raise us up, the only way to mimic God is to push others down in relation to you. Racism makes you like gods by diminishing entire other groups of people. Abortion lowers the person by saying to them, “You only have value and a right to life if I want you to.” Sex abuse and trafficking cuts people down ...
‘Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World’ is wildly popular — and faithfully, reasonably Catholic…
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is an unusual podcast. Dealing with the fantastical, it is both wildly popular and, refreshingly, solidly Catholic. Unlike other successful and more conventional Catholic podcasts, such as Father Mike Schmitz’s The Bible in a Year, Mysterious World deals with theology and what might loosely be described as “the paranormal.” It’s as if Art Bell — the late, legendary host of the all-night Coast-to-Coast AM, which treated similar subject matter — were broadcasting today on a Catholic media network. Who is behind Mysterious World? And what is their inspiration? Mysterious World is the brainchild of its co-presenters: Jimmy Akin and Domenico Bettinelli. “There are many good and successful podcasts that have a single, presenting voice,” says ...
Pope Francis launches two-year ‘synodal path’ with Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica…
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis formally launched the two-year global consultation process leading to the 2023 synod on synodality on Sunday with a call to “look others in the eye and listen to what they have to say.” Preaching at a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 10, the Pope said that Catholics taking part in the synodal path should strive to “become experts in the art of encounter.” “Not so much by organizing events or theorizing about problems, as in taking time to encounter the Lord and one another,” he said. “Time to devote to prayer and adoration — this prayer that we neglect so much: to adore, to make room for adoration — listening to what the Spirit wants to say to the Church.” “Time to look others in the eye and listen to what they have to say, to build rapport, to b...
True confessions, Miami vice, and the communion of saints…
Happy Friday friends, Ed. Condon here. Well, I’m not really here. I’m on paternity leave and I gave an absolute promise that I’d do my best to keep my head out of the office and on the domestic scene. But it was Vatican finance week this week, with the trial in the Secretariat of State’s corruption scandal getting back under way, and there’s only so far ‘away’ I can actually stay. Before we get there, here’s what else has been in the news: Quick links Ever wondered if your confessor was letting you off lightly, or if Father X’s reputation for harsh penances meant he should dial it back a little? Ever wanted to know if there are, you know, rules about what a priest can assign in the confessional? Well, this week, Michelle McDaniel talked to several priests to try to answer these quest...
How much does the Church influence politics? It depends on how much the Church maintains her discipline and focus on Christ…
By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio – articles – email ) | Oct 08, 2021 As a resident of New York State for the first nineteen years of my life, I remember hearing my mother and father discuss whether they ought to vote again for Nelson Rockefeller as Governor of the Empire State, considering that after a period of extra-marital affairs he had divorced his first wife only to marry again almost immediately. How “quaint” of my parents, in the early 1960s, to be concerned about the personal, social and political repercussions of infidelity and divorce! The life-long commitment of marriage was still highly valued for much of the World War II generation. But the parental culture as a whole was focused on prosperity and making a “better” life for their children after the privations of depression...
Do you often cringe after conversations, convinced you made a bad impression? Relax. Research shows that people like you more than you think… …
After meeting someone for the first time, do you see yourself as a glittering conversationalist, a kind of Wildean wit whose bons mots sparkled and delighted? Or do you find yourself wincing at every possible faux pas, imagining all the ways you may have bored or offended? If you identify with the former description, you are in the minority. Multiple studies show the average person takes a rather low opinion of their conversational abilities, and the social impressions they leave. In most situations, we are often much more pleasant company than we imagine, yet we forget all the cues of friendliness towards us, and think we were irritating or dull. It is as if we are remembering a completely different conversation from the one that actually happened. The mismatch between our perceptions of ...
Bill Freehan of the Detroit Tigers died Aug. 19. He was a Catholic gentleman behind the plate…
As Major League Baseball begins its post-season, let us pause and remember the late, great Bill Freehan of the Detroit Tigers, who died this past August 19: a Catholic gentleman and a great ballplayer. If I say that Bill Freehan was the Motown equivalent of Brooks Robinson, please understand that as the highest tribute a native Baltimorean could pay to a ballplayer and a man. After growing up in Detroit, Freehan played baseball and football at the University of Michigan before signing with his hometown Tigers for a $100,000 bonus (which his father didn’t let him have until he’d finished his degree). After a year in the minors, Bill Freehan arrived in the majors to stay in 1962, and for the next 15 years was the premier catcher in the American League, elected to eleven All-Star teams and wi...
5 animals you didn’t know existed…
[embedded content] Ever heard of a humphead parrotfish, or seen a worm-eating giant snail?! Here are 5 animals you might have never heard of. Join Our Telegram Group : Salvation & Prosperity
Pope Francis and Nancy Pelosi meet at the Vatican…
“Let me repeat: no one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have the government pay for it,” he said. Pelosi had a 15-minute audience with Benedict XVI in 2009. The Vatican said that the German pope “took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.” Vatican Media. Pope Francis is expected to receive Joe Biden on Oct. 29, in the U.S. president’s first official visit to the Vatican since his inauguration, according to sources at the Apostolic Palace. Joe Biden, the second Catholic president in U.S. history, is due to attend the G20 summit in Rome on Oct. 30–31. In a statement after the papal audience, Pelosi descr...
Why do Carmelite rosaries have six decades? Why this extra decade?
Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary! If you look closely, you might notice that the rosary worn by many Discalced Carmelite friars and nuns is a little different than other rosaries. The main difference is that these rosaries often have six decades, or groups of ten beads, instead of just five decades like the rosary most people carry in their pocket or purse or have hanging in their car. Why this extra decade? Join Our Telegram Group : Salvation & Prosperity
‘Luxury’ 2,700-year-old toilet discovered in Jerusalem…
(CNN) — A 2,700-year-old toilet has been found during archaeological excavations of a former royal mansion in Jerusalem. Dating from the end of the 7th century BCE, the private toilet cubicle, was unearthed in the remains of the building, which overlooks the City of David archaeological site and the Temple Mount, according to a press release from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), published Wednesday. The royal estate operated at the end of the Kings of Judah period, according to the IAA, before Israel was crushed by the Assyrians. Hewn from stone, the bathroom is a rectangular cabin with a carved toilet that stood over a deep septic tank. “The toilet, made of limestone, is designed for comfortable sitting, with a hole in the center,” the IAA wrote. Yaakov Billig, director...
The Holy Rosary is so important, I’ve written on it 20 times…
Today, marks the 20th time that I have written on the great spiritual weapon known as the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary – yes, it is that important! As I reflect on the Holy Rosary, I remember that throughout my life, in times when I needed prayer the most, it was always the Holy Rosary that was in my hands. From my early college days to the week my father passed away in April 2015 to praying the Rosary with my wife (weeks after we had just met), the prayers of the Rosary were on my lips. Although the Rosary seemed to play a major part during many times of my life, it’s been over the last 12 years that the Rosary has truly become a more steadfast prayer in my spiritual life. From 2008-2010, I spent time at Franciscan University of Steubenville working on my second Maste...
