Every June 29 the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul. Some early Christian witnesses claim that these two illustrious Apostles were martyred under the Roman emperor Nero on the same day: St. Peter being crucified upside down and St. Paul being beheaded. Interestingly, their calling to martyrdom seemed to have been traced out by the crucifixion of our Lord and the beheading of St. John the Baptist. Also noteworthy is the pagan legend that two twin brothers,...
March 7, the feast day for St. Perpetua, is behind us. But, her inspirational testimony still lives on. St. Perpetua was an incredible young African woman, mother and martyr of the Catholic Church. She bore witness to her Savior with her very life; this, around the year 203 A.D. She was one of those Catholics who were martyred shortly after her baptism.
The new convert was arrested and imprisoned for being a Christian. Summoned before the court in northern Africa, she was given the...
Dr. Keith Ablow, a frequent guest on Fox News, asserted just a few weeks ago that “we are raising a generation of deluded narcissist.” He cited an interesting study from the American Freshmen Survey which found that “college students are more likely than ever to call themselves gifted and driven to succeed, even though their test scores and time spent studying are decreasing.” In fact, this inflated self-esteem among the younger generations, a kind of narcissistic drive to stardom,...
Euthanasia is not such a bad word anymore. In fact, the medical practice of prematurely declaring a person as clinically dead is widespread in the West; especially when the patient is an organ-donor. Although the practice of organ donation is morally permissible and is inspired by honorable intentions, nevertheless, what should be borne in mind is that not a few hospitals, hospices and other medical institutions are heavily influenced by the culture of death.
Take Dominic Wilkinson, a...
Political and Spiritual Slavery:
In 1994, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a book called “Turning Point for Europe?” In it he maintains that immediately following the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, after spending years in slavery, God gave Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. It was no accident, he said, that liberation from slavery under Pharaoh and the keeping God’s law were to be closely linked to one another. But sadly, as we find out in the books of Exodus...
In 1917 Pope Benedict XV couldn’t help but notice that the world was growing cold to Christ. The observation of these developments begged an important question: Why the change? Why was had Western Civilization grown tired of its native religion? Instead of blaming the world, Pope Benedict XV did some serious soul searching on behalf of the Church. He asked, “Has the Word of God then ceased to be what it was described by the Apostle, living and effectual and more piercing than any...
On October 13, 1884 Pope Leo XIII, just after celebrating Mass, turned pale and collapsed as though dead. Those standing nearby rushed to his side. They found him alive but the pontiff looked frightened. He then recounted having a vision of Satan approaching the throne of God, boasting that he could destroy the Church.
According to Pope Leo XIII the Lord reminded him that his Church was imperishable. Satan then replied, “Grant me one century and more power of those who will serve...
Theology of the Body, as it has been taught in recent years, has capitalized on the sexual dimension of the body and its spiritual significance. This, no doubt, has contributed to its widespread popularity. Within this context, the person – both body and soul – is viewed as a gift to God, as a gift to one’s spouse and even as a gift in the communion of persons at large.
Also, the very anatomy of the body – in its in male and female form – symbolizes, not only the mystical...
On Jan. 9, Episcopalian leaders of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. announced that it will honor same-sex weddings. In fact, the Voice of America website reported that the “church recently approved a special marriage rite that specifically blesses same-sex marriage.”
With this new development and three new states legalizing same-sex marriage in the Nov. 2012 elections, an impartial observer cannot deny the gay-rights agenda has the momentum. But with this momentum, an...
Up to the time of St. John the Baptist's first appearance, the sons and daughters of Abraham were the chosen people of God by virtue of their ethnic heritage and religious affiliation. But all that would change with the New Covenant Church.
As Jesus himself would later say, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in...
