He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)
Month: June 2024
Twelfth Sunday: Persevering to the End
Fear no one….Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven (Mt. 10: 26, 32). Our Lord addresses these words to us as He did to His Apostles; and we need these words of encouragement and reassurance as we contend with the challenges of remaining faithful to the[…]
Our Lady Ta’ Pinu: an Oasis of Hope from the Island of Gozo for the Whole World
The 22nd of June is a busy day liturgically – Saints Thomas More, John Fisher, as well as Paulinus of Nola – and it is also the feast of Our Lady Ta’ Pinu. The story of how the Virgin Mary revealed herself to Karmni Grima is full of wonder. The story is first recounted in[…]
If we lived in a state where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us saintly. But since we see that avarice, anger, pride and stupidity commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice and thought, perhaps we must stand fast a little, even at the risk of being heroes. (Saint Thomas More, +1535)
Liturgical and Moral Orthodoxy
The Catechism makes clear that there is a close link amongst the three-fold mission of the Church, leiturgia, diakonia and martyria: (cf., Deus Caritas Est, #25). That is, liturgical worship, charity, and the witness of the moral life, with a deep connection “between purity of heart, of body and of faith” (cf., CCC, #2518). I[…]
A Brief Commentary on Dignitas Infinita
Dignitas Infinita was released by the Vatican on April 8, 2024 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, currently the head of the Dicastery, has described the Vatican’s new document on human dignity as much a reflection of Pope Francis’ pastoral thinking on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, surrogacy,[…]
Pope Benedict, Thomas More and the Role of the Church
(The following is an excerpt from an address give by Pope Benedict XVI in Westminster Hall on September 17, 2010, the feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine, upon his Holiness’ pilgrimage to England) In particular, I recall the figure of Saint Thomas More, the great English scholar and statesman, who is admired by believers and non-believers[…]
Saints John Fisher and Thomas More: Men for Our Times
Two glorious martyrs of the ‘Reformation’ are celebrated today. First, Saint Thomas More, husband, father, lawyer, sometime chancellor of England, martyred in 1535 along with his compatriot Saint John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and cardinal of the Church. Thomas More at first tried his vocation with the London Carthusians – who would end up being[…]
Saint Paulinus of Nola
BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 12 December 2007 Saint Paulinus of Nola Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Father of the Church to whom we turn our attention today is St Paulinus of Nola. Paulinus, a contemporary of St Augustine to whom he was bound by a firm friendship, exercised his ministry[…]
At communion we ought to ask for the remedy of the vice to which we feel ourselves most inclined. (Saint Philip Neri, +1595)