R. Thomas Richard's Blog, page 24

On homosexual marriage

Is marriage a human right, which ought not to be denied to any two people?  The question is raised with great passion and zeal these days by homosexuals, who claim that this right of theirs is being denied for no reason beyond mere prejudice.  As full human rights were once denied to slaves and then to descendants of slaves, as rights were once denied to women, now homosexuals are the targets of this injustice.

What a difference faith makes, in the laws of a nation!  And how far has America...

Proposal for a Parish Adult Formation Program

The following is a proposal – or maybe more an apologetic, or an exhortation – for a Parish Adult Formation Program.  The darker and more confused the secular world becomes, the more pressing is the need for systematic, comprehensive adult formation in the Faith in parishes and dioceses across the land.  Is anyone listening?  Is anyone awake?

1. Introduction: The importance of adult formation

The Church has collected many documents, studies, exhortations and recommendations concerning the...

The Importance of Reverence in the Church

Below are portions taken from an article by a remarkable Catholic philosopher, Dietrich von Hildebrand, on the crucially important virtue of reverence. I invite you to read it.

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First, Irreverence:

The irreverent man can never remain inwardly silent. He never gives situations, things and persons a chance to unfold themselves in their proper character and value. He approaches everything in such an importunate and tactless way that he observes only himself, listens only to himself...

The One Thing Necessary

Lk 10:38  Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house.
Lk 10:39  And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
Lk 10:40  But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."
Lk 10:41  But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
Lk ...

On the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

Sr. Lucia was one of the three children who were visited by Mary in the apparitions of Fatima.  Late in her life she wrote a book, "Calls" from the Message of Fatima.  The book is remarkable, and is itself a call to repentance and conversion so greatly needed in our time.  The beginning chapters of her book are titled "Calls" – to Faith, to Adoration, to Hope, to love God, to Forgiveness, to Prayer, to Sacrifice, ….  The list and the chapters go on and on, calling this darkening world to the ...

How Close is the Day?

When the angel came to Zechariah, the future father of John the Baptist, to tell him of Elizabeth's surprising motherhood and the remarkable vocation of his coming son, the angel said this:

Lk 1:16  "And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,

Lk 1:17  and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

The phrase "to...

Contraception: a Cancer in Marriage

I'm active on a non-Catholic (evangelical Protestant) discussion/debate forum, and the issue of contraception vs. NFP has come up again.  I'm posting here what I posted there, since I know that the issue is far from understood or received universally among Catholics.  I sincerely believe that lack of Catholic fidelity to the Church's teachings against contraception is one of the most serious problems we have today.  Contraception erodes or destroys the very foundation of a Christian...

Lukewarm Souls and the Divine Mercy Novena

Jesus asked that the Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday.   He gave St. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most difficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent….

The powerful Ninth Day of the Novena, and its prayer for the lukewarm, has this:

Ninth Day

"Today bring to Me the Souls who have become Lukewarm,

and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy...

Deadly lukewarmness and apathetic disciples

Fr.  Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap., was appointed by Pope John Paul II "Preacher to the Papal Household."  He still serves in this office, preaching a weekly sermon in Advent and Lent in the presence of the Pope, the cardinals, bishops and prelates of the ...

Former Catholics and Anti-Catholic Fervor

The Cathedral...

Many former Catholics did not leave the Church because of cool and reasoned conclusions about authentic doctrine or belief.  Many left hungry and angry, after heart-sickening confrontations with hypocrisy, carnality and/or heresy in the Church.  There is passion in the rejection of the Church in many former Catholics!  This anti-Catholic passion in new "born-again" evangelicals comes more often because of wounds to the heart – wounds and hurts within them due to the sins of...