What is idolatry and autolatry? Why is obedience crucial to avoid both?

According to David Fagerberg, in his article at “The Catholic Thing,” 9/18/22. Religion is a virtue because it renders God his due. When asked to whom latria (“supreme worship”) should be given, justice answers that only the Uncreated should be worshipped, not a creature.

Recently, my sister told me a story about her 6-year-old daughter – my niece – who had a friend of hers over. Now, the friend she had over has nine brothers and no sisters. So, at one point she was delighted when they were able to lay out in the bedroom all of my niece’s princess dresses and take careful time beholding and appreciating each one (not something often done when you are the only girl in a family with 9 brothers).

Why is there suffering in the world? Why do we always seem to rebel against God? Why do we want to take the place of God our Creator?

It all started when Adam and Eve mistrusted God and instead listened to the Evil One, the Ancient Serpent, the father of lies. The devil tricked Eve to disobey God, to be like God without God, “to know what is good and what is bad.” It means to know everything like God and even to decide what is good or bad, which is a prerogative of God not of the creature.

Some years ago, I came across a little book called “Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power” by the Catholic German philosopher Josef Pieper. This book explained to me why I generally hated political discourse but didn’t know why. I wanted to be an informed Catholic American doing my patriotic duty –which falls under the fourth commandment – by learning the issues and voting well i.e. according to a well-formed Catholic conscience. And yet, I had such little patience for politicians and their discourse –why?

Dear Family of God,

This weekend we will hear Jesus rebuke the Pharisees and the Scribes: “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” (Mark 7:6-8).

Recently in Mass the opening prayer—also called the The Collect—directed these words to God concerning the things of this world, “loving you in all things and above all things…” So, what is it? Are we to love God in all things, or above all things? The answer of course is –yes.

What does it really mean when they say “The Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist?

The Catechism says this: In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.”

Fifty years ago, Archbishop Fulton Sheen solemnly said during a television show, that “First of all, we are at the end of Christendom, now not Christianity, not the Church.” He meant, “Christendom is economic, political, social life as inspired by Christian principles. That is ending — we’ve seen it die. Look at the symptoms: the breakup of the family, divorce, abortion, immorality, general dishonesty.” That was 1974. Today we know it’s even worse with the definition of marriage, gender confusions, and total disrespect of God and His commandments.

I love the Olympics. So, I tuned into the Opening ceremony of the Olympics to watch athletes around the world represent their respective cultures. It is also a time for the host country to present itself to the world, for France to put its best foot forward showcasing its culture and people. In the midst of these festivities, those in charge of the event thought it would be appropriate to have Da Vinci’s portrayal of Jesus’ Last Supper be reenacted by a group of drag queens in a sexually charged performance. It was awful, and weird, that someone thought this would be a good thing to include.

As you may know, evangelization is a passion of mine. It is an honor, privilege, and a great duty that the Lord has placed upon us in commanding us to “go make disciples” of all nations. We make others a disciple of Jesus by preaching Jesus. But there can often be preliminary steps to this proclamation and the way in which we evangelize can also have a significant impact on our fruitfulness. Thus, I would like to offer a few pointers (certainly not exhaustive) that I have found effective in evangelizing others.

This past Saturday there was an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Mercifully, the gunman was not successful in taking his life. I offer a few thoughts on what we can take away from this sad day in American history.

What occurred that day was an attack on our democratic way of life. There was an old Roman orator named Quintillian who said that society always needs men (and women) who can defend justice before a crowd.

The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. Jesus sent out his disciples 2 by 2. We are made in the image and likeness of a God who is in Himself an eternal exchange of love. Thus, we are made for communion and love. We are made for relationships, and among the various loves we need as human persons, friendship is key.

Dear Family of God,

In our Gospel this weekend, Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deeds in Nazareth, because of their lack of Faith. Pride is one of the capital sins, his townmates cannot accept Jesus because of their pride. We all need to develop the Virtue of Humility so that we can accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and avoid eternal separation from God.