Over the past few months, ‘bullying’ has become a recurring topic of discussion among the members of Fusion, our youth ministry at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. For professing his faith one of our members is being bullied – at the Catholic High School he is attending. Sam (a pseudonym) was ecstatic when he learned last […]
Do You Think You Know Why Pilate Condemned Christ? Lacking the authority to execute Christ themselves, the Jewish leaders dragged Christ before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Procurator of Judah. Pilate judged Christ innocent of any civil crime, so he intended to release him. Why, then, did he condemn Jesus to an ignominious death? John the […]
The Catholic religion is full of mystery — the mystery of God. This mystery is not a human puzzle that a Sherlock Holmes can “solve” by the force of brilliant deductions. Nor is it the type of enigma that can be understood only by an intellectual elite. The ancient world was full of “mystery religions” of […]
I am always happy when I hear a principal say during orientation ‘you have a chosen a Catholic school, and as such, we hold certain values and expect that you will follow those guidelines.’ I have seen first-hand what happens when Catholicism gets, shall we say, “watered down”. As parents my wife and I want […]
In the spiritual life, we are pitted against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Its warfare and our opponents manifest in many ways, some more obvious than others. One doesn’t have to scan television, or music on the radio, very far to encounter anti-Christian or anti-Christ messages there. It screams, “Hey, don’t follow Christ […]
On the evening of December 6th, TV2000, the Italian equivalent of EWTN, aired an interview of Pope Francis where he criticized the Italian translation of the Our Father. He pointed out how some other languages have better translations. His argument is the Italian isn’t an accurate description of what the Gospel says, not to change […]
“Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly 73 percent of all accidents involving falling objects.” – Dave Barry The 2017 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Rainier Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish for their work on detecting gravitational waves, “wrinkles in space”. For a detailed account of the award to these old guys […]
Traditional methods within authentic Catholic education are slowly deteriorating. This began, in part, thanks to a controversial movement made by a select number of Catholic institutions in 1967. Their act of “separation,” known as the “Land O’Lakes Statement,” has altered and distorted Catholic identity for the last 50 years. As a result, many Catholic colleges […]
Ever since the public release of Pope Francis’ exhortation Amoris Latitia last year, the Catholic media has been full of stories about the errors that are perceived within it’s writing. These errors have been widely written about by scholars, priests, bishops, and laypersons. I have written about them many times since immediately after the exhortation’s […]
I was recently trying to explain to some American friends in their sixties, who came to visit for dinner, why it is so scandalous in Portugal for my three-year-old daughter not to be in “school”. It is a huge cultural norm here that children go to daycare at the age of two or no later […]
Scripture warns us clearly that in the last days, charity will suffer. Matthew 24:12 “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” I always considered the imagery of cold hearts as horrible and something I was immune to. I have learned that the warning St. Paul gives about not assuming we are […]
On October 8 and 9, 1859, the Blessed Mother appeared to Adele Brise, a young Belgian woman, in Champion, Wisconsin. Three times, Adele saw a lady dressed in shining white robes with a crown of 12 stars about her head, standing in a grove between two trees. During the third appearance, the lady spoke. I […]
The Fifth Way – Argument from Governance or Order Just as the Third and Fourth Ways build on the first two Ways, the Fifth of the Five Ways builds on everything else. But, again, let’s put this in modern terms. In St. Thomas’ terms, natural bodies “act for an end.” In modern terms, natural and […]
People recounted incidents from the good old days. Embellishments were, of course, a part of the tales, some of which have grown in size and dramatic impact over time. Nevertheless, old friends spent a big part of the weekend catching up with one another. Some hadn’t seen one another in many years. The occasion was […]
Diana (pronounce Dee-ahna) sat in the passenger seat as I was driving. Her three kids were in the back seat looking out the windows quietly. Diana was equally quiet as we had only met the day before, and it was only by chance that I was asked to give her and her family a ride […]
The Faithful Are Abandoning Ship “Crisis of faith” is a popular term bandied about to describe what is going on in the Church today. The Catholic Church had been the faithful’s arc of safety and spiritual refuge up until recently. The crisis of faith among the faithful and our clergy is alarming. Conflicting statements and […]
May marked one year since my college graduation, so in honor of the occasion I thought I would take a chance to reflect upon my college years. This might seem like an odd thing to do on a site called Catholic Stand, but the connection is that I attended a faithful Catholic college. Because God […]
Paul Griffiths is an expert on Catholic thought, holding the Warren Professor of Catholic thought at Duke Divinity School but this past month he was forced to resign for questioning liberal orthodoxy. On the other hand, last week, the Newman Society listed nine Catholic colleges who were commencement speakers who disagreed with Catholic teaching. One […]
I have been working in the field of education for more than twenty years now. And every time I come to reflect upon the fruits of Easter, I always try to connect it to the work of educating young people. This month, I have decided to write about the relationship between the Resurrection story and […]
Catholic Schools Week begins January 29 and ends February 4. Catholic schools all across the United States will be celebrating in their own unique ways. Established in 1974, the week celebrates the ongoing contributions of Catholic education in the United States. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” (A good […]
I recently came across several articles which were based upon a large amount of excellent data that the Center for Disease Control collects annually. Thousands of students in grades 9-12 across the nation self-report the frequency of sexual activity, usage of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and weapons, and the amount of physical activity they undertake. This […]
Can the ideas of a nineteenth-century saint, known for his work among young people, say something relevant to educators of the twenty-first century? Don Bosco and Young People Every January 31st, the Church marks the feast day of St. John Bosco, who died January 31, 1888. He is known in the Church as the Father […]
Having grown up in the United States, I thought it was common knowledge that playing sports is a school of morality, character training, and indispensable to a child’s upbringing. Now that I live in Portugal and am raising my children here, I see that is not the case in other places around the world; such […]
Doctrinal Homily Outlines, a lectionary-based aid for homilists, began as this layman’s response to the Year of Faith Pope Benedict XVI declared for 2012-2013. In Porta Fidei, Benedict’s apostolic letter announcing the Year of Faith, the Holy Father asked each of us to “rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and […]
The Hypocrite and the Sinner: Not Twins
The Struggle Is Real William Gurnall once stated, “While the Christian commits a sin he hates it; whereas the hypocrite loves it while he forbears it.” We have all felt the frustration of falling into sin the same day as attending Mass or praying. The truth is that we all play many positive and not […]
Seeing the Face of God in the Poor
There is a tenet in the Legion of Mary so central to the mission of the apostolate that perhaps all the works and prayers its members perform can be said to flow directly from it: it is critical for Christians to see the face of God in their fellow man. Whether a person is in […]
“Infinite Jest” Reaffirms The Power of Confession
David Foster Wallace’s book, Infinite Jest, is unique: hilarious and bleak, enlightening and depressing. Wallace tried on two separate occasions to become Catholic but sadly was never baptised. You can feel his striving and yearning, looking for the Truth. Tragically, he killed himself when he was only 46 and we will never know whether he […]
Living A Fanatical Catholic Life
Society desperately needs passionate Catholics – those who put Church teachings above secular ideologies, who strive daily to grow in the knowledge of God, who base their decisions around the Church, and who maintain joy through life’s trials. Living a fanatical Catholic life is what we are all called to do. When we apply the […]
Scripture Passages That Say Jesus Isn’t God
Imagine this scenario. You hear the doorbell ring, you open the door, and you see two well-dressed men standing on your porch with smiles on their faces. They ask you a seemingly harmless question about God, and then they ask you what religion you practice. You tell them that you are Catholic, so they ask […]
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