One of the most stressful moments for baptized Protestants entering into full communion with the Catholic Church is making their first Confession. Unlike Catholics who typically need only to recall sins from a month or so, these baptized adults in RCIA must make a first Confession covering their entire lives—many decades for most. Occasionally, a zealous Protestant arrives in RCIA months before Easter asking the question, “Can I go to Confession now?” This sets up the question: How early may a baptized candidate go to Confession? Surprisingly, very little is written on this subject. Of course, it may not be... Read more
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Articles Under: Sacramental Preparation
Beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is the place where tradition tells us the Angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary. An altar stands in this grotto, inscribed with these words: “verbum caro hic factum est” (the Word became flesh here ). The Incarnation of God’s Son into human flesh is not a myth or fairy tale. It is an historical event that happened in a specific year, in an actual village we can locate on a map, within a particular home and family. Numerous consequences flow from this wondrous fact of God’s Son taking upon himself our... Read more
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We recently had our fifth child baptized, and I was remembering our baptism class shortly before our first child was born. It was doctrinally accurate and fully explained the signs and symbols of the Rite of Baptism. I was a young DRE at the time, and it was the same sort of class that I offered as part of my ministry. But if I’m honest, it was woefully inadequate to prepare us to raise our children to know Jesus and his Church. A few years ago, I was listening to a webinar given by Dr. Joseph White on early childhood... Read more
Hay un tema fundamental que corre a lo largo de la Sagrada Escritura: ser llamado por su nombre . Dicho de otra manera, en los ojos de Dios, tú y yo no som os simplemente uno del montón, ni tampoco somos un número seriado. Nuestro número de seguridad social bien puede ser un registro de que habitam os en los Estados Unidos de América, pero ese mismo número fracasa en definir quiénes somos tú y yo. En los ojos de Dios, tú y yo somos amados y no un simple p ie de página en la historia de la humanidad... Read more
La iglesia doméstica ocupa un domicilio: un departamento, una mansión, una cabaña, una granja, un pent-house, cualquier tipo de vivienda a la que llamamos hogar. Todo el mundo, desde el psicólogo junguiano casi agnóstico, Jordan Peterson, al “influencer” que se ha vuelto viral, el almirante de la marina William McRaven, y hasta tu propia mamá aboga a favor de ordenar el espacio donde uno habita como el primer paso hacia una vida exitosamente ordenada, tanto al nivel práctico como a nivel simbólico. Para aquellas personas que tengan una visión sacramental de la realidad, también diríamos que es a nivel físico... Read more
Fortitude is a virtue that is admired by even the non-religious. Even people who think temperance is for the overly pious, consider meekness a weakness, and scoff at humility believe that fortitude is a laudable attribute. For thousands of years, cultures have honored the courageous, recognizing the hero that finds the balanced mean between fear and impetuousness. As C. S. Lewis notes in The Screwtape Letters , people are “proud of most vices, but not of cowardice.” The Catechism tells us, “Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It... Read more
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In Lumen Gentium , the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, we are taught that “all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (40). If wit and brevity are more your speed, perhaps Mother Angelica said it better: “if you’re breathing and you’ve got two legs, you’re called to holiness.” [1] This is an important thing for every catechist to remember, especially on days when students seem extra bitter, extra ornery, and extra closed-minded. God still loves each of them profoundly... Read more
The matrimony of two of the baptized…is in real, essential and intrinsic relationship with the mystery of the union of Christ with the church…it participates in its nature…marriage is deeply seated and rooted therefore in the Eucharistic mystery. [1] This spiritual vision of marriage, as articulated by Cardinal Caffara, may appear as novel or even bizarre or “cultist” to many younger members of western culture. The defining characteristic for marriage today is that it has no defining characteristic . It is open and runny and borderless. We decide what marriage is, and hence it has devolved from a sacrament to... Read more