Mortal Sin: the Consequences of Confusion
September 13, 2018A common confusion I see among Catholics is a misunderstanding of mortal sin that conflates mortal sin and grave matter. This misunderstanding has serious consequences for that distort the very heart of our faith. Concerning mortal sin, the Catechism says: “Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him….For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is…
Modern Pharisees and the Abuse of Freedom
There’s an image that I would like to use as a framework for this article. Imagine the moral life as a garden, an oasis surrounded by a wasteland. We, the persons in that garden, have everything that will make us…
The Conquering Healer
One of my favorite books in high school was Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” There was one detail of the story in particular that intrigued me. Dracula, even though he was spectacularly powerful, couldn’t enter someone’s house unless he was invited in.…
To whom shall we go?
“Do you also want to leave?” That’s the question that Jesus poses to Peter and the apostles at the end of the Gospel reading today. In light of the horrors detailed in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report of the unimaginable…
The Gay Scapegoat, an Exercise in Unjust Discrimination
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has taught that men who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or men who support “gay culture” should not be admitted to seminary. Personally, I don’t have a problem with this…
The Supernatural Vision of Fr. Kolbe
I believe it was sometime in June when I signed up to write the reflection on this particular day. To be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention to what the readings were or the feast day, I just picked a…
The Foolish Mercy of Accompaniment
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom…
Transgenderism – An Apology
I want to apologize. Back in 2015 I attended a conference hosted by Courage, a Catholic apostolate for persons with same-sex attraction and their families. One of the talks during that conference was by Deacon Patrick Lappert, MD, a plastic surgeon,…
Hear this, you who trample upon the poor!
The first reading today, from the prophet Amos, is a pointed exhortation against the oppression of the poor and economic injustice: “Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! ‘When will the new…
I was on a podcast!
Back in January, I was invited by Mary Ashley Burton to talk about NFP on her podcast Fishers of Men. That episode was published today so I wanted to share it. You can listen to it here: Now, podcasting doesn’t lend itself to…
What about the right to control our borders?
The section of the Catechism that speaks about immigration (section 2241) is divided into two paragraphs that seem to be in tension with one another. Both are equally true, and to dismiss one of them in favor of the other…
