Ever since apostolic times the Church has shown deep concern to offer a type of worship which would meet the exigency of God’s utter holiness. Therefore, she always prayed to God the Father, particularly in the Latin tradition, through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Our...
There is a story in the life of the Holy Curé of Ars that goes like this: St Jean Marie Vianney, was on his the way to Ars, his first assignment, when he came to a fork in the road. Not knowing how to continue, it so happened that a boy from Ars came along. The young...
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Word and the eternal Truth in person, restored the original dignity of the human nature in a most wonderful manner — “Qui dignitatem humanae substantiae mirabilius reformasti.” This is especially so regarding the sexuality of the...
In his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, Pope St John Paul II dealt with the matter of “The Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day.” Towards the end of that document he said this: Every aspect of priestly formation can be...
The Church is the mother of our faith because she generates us, she nourishes us, she strengthens us in the faith (Lumen Gentium, n. 6-7). Saint Cyprian affirms: “One can not have God as Father who does not first have the Church as mother.”{{1}} And he adds: “we are...
And some observations on the Nouvelle Theologie In this article the intent is to consider the relation between Church and State based upon the relation between grace and nature. It is believed that a failure to do this leads to all sorts of misconceptions about Church...
The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has chosen a beautiful theme and title for the bull of indiction, his decree setting the course for the Year of Faith. This is the year when we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council on October...
At Masses on Trinity Sunday we often hear the story of St Augustine and the child who was trying to pour the ocean into a hole in the sand. The message conveyed to the congregation is that Augustine then saw that he had been presumptuous in trying to get an...
New media resources to deepen the life of faith Recently some members and associates have mentioned that a short section highlighting good resources helpful for ongoing faith formation would be of benefit to many readers. To this end, a brief list of helpful...
Fr Tim Finigan was keynote speaker at the 2013 ACCC Conference. This is the fourth of four papers he presented at the conference. They were: Vatican II and its context. Trent and Vatican II: compared (not contrasted). The hermeneutic of continuity. Church,...