From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Christ Descended into Hell 632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was “raised from the dead” presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ’s descent into hell:…
Read MoreNot to know Scripture is not to know Jesus, Saint Jerome tells us. And we know Christ only if we are conversant with the words that are the words of God. Scripture tells us how such a oneness with Christ, such a penetration to the center, is to be achieved in practice. It tells us…
Read More“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Mt 5:8)” The organ for seeing God is the heart. The intellect alone is not enough. … The ascent to God occurs precisely in the descent of humble service, in the descent of love, for love is God’s essence, and is thus the power…
Read MorePraying without ceasing means: never losing contact with God, letting ourselves be constantly touched by him in the depths of our hearts and, in this way, being penetrated by his light. Only someone who actually knows God can lead others to God. Only someone who leads people to God leads them along the path of…
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My buddy Augustine. St Augustine and I became buddies 18 years ago. I was vaguely aware of him growing up, save the oft-quoted lines from his Confessions. Maybe you know a few of them? This is perhaps his most famous, the first non-scripture saint quote found in the Catechism. (See CCC, 30.) You are great,…
Read MoreYou need to know what you believe. You need to know your faith with that same precision with which an IT specialist knows the inner workings of a computer. You need to understand it like a good musician knows the piece he is playing. Yes, you need to be more deeply rooted in the faith…
Read MoreSt Augustine recalled incisively: “Let us consider, dear friends, the Resurrection of Christ: indeed, just as his Passion stood for our old life, his Resurrection is a sacrament of new life…. You have believed, you have been baptized; the old life is dead, killed on the Cross, buried in Baptism. The old life in which…
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The death of God in Jesus Christ is at the same time the expression of his radical solidarity with us. The most obscure mystery of the faith is at the same time the clearest sign of a hope without end. And what is more: only through the failure of Holy Friday, only through the silence…
Read MoreAdvent, this powerful liturgical season that we are beginning, invites us to pause in silence to understand a presence. It is an invitation to understand that the individual events of the day are hints that God is giving us, signs of the attention he has for each one of us. Pope Benedict XVI Homily at…
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1. Never Forget: The Holy Spirit guides the Church, and the Papacy Wow! Who could have predicted this? The Catholic news story of the year was not only the Year of Faith but the resignation of the reigning pontiff, and the conclave to elect a new pope! We also had the first encyclical that was…
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Here it’s coffee and conversation, and where the faith-sharing is often a friendly mix of catechesis and cannoli. It’s a place where we can catch up…
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