Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminds us that our strength originates and flows forth from the fount of prayer. Therefore we must give priority to “God and to our relationship with him in prayer, both as individuals and in the community. If we do not have the capacity to pause and listen to the Lord, to enter into dialogue with him, we risk becoming ineffectually agitated by problems, difficulties and needs.”
Theology
The Necessity of the Visible Church and Her Authority
It is to the benefit of all Christians to be concerned with and to live by what is really true. Our non-Catholic and/or Protestant brethren today often continue to adhere to the Bible as the only governing authority and the sole rule of faith. They see no requirement for a visible, structured and hierarchically ordered Church. However, the Word of God says otherwise.
Hollywood and Heresy
Material heresy is often driven by popular films. It’s no secret that people frequently, even though they know a particular film is fiction, pick up on some of its ideas and absorb them as their own. The fact is—and it is a particularly disturbing one—Hollywood has often become the unwary’s instructor.
Repentance: Conforming One’s Life to Reality
When Christ began his ministry he announced: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 3:2, Mk 1:15). Our Lord’s words connect the necessity of repentance with obtaining the promise of unending happiness and joy found in God alone and life in his kingdom.
The Desire for Perfection
Whether we realize it or not, we are all searching for the five transcendentals: perfect truth, love, beauty, goodness/justice and being—although many people engage this search in a confused, haphazard or even disordered way.