Catechesis

Does God hear our prayers if we aren’t in the state of grace?

“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… Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us – that is, charity – necessitates a new initiative...Continue reading→

“I left the Catholic Church. What will happen to me?”

Does God care if you leave His Church for a Protestant denomination? What will happen to those who abandon the Eucharist and follow a community instead of the truth? As long as one lives a Christian life, does God really care about the specifics? Karen from Salem, Oregon called into Fr. Simon Says to ask...Continue reading→

Why do we suffer?

One of the most common arguments against the existence of God, namely a benevolent and all-powerful one, is the existence of pain, suffering, tragedy, and evil in our world. Why would God allow this to happen? Why doesn’t he prevent all of the evil that is taking place? If He truly loved us, wouldn’t He...Continue reading→

What’s the Church’s teaching on reincarnation?

A listener wrote in to The Cale Clarke Show to ask Cale about the concept of reincarnation. He said that he knows that the Catholic Church teaches that reincarnation does not exist, but he heard that it was in scripture and then later removed from canon at the Council of Nicaea. Is there any truth...Continue reading→

Embracing the Power of Forgiveness

Pope Francis reminds us of the importance of forgiving others: Jesus does not say, “Blessed are those who plot revenge.” He calls “blessed” those who forgive and do so “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). We need to think of ourselves as an army of the forgiven. All of us have been looked upon with divine...Continue reading→

Love is Not Boastful

Precepts of the Church (CCC 2042) 1: Attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. 2: Confess your sins at least once a year. 3: Go to Communion at least once a year during Easter season. 4: Keep holy Sundays and holy days of obligation. 5: Observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence....Continue reading→

Love is Meek

Blessed are the meek… because “love is patient” (makrothyméi). Pope Francis links this assertion of 1 Corinthians 13 to God’s meekness and mercy: Makrothyméi… [is] the Greek translation of the Old Testament, where we read that God is “slow to anger” (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18). It refers, then, to the quality of one who does...Continue reading→

Hungering for the Lord’s Day

Hungering for the Lord’s Day Holiness is a right relationship with God: “Be holy; for I the LORD am holy” (Leviticus 20:26). Our hunger and thirst for righteousness makes us hunger and thirst for God and for keeping his special Day holy, thus fulfilling the Third Commandment. Think: if you love your mother, wouldn’t you...Continue reading→

How long should your confession be?

Many of us have been there: Standing in the confession line, waiting our turn, wondering what’s taking the people in front of us so long to confess their sins. It should go without saying that situations like this are no excuse to become impatient or angry at anybody, but frustration and confusion are perfectly natural...Continue reading→

The Trolley Car Dilemma

Have you ever heard of the “Trolley Car” dilemma? On The Patrick Madrid Show, Patrick discussed this hypothetical quandary in the context of choosing who lives and who dies, and he tied it to the decision to drop the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Trolley Dilemma is a 2014 moral problem...Continue reading→

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