A reflection on the readings for May 27, 2023 – Pentecost Sunday. Twice a month, I host a discernment dinner for young men, college-age and older, who are considering a vocation to the priesthood. The men in the group are relatively comfortable with one another, so conversations range from spirituality to ministry, theology,...
Is it not deplorable that the right of private property defended by the Church should so often have been used as a weapon to defraud the workingman of his just salary and his social rights? In reality, besides commutative justice, there is also social justice with its own set obligations, from which neither...
New Episode of the Debrief! Just in time for Pentecost Sunday and Memorial Day weekend, Mike Lewis and Dominic de Souza break down the latest news from Pope Francis. Topics: 1. Pope Francis’s urgent message on care for creation 2. Telemundo interview: Francis on abortion and personhood 3. How does Francis respond...
Each year at the conclusion of the Easter Season the Catholic Church liturgically celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost, but it is sometimes difficult to understand the specific nature of the grace of Pentecost that is given to the faithful who advance in the spiritual life. The first reading for the Pentecost Mass during...
[Editor’s note: The purpose of this post is to define and explain the words sedevacantism and sedevacantist. These terms are not familiar to most people, but they come up from time to time on Where Peter Is in our discussions of radical Catholic traditionalism, and this article can serve as a reference for...
When I first read the Holy Father’s 2018 exhortation on holiness, Gaudete et Exsultate, I was deeply struck by his criticism of contemporary Pelagianism, one of two “subtle enemies of holiness” that he addresses. Pope Francis’s teaching challenged so much of how I understood holiness and grace. His teaching brought me clarity and new...
On June 23, I will celebrate twenty-two years of ordination to the priesthood. Born in 1974, I belong to what Catholics fondly call the John Paul II generation. In this brief essay, I will reflect on how the experience of my Catholic youth shaped one particular aspect of my Catholic life, and then...
Scheduling problems last week pushed the release of the most recent episode of The Debrief to Friday evening, so in case you missed it, the most recent episode is posted on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts (I recommend the YouTube version for the best experience because Dominic handed over the visual...
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, May 21, 2023, The Ascension of the Lord. I have a letter here with me, written by my mother on August 10, 1992. I had been in the seminary for nine years and had just two years left before my ordination. An experience in the seminary...
On the one hand, there are those who, under the pretext of a greater fidelity to the Church and to the Magisterium, systematically reject the teachings of the Council itself, its application and the reforms deriving from it, its gradual application by the Apostolic See and of the Episcopal Conferences, under our authority,...
One of the more bizarre Catholic news stories of the past week has been that of Hope Is Fuel and its constantly fluctuating roster of participants in the days leading up to its launch on May 24. Described on its website as providing a “Signature Catholic Course,” Hope Is Fuel promises to be...
The Bible Project shared a podcast last year that focused on the story of the manna in the book of Exodus. In chapter 16 of Exodus, God’s people are in the desert, just a few days out from crossing the Red Sea and witnessing the destruction of Pharaoh’s entire army. Yet, even after...
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