“…..Let him make no distinction of persons in the monastery. Let him not love one more than another, unless it be one whom he findeth more exemplary in good works and obedience. Let not a free-born be preferred to a freedman, unless there be some other reasonable cause. But if from a just reason the Abbot deemeth it proper to make such a distinction, he may do so in regard to the rank of anyone whomsoever; otherwise let everyone keep his own place; for whether bond or free, we are all one in Christ (cf Gal 3:28; Eph 6:8), and we all bear an equal burden of servitude under one Lord, “for there is no respect of persons with God” (Rom 2:11). We are distinguished with Him in this respect alone, if we are found to excel others in good works and in humility. Therefore, let him have equal charity for all, and impose a uniform discipline for all according to merit.”
Father Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., did his philosophical, theological and doctoral studies in Europe. He is the author of several books and directs retreats regularly. He serves as Prior at Sant’Anselmo in Rome.
Special Episode: Vatican II – Archbishop Lucas’ Statment on the Supreme Court Ruling – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas
In this special episode, Archbishop George Lucas and Kris McGregor discuss the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and what we as Catholics must do next to support both expectant mothers and the unborn, in our civic and parish lives.
From the Archdiocese of Omaha: Archbishop George Lucas’ official statement
Archbishop George J. Lucas Statement Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization United State Supreme Court Decision
The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case is a major victory for unborn
children, for their mothers and for the cause of justice in our country. Citizens and their
elected representatives in each state will now have the opportunity to guarantee the right to
life for the child in the womb.
Many in our country will not agree with the reasoning and the decision of the
Supreme Court. And some women will still wonder how they can meet the challenge of an
unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. This is a moment for each of us to commit to not let
any woman face her challenge alone. In the Catholic community, we possess many
resources that are well suited to support moms and their children. Mothers and children
contribute gifts to our communities that we want to cherish.
For years we have witnessed the help given to women by pregnancy resource
centers, homes for pregnant and new moms and various mentoring programs. Catholics
sponsor childcare and pre-school programs, St. Vincent de Paul chapters provide food and
rent assistance, we operate excellent K-12 schools, along with colleges and universities
willing to provide education support. Catholic Charities hosts a domestic violence shelter,
supportive counseling, food pantries and other services.
We can quickly respond to mothers and children who need us, and we can come up
with the material resources to make something good happen for them, all while respecting
their dignity and being enriched by their hopes.
Our parishes will be connecting to a national effort called “Walking with Moms in
Need.” We envision that each parish community will be seen as a place of warmth and
acceptance where woman can turn in their need. This will require caring parishioners who
are acquainted with available services and who are willing to accompany women with
respect on their journey to a peaceful and secure life with their children.
As we work to shape just laws in Nebraska to protect the unborn, we must each
take up the responsibility to create communities where these children and their parents can
flourish.
Episode 28 Vatican II – Gaudium et Spes pt. 5 – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas
In this episode with Archbishop Lucas, we continue our conversation on the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Gaudium et spes (Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈɡau̯di.um et ˈspes], “Joy and Hope”), the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, is one of the four constitutions resulting from the Second Vatican Council in 1965. It was the last and longest published document from the council and is the first constitution published by an ecumenical council to address the entire world.
Approved by a vote of 2,307 to 75 of the bishops assembled at the council, it was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 7 December 1965, the day the council ended.
63. In the economic and social realms, too, the dignity and complete vocation of the human person and the welfare of society as a whole are to be respected and promoted. For man is the source, the center, and the purpose of all economic and social life.
Like other areas of social life, the economy of today is marked by man’s increasing domination over nature, by closer and more intense relationships between citizens, groups, and countries and their mutual dependence, and by the increased intervention of the state. At the same time progress in the methods of production and in the exchange of goods and services has made the economy an instrument capable of better meeting the intensified needs of the human family.
Reasons for anxiety, however, are not lacking. Many people, especially in economically advanced areas, seem, as it were, to be ruled by economics, so that almost their entire personal and social life is permeated with a certain economic way of thinking. Such is true both of nations that favor a collective economy and of others. At the very time when the development of economic life could mitigate social inequalities (provided that it be guided and coordinated in a reasonable and human way), it is often made to embitter them; or, in some places, it even results in a decline of the social status of the underprivileged and in contempt for the poor. While an immense number of people still lack the absolute necessities of life, some, even in less advanced areas, live in luxury or squander wealth. Extravagance and wretchedness exist side by side. While a few enjoy very great power of choice, the majority are deprived of almost all possibility of acting on their own initiative and responsibility, and often subsist in living and working conditions unworthy of the human person.
A similar lack of economic and social balance is to be noticed between agriculture, industry, and the services, and also between different parts of one and the same country. The contrast between the economically more advanced countries and other countries is becoming more serious day by day, and the very peace of the world can be jeopardized thereby.
Our contemporaries are coming to feel these inequalities with an ever sharper awareness, since they are thoroughly convinced that the ampler technical and economic possibilities which the world of today enjoys can and should correct this unhappy state of affairs. Hence, many reforms in the socioeconomic realm and a change of mentality and attitude are required of all. For this reason the Church down through the centuries and in the light of the Gospel has worked out the principles of justice and equity demanded by right reason both for individual and social life and for international life, and she has proclaimed them especially in recent times. This sacred council intends to strengthen these principles according to the circumstances of this age and to set forth certain guidelines, especially with regard to the requirements of economic development.(1)
…If it can be done, the monastery should be so situated that all the necessaries, such as water, the mill, the garden, are enclosed, and the various arts may be plied inside of the monastery, so that there may be no need for the monks to go about outside, because it is not good for their souls. But we desire that this Rule be read quite often in the community, that none of the brethren may excuse himself of ignorance
Father Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., did his philosophical, theological and doctoral studies in Europe. He is the author of several books and directs retreats regularly. He serves as Prior at Sant’Anselmo in Rome.
In place of confusing life patterns, the security of a healthy balance
From the Holy Rule of St. Benedict:
CHAPTER XLI
From holy Easter till Pentecost let the brethren dine at the sixth hour and take supper in the evening. From Pentecost on, however, during the whole summer, if the monks have no work in the fields and the excess of the heat doth not interfere, let them fast on Wednesday and Friday until the ninth hour; but on the other days let them dine at the sixth hour. This sixth hour for dinner is to be continued, if they have work in the fields or the heat of the summer is great. Let the Abbot provide for this; and so let him manage and adapt everything that souls may be saved, and that what the brethren do, they may do without having a reasonable cause to murmur. From the ides of September until the beginning of Lent let them always dine at the ninth hour. During Lent, however, until Easter, let them dine in the evening. But let this evening hour be so arranged that they will not need lamp-light during their meal; but let everything be finished whilst it is still day. But at all times let the hour of meals, whether for dinner or for supper, be so arranged that everything is done by daylight.
Father Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., did his philosophical, theological and doctoral studies in Europe. He is the author of several books and directs retreats regularly. He serves as Prior at Sant’Anselmo in Rome.
In place of the disability to express ourselves, to sing From the Holy Rule of St. Benedict:
CHAPTER XIX
We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord behold the good and the bad in every place (cf Prov 15:3). Let us firmly believe this, especially when we take part in the Work of God. Let us, therefore, always be mindful of what the Prophet saith, “Serve ye the Lord with fear” (Ps 2:11). And again, “Sing ye wisely” (Ps 46[47]:8). And, “I will sing praise to Thee in the sight of the angels” (Ps 137[138]:1). Therefore, let us consider how it becometh us to behave in the sight of God and His angels, and let us so stand to sing, that our mind may be in harmony with our voice.
Father Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., did his philosophical, theological and doctoral studies in Europe. He is the author of several books and directs retreats regularly. He serves as Prior at Sant’Anselmo in Rome.
“The Abolition of Woman: How Radical Feminism is Betraying Women” is a powerful book and so needed today. Author and international pro-life advocate Fiorella Nash is an incredible advocate for authentic feminism. With this work, she shines a bright penetrating light on the destructive twistings and distortions projected onto women throughout the world by extraordinarily dark forces that many cannot or do not want to see.
This book unashamedly calls mainstream feminists, journalists and Western politicians to account for their silence and – in some cases – vocal justification of the persecution of women because of an absolutist loyalty to abortion. It asks uncomfortable questions to those who claim to believe in women’s empowerment: Where is their passionate outrage when Chinese women are forcibly aborted and sterilised? Where is their concern for the thousands of baby girls killed by abortion every year because their lives are held as worthless simply for being female? What about the thousands of women used as surrogates for wealthy Western couples, treated as chattels and denied their most basic human rights?
But the book also tackles difficult issues for the pro-life side—the need for a sensitive, realistic approach to problematic pregnancies and the importance of confronting the continued exploitation and abuse of women within a sexualised society.
Pro-life feminism is not only possible; it is vital if the complex struggles facing women are to be adequately met. The Abolition of Woman is a rallying cry to feminists to stand with the pro-life movement, fighting to build a society in which women are equal and every human life is protected.
The figure of Ephrem is still absolutely timely for the life of the various Christian Churches. We discover him in the first place as a theologian who reflects poetically, on the basis of Holy Scripture, on the mystery of man’s redemption brought about by Christ, the Word of God incarnate. His is a theological reflection expressed in images and symbols taken from nature, daily life and the Bible. Ephrem gives his poetry and liturgical hymns a didactic and catechetical character: they are theological hymns yet at the same time suitable for recitation or liturgical song. On the occasion of liturgical feasts, Ephrem made use of these hymns to spread Church doctrine. Time has proven them to be an extremely effective catechetical instrument for the Christian community.
Ephrem’s reflection on the theme of God the Creator is important: nothing in creation is isolated and the world, next to Sacred Scripture, is a Bible of God. By using his freedom wrongly, man upsets the cosmic order. The role of women was important to Ephrem. The way he spoke of them was always inspired with sensitivity and respect: the dwelling place of Jesus in Mary’s womb greatly increased women’s dignity. Ephrem held that just as there is no Redemption without Jesus, there is no Incarnation without Mary. The divine and human dimensions of the mystery of our redemption can already be found in Ephrem’s texts; poetically and with fundamentally scriptural images, he anticipated the theological background and in some way the very language of the great Christological definitions of the fifth-century Councils.
Ephrem, honoured by Christian tradition with the title “Harp of the Holy Spirit”, remained a deacon of the Church throughout his life. It was a crucial and emblematic decision: he was a deacon, a servant, in his liturgical ministry, and more radically, in his love for Christ, whose praises he sang in an unparalleled way, and also in his love for his brethren, whom he introduced with rare skill to the knowledge of divine Revelation.
Dr. Matthew E. Bunson is a Register senior editor and senior contributor to EWTN News. For the past 20 years, he has been active in the area of Catholic social communications and education, including writing, editing, and teaching on a variety of topics related to Church history, the papacy, the saints, and Catholic culture. He is faculty chair at Catholic Distance University, a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and the author or co-author of over 50 books including The Encyclopedia of Catholic History, The Pope Encyclopedia, We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI, The Saints Encyclopedia, and best-selling biographies of St. Damien of Molokai and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.
St. Athanasius of Alexandria – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson
Born: 296 AD, Alexandria, Egypt
Died: May 2, 373 AD, Alexandria, Egypt
Dr. Matthew Bunson and Kris McGregor discuss St. Athanasius of Alexandria, declared a Doctor of the Church in 1568. St. Athanasius played a significant role in defending orthodox Christian doctrine against the Arian heresy. Born around 298 AD, he became Bishop of Alexandria and faced exile multiple times due to his staunch opposition to Arianism.
Despite persecution and false accusations, Athanasius remained steadfast in his defense of Christ’s divinity and humanity; in addition to Christ’s incarnation and its role in salvation, providing clarity on the Trinity and the nature of Christ. He also contributed to the spread of monasticism through his writings on the Desert Fathers, particularly St. Anthony. His life serves as a reminder of the challenges faced in defending the truth and the unwavering commitment required to uphold the faith.
The Courage of St. Athanasius: How does St. Athanasius’ unwavering courage in the face of persecution inspire us to stand firm in our faith, even when confronted with adversity?
Defending Truth in Today’s World: In what ways can we apply St. Athanasius’ example to our modern context, where the truth of the Catholic faith is often challenged or misunderstood?
Embracing Orthodoxy: Reflect on the importance of understanding and defending orthodox Christian doctrine, especially in a world where relativism and skepticism abound.
Sacrifice and Commitment: Consider the sacrifices St. Athanasius made for the sake of defending the faith. How does his commitment challenge us to deepen our own dedication to Christ and His Church?
The Role of Monasticism: Explore the significance of St. Athanasius’ contribution to monasticism and its impact on Christian spirituality. How can we incorporate elements of monastic living into our own spiritual practices?
“Athanasius was undoubtedly one of the most important and revered early Church Fathers. But this great Saint was above all the impassioned theologian of the Incarnation of the Logos, the Word of God who – as the Prologue of the fourth Gospel says – “became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1: 14).
For this very reason Athanasius was also the most important and tenacious adversary of the Arian heresy, which at that time threatened faith in Christ, reduced to a creature “halfway” between God and man, according to a recurring tendency in history which we also see manifested today in various forms.
In all likelihood Athanasius was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in about the year 300 A.D. He received a good education before becoming a deacon and secretary to the Bishop of Alexandria, the great Egyptian metropolis. As a close collaborator of his Bishop, the young cleric took part with him in the Council of Nicaea, the first Ecumenical Council, convoked by the Emperor Constantine in May 325 A.D. to ensure Church unity. The Nicene Fathers were thus able to address various issues and primarily the serious problem that had arisen a few years earlier from the preaching of the Alexandrian priest, Arius.
With his theory, Arius threatened authentic faith in Christ, declaring that the Logos was not a true God but a created God, a creature “halfway” between God and man who hence remained for ever inaccessible to us. The Bishops gathered in Nicaea responded by developing and establishing the “Symbol of faith” [“Creed”] which, completed later at the First Council of Constantinople, has endured in the traditions of various Christian denominations and in the liturgy as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.
In this fundamental text – which expresses the faith of the undivided Church and which we also recite today, every Sunday, in the Eucharistic celebration – the Greek term homooúsiosis featured, in Latin consubstantialis: it means that the Son, the Logos, is “of the same substance” as the Father, he is God of God, he is his substance. Thus, the full divinity of the Son, which was denied by the Arians, was brought into the limelight.”
Dr. Matthew E. Bunson is a Register senior editor and a senior contributor to EWTN News. For the past 20 years, he has been active in the area of Catholic social communications and education, including writing, editing, and teaching on a variety of topics related to Church history, the papacy, the saints and Catholic culture. He is faculty chair at Catholic Distance University, a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and the author or co-author of over 50 books including The Encyclopedia of Catholic History, The Pope Encyclopedia, We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI, The Saints Encyclopedia and best-selling biographies of St. Damien of Molokai and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.
Simply one of the finest works ever compiled on the mystery of suffering. Fr. Robert Spitzer’s “The Light Shines On In The Darkness: Transforming Suffering through Faith (Happiness, Suffering, and Transcendence)” could be considered a “catechism of suffering,” but not one rooted in misery, but rather anchored in the experience of God’s great mercy and redemptive sacrifice. This is a book of hope and one that should be experienced by all Christians, and in particular, those who minister in any way, shape, or form in the New Evangelization. Why would a loving God allow suffering? Is there any good that can be brought forth from our trials? So much more is addressed in this opus. I could not put this book down. Pick it up, you won’t regret it!
“Suffering has the power to break or elevate the human spirit. Lived in the spirit of the Gospel and borne for the sake of others, it’s the most redemptive, transfiguring force in creation. Fr. Spitzer has written a magisterial work on the meaning of suffering, a work remarkable both for its depth and beauty.” — Most Rev. Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia
“In this trenchant and searching book, Fr. Spitzer responds to the most powerful objection to the proposition that God exists, namely, the problem of suffering. And he dares to do what very few are willing to do today: to articulate how evil and pain are ingredients in the providential design of a loving God.”
—Bishop Robert Barron, Host, Catholicism film series
From the Holy Rule of St. Benedict:
