catechesis

“No-one puts new wine into old wineskins,” said Our Lord,[1] because the old skins are too weak to hold it; new wine needs new skins. So a receiver (the skin) must be ready to receive what is received (the wine); a message must not put too great a strain on people. If, of course, the message is weaker than the minds to which it is expressed, there should not be a problem with its absorption/acceptance. This is a credible metaphor … Read More

This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Divini Illius Magistri – Article 4 As I begin the fourth article in this series on Pope Pius XI’s encyclical letter ‘Divini Illius Magistri’ the Irish government has just published the wording of two referenda to be held on March 8th 2024. Once … Read More

This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Catholic Duties 4 Pope Leo XIII wrote his encyclical letter Sapientiae Christianae in 1890. This was during what has become known as the Second Industrial Revolution. The prosperity of mankind was increasing in certain parts of the world. The steam engine was being … Read More

We Are Losing The Culture War!“And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men: Therefore behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” … Read More

Lack of Ability to Think Rationally In this article I want to cover a couple of different strands of thought which have come up on account of some recent events in my life and which I want to relate to my most recent articles covering lack of catechesis, the failure of the Irish ‘catholic’ education system to pass on the faith to the children that are taught in those schools, and the surrendering of what I called ‘catholic territory’ to … Read More

Choosing a Topic I find that having to write a fortnightly article for the Catholic Voice is a great discipline. Often times, if I am not writing on a particular theme, I do not know exactly what I will write about from one fortnight to another. But, because I know that I have an article to write, I will be mulling things over in my head wondering if this topic or that subject matter would be suitable for an article. … Read More

Cardinal Caffare & Sister Lucia of Fatima Recently, I mentioned that Cardinal Carlo Caffara received a letter from Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the seers of Fatima, stating that, “the final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family.” I think that the significance of this simple statement is lost on many people given that sacramental marriage is no longer held in the high esteem in which it should be held. … Read More

Lack of Catechesis is Destroying the Faith I have begun looking at the problem of the terrible lack of catechesis in the western world and of the effects that this is having on the Catholic faithful. That this problem is not just confined to the laity was recently highlighted to me, once again, by our own parish bulletin from last week. In it we find the following. “The 12 noon Mass on St Patrick’s Day will be a special celebration … Read More

Family Difficulties. I want to begin taking a look at some of the problems that we face as families, as Catholics, and as a nation, in our current times. I also want to look at these problems particularly from the perspective of family life. What is ‘family’? Where does ‘family’ come from? What is the role of ‘family’ in the world? What role do parents have, as parents, and as husband and wife? One of the reasons for this focus … Read More