BIG C CATHOLICS

St. Monica and her son, St. Augustine The prayers of Saint Monica, together with God's grace, turned her wayward son, Saint Augustine, from sinner to saint. St. Monica, model of motherhood, your patience and fervent prayers won for the Church a brilliant mind who himself won many souls. The following prayer for loved ones who have left the Faith invokes St. Monica's help and intercession. Dear Saint Monica, exemplary mother of Saint Augustine. You were once the mournful mother of a prodigal son. Through your constant intercession and God’s grace, he became a great saint. Intercede for families, especially parents, that they lead their children to God. Inspired by your example, we pray that our loved ones that have gone astray may be soon welcomed home to the Church founded by Christ, to live and love in imitation of Him. Amen.

July 25th marks the 48 year anniversary of the publication of Pope Paul VI's landmark encyclical Humanae vitae (Of Human Life: On the Regulation of Birth). It reaffirmed the Church's teaching on the immorality of artificial birth control, the meaning/purpose of conjugal love between husband and wife and the sanctity of marriage. The encyclical was greeted with criticism in many circles, but was applauded by others, including St. Padre Pio, who days before his death conveyed his support in a letter to Paul VI . Pope Paul VI’s seventh and last encyclical, in addition to affirming the Church’s long held prohibition against artificial contraception, articulates a vision of marriage and responsible parenthood that underscores the immense dignity and divine calling of husband and wife. Paul VI spoke of marriage as "the wise institution of the Creator to realize in mankind His design of love" (HV 8). Marriage properly understood, is the conjugal union of a man and wo

Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace in the world. ***  If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. — Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

The following is excerpted from Pope Francis' address to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia: God did not want to draw near to humanity other than through a home. God did not want any other name for himself than Emmanuel (cf. Mt 1:23). He is “God with us”. This was his desire from the beginning, his purpose, his constant effort: to say to us: “I am God with you, I am God for you”. He is the God who from the very beginning of creation said: “It is not good for man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). We can add: it is not good for woman to be alone, it is not good for children, the elderly or the young to be alone. It is not good. That is why a man leaves his father and mother, and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh (cf. Gen 2:24). The two are meant to be a home, a family. From time immemorial, in the depths of our heart, we have heard those powerful words: it is not good for you to be alone. The family is the great blessing, the great gift of this “God w

Matthew Coffin In his Theology of the Body, Saint John Paul II seeks to establish an adequate anthropology in which the human person, in both his spiritual and physical dimensions, reveals truths about God. George Weigel has called it, "one of the boldest reconfigurations of Catholic theology in centuries." Part 1 examines the philosophical developments that preceded it. Major schools of thought have been greatly oversimplified in order to show how John Paul II’s contribution is necessary, transformative, and faithful. Augustinianism Prior to the thirteenth century, the dominant school of thought in Catholic theology was that of St. Augustine. Early in the fifth century, Augustine refuted the heresy of Pelagianism. Pelagius taught that Adam’s original sin did not taint human nature. For that reason, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was neither necessary nor redemptive. A neo-Platonist, Augustine uses the philosophy of Plato, together with the deposit of faith, to op