BIG C CATHOLICS

The Incarnation of Christ is the seminal event in history. The Catechism of the Catholic Church  states: 463 "Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: 'By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.' Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings 'the mystery of our religion': 'He was manifested in the flesh.'" True God and True Man As we continue to celebrate the season of Advent in anticipation of Christmas, we proclaim what the Church has always professed: "that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother." (CCC 469) The following links discuss the Incarnation and Nativity of Christ. We submit them for your consideration. Why God Became a Baby , Fr. Michael Najim Why Isn’t Jesus N

December 8th, the Church celebrates the most holy solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. With Mary's "yes" to the announcement of the Archangel Gabriel, all creation celebrated the imminent arrival of its Savior. Free from all taint of original sin, the "new Eve" benefited uniquely from the work of Christ as the most perfect Mediator and Redeemer. The first redeemed by her Son, Mary shares his holiness in full; she is already what the Church hopes to be. Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed on December 8, 1854: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved imm

"The phrase admirabile commercium , current in the theology and spirituality of the Nativity, is used to describe this ‘admirable exchange between the divine and the human... The first act of that exchange comes about in Christ’s own humanity. The Word assumed our humanity and, in exchange, human nature was raised to divine dignity. The second act of the exchange consists in our real and intimate involvement in the divine nature of the Word... Thus Christmas is the feast in which God comes so close to man as to share the very act of being born, showing men and women their most profound dignity: that of being children of God. Humanity’s dream which began in the Garden of Eden – we want to be like God – is realized in an unexpected way, not through the greatness of man, who cannot make himself God, but through the humility of God Who came down among us in His humility, raising us to the true greatness of His being.'" — Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, January 4, 2

Fr. Philip N. Powell OP, PhD The Nativity of Christ, or Christmas ("Christ Mass"), celebrates one of the most important events of the Church:  the incarnation of the Son of God.  Like the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, etc., the Incarnation is one of those rock-bottom Christian beliefs that most Christians assent to but probably don't really understand.  Though Catholics all over the world affirm their belief in the incarnation every Sunday by reciting the Creed, how many could explain this tenet of the faith in the simplest terms? Let's start with a story... The archangel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces to her that God has chosen her to be the mother of the Christ Child, His Son.  Mary says, "Your will be done" and the Holy Spirit descends on Mary, giving her the child.  Nine months later the Christ is born in Bethlehem. Simple enough story, right?  If we left the incarnation there, we would still have the basic truth of Chris

November 8th, is the optional memorial of Blessed John Duns Scotus, (c. 1266 – 1308) a 13th century, Franciscan Priest and theologian, who, alongside Saint Bonaventure, is the most influential theologian in the history of the Franciscan Order. He founded the Scotistic school of theology, which dominated Roman Catholic faculties of theology throughout Europe up until the period of the French Revolution. He is best known for his theology on the Absolute Kingship of Jesus Christ, and for his eloquent explication and staunch defense of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. His nuanced positions and concise argumentation earned him the title "Doctor Subtilis". The theological justification of Bl. John Duns Scotus regarding the Immaculate Conception is found in Volume XX of the Lectura in Librum Tertium Sententiarum , in the third distincio , first quaestio , under the title Utrum Beata Virgo fuerit concepta in peccato originali (Regarding whe

During an in-flight press conference aboard the papal plane, returning to the Vatican from his recent visit to Sweden, His Holiness Pope Francis, was asked a series of questions, among them whether women could ever be ordained to the Catholic priesthood. His answer states that women cannot be ordained; either to the priesthood or the diaconate. Below is said exchange translated by Catholic News Agency : Kristina Kappellin: "Good morning. The Sweden that hosted this important ecumenical encounter has a woman as head of it’s own Church. What do you think: is it realistic to think of women priests also in the Catholic Church in the coming decades? And if not, why are Catholic priests afraid of competition?" Pope Francis: "Reading the history a bit in the area where we were, I saw that there was a queen who was widowed three times. And I said: but, this woman is strong, and they told me: Swedish women are very strong, very good. And because of this some Swedish man looks

Here is Bishop Robert Barron's beautiful commentary on the Solemnity of All Saints. If you have ten minutes to spare, His Excellency's cogent insights are worth your time. Explaining that the greatest tragedy in life is not becoming a saint, Bishop Barron urges us to seek out Christ's friendship. He states in part: "At the very beginning of the 20th century, there were two young Parisian students, intellectuals. One was called Jacques Maritain, and his girlfriend was called Raïssa. Raïssa was a poet. Jacques Maritain was a student of philosophy. They were agnostics, more or less, and they decided that life was meaningless. One day in the Luxembourg Garden in Paris, they made a vow, and they said unless we can discover by the end of the school year the meaning of life we will commit suicide. [W]hile they were waiting for the school year to come to an end, Jacques Maritain read a statement by Léon Bloy, who was a French spiritual writer. Léon Bloy said, 'T

A year before becoming Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote a confidential memorandum to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick entitled Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles that became public shortly thereafter. His Eminence Cardinal Ratzinger, explaining the norms for reception of the Eucharist, states in part: A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons. At issue was whether Catholics who vote for pro-choice and/or pro-euthanasia politicians are complicit i

Editor's note: Each Tuesday we will feature posts discussing Saint John Paul the Great's Theology of the Body; his reflection on our nature and life as persons made in the image and likeness of God, conjugal love, the meaning of celibacy, and the eternal beatitude to which every human being is called.  ________________________ Men were made to love women just as women were made to love men. We were all made to love as God loves. To love the way God loves is to love completely, holding nothing back. Adam and Eve knew this immediately upon seeing each other for the first time. It is inscribed in our bodies; their very physicality speaks this truth. Sex is sacred. It must be protected and revered as a holy and mysterious union. Women express the unrepeatable feminine incarnations of the human person that they are when they love their husbands. In so doing they honor and love God. Men express the unrepeatable masculine incarnations of the human person that they are when t

Many of the Church’s detractors criticize her in light of adherents who don’t “walk the walk.” When encountering such comments, we should remember this quote by G.K. Chesterton: Most Christians fail to fulfill the Christian ideal. This bitter and bracing fact cannot be too much insisted upon in this and every other moral question. But, perhaps, it might be suggested that this failure is not so much the failure of Christians in connection with the Christian ideal as the failure of any men in connection with any ideal. That Christians are not always Christian is obvious; neither are Liberals always liberal, nor Socialists always social, nor Humanitarians always kind, nor Rationalists always rational, nor are gentlemen always gentle, nor do working men always work. If people are especially horrified at the failure of Christian practice, it must be an indirect compliment to the Christian creed.  — G.K. Chesterton

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

Men were made to love women just as women were made to love men. We were all made to love as God loves. To love the way God loves is to love completely, holding nothing back. Adam and Eve knew this immediately upon seeing each other for the first time. It is inscribed in our bodies; their very physicality speaks this truth. Sex is sacred. It must be protected and revered as a holy and mysterious union. Women express the unrepeatable feminine incarnations of the human person that they are when they love their husbands. In so doing they honor and love God. Men express the unrepeatable masculine incarnations of the human person that they are when they love their wives. In so doing they also love God. The celibate is called to love by offering up their masculinity or femininity to God and by serving others. Nuns live a beautiful vocation by being spouses to Christ. This is not a sexual union but a profound spiritual union. Likewise, priests and religious brothers offer up their mas

In his Theology of the Body, Saint John Paul II discusses the concept of "Original Nakedness". The Garden of Eden was Paradise. All creation was ordered to its proper end. Although they were naked, Adam and Eve were not ashamed. Their lack of shame resulted from the fact they did not view each other as sexual objects to be used for their own gratification. Instead, each saw the other with all the peace of the interior gaze. But what exactly does this mean, for them and us? When a man and a woman fall in love with each other "looks" might initially draw them together. Over time, as the relationship grows and deepens, this invariably changes. They fall in love with the other's personality, their kindness, their goodness, their spirituality, their very souls. It is therefore possible for couples who have spent a life time together to be more in love than the day they were married. We are called to love the "whole person", not simply a person's lo

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the Misfit is the embodiment of evil. His chance encounter with a Georgia family culminates in the execution of the grandmother after she reaches out to touch him. O’Connor uses the Misfit to show how grace and salvation are available to both saint and sinner alike. Whether we accept these is another matter. The Misfit exercises his free will to do evil. Instead of sparing an old woman, he brutally murders her. Rejecting the grandmother’s kindness, he chooses violence over virtue – symbolizing our fallen humanity. Despite being a cold-blooded killer the Misfit by his own words has contemplated Jesus’ resurrection and power over death. The Misfit has asked the same questions many Christians pose. His curiosity about Jesus and ultimate rejection of Judeo-Christian morality (that rooted in the natural law and the teachings of Christ), mirror the view of religious skeptics and others for whom religion has little value. I

Recently, several orthodox Christians from numerous denominations formulated and signed the following declaration. To read the declaration in full and sign it go here : Declaration We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities. We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image. We set forth this declaration in light of the truth that is grounded in Holy Scripture, in natural human reason (which is itself, in our view, the gift of a beneficent God), and in the very nature of the human person. We call upon all people of goodwill, believers and nonbelievers alike, to consider carefu