BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. Frank Pavone On July 25, 1968, Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical letter Humanae Vitae, which means, “Of Human Life.” In that relatively short document, which you can find at priestsforlife.org, he outlines the Church’s vision of human life, marriage, and the connection between human love and the creative action of God. Love and life are two very simple and very similar words, and they represent two gifts that go together. Love leads to life; it does not close it off. Love welcomes life, it is not afraid of it. Love and life go together because ultimately, they are simply two aspects of the one God. One of the best ways you can observe this anniversary of Humanae Vitae is to read it. Go to priestsforlife.org and you will find the text along with helpful commentary.

H/T Patrick Madrid

Have you heard about the new abortion pill, "ella"? If you haven't, you will soon. While being billed as merely a contraceptive, "ella" actually goes a lot further than preventing contraception from occuring as it can actually terminate the life of an existing human embryo, an abortion! Women can take the drug up to 5 days after intercourse, well after a new human life has been created. Because "ella" blocks the progesterone receptors needed for the continued development of the human embryo, the pill causes an abortion if taken after conception occurs. This makes "ella" an abortion not a contraceptive drug, plain and simple. Two weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs approved "ella" for sale within the United States, calling it a contraceptive. The drug now goes before the FDA for final approval in a few short weeks. In order to help spread the word about "ella&q

(This is by no means an adequate representation of St. Thomas Aquinas' contribution to Catholic theology. His masterwork, the Summa, is something to which entire blogs are dedicated. This is only as an introduction to his methodology in keeping with the spirit of the current series.) In the thirteenth century, when better translations of Aristotle’s works came to the attention of European scholars, new questions emerged. The dissemination of these works along with doctrinal disagreements threatened to divide the Church between traditionalists, those adhering rigidly to the letter of Church law at the expense of the spirit of the law, and modernists, those embracing a theology based on novelty, often at the expense of Sacred Scripture and Tradition. St. Thomas Aquinas answered these questions and in the process prevented a rift between traditionalists and modernists. His theology, Thomism, is a synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy and Revelation. Like his predecessors, Aquinas’s the

Fr. Benedict Groeschel, well-known priest and psychologist, draws on his years of dealing with people's problems and tragedies to provide practical and spiritual help to anyone burdened by the hardships of life. Whether you are troubled by death, loss, tragedy, hardship, or dspair Fr. Groeschel's unique insights combining the wisdom of scripture with his life experience will help you persevere and prevail. The last chapter of the book contains prayers and reflections for times in life that are especially challenging. In addition, there is a prayer at the end of each chapter relating to that chapters subject matter. I found Arise From Darkness: What to Do When Life Doesn't Make Sense to be personally rewarding. Fr. Groeschel urges us to keep life in perspective with eternity. Death is a human experience none are spared. Suffering is inevitable for everyone. Even Christ suffered and died, but in so doing He made those experiences holy. Death and suffering are mysteries we do