Recently I received a copy of the following important document issued by Cardinal William Levada, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). It describes the “Minimum Profile of Formation for Former Protestant Ministers Who Desire to Be Ordained Catholic Priests.”
I’m passing this along, especially for those of you who are clergy on the journey or converts contemplating the possibility of ordination as Catholic priests, but also for the rest of us who are praying for these highly gifted converts whom God is bringing home to the Church. If there are any questions or particular needs concerning this process, please do not hesitate to call us.
Through the years Christians have striven to draw closer to God through fasting and works of penance.
To provide reference information to those who have questions about these practices, the Coming Home Network International has compiled a list of Catholic resources.
We may take it for granted that the Church doesn’t proclaim dogmas without good reason. All the major doctrinal decisions in the history of the Church were motivated by a pastoral concern for the health of the faithful. After all, the first and last responsibility of the bishops and priests of the Church is the spiritual welfare of the faithful.
So why is Mary’s assumption into heaven an important truth for our spiritual well-being? What’s the spiritual benefit of the dogma of the Assumption? To find out, we must first understand what the Catholic Church teaches about it.
One of the more commonly shared experiences of Protestant converts to the Catholic Church is the discovery of verses “we never saw.” Even after years of studying, preaching, and teaching
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Here is an intriguing quote from Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop, (330-395) taken from Monday morning’s Office of Readings. He describes how our new life in Christ–our new existence–is nurtured through the Church and her sacraments. I would love your thoughts. – Marcus Grodi
Because you are among several folks who are worried that we have fallen off the Christian cliff, I thought that this record of an interchange with Internet friends who had similar concerns might ease your anxiety about our salvation prospects. It is important to understand that we are not writing this to try to convert you, but to hopefully neutralize your prejudices so if any other friend converts, you can say “Gee Whiz, that is wonderful” as opposed to “You poor lost soul.” Here is the interchange:
As ignored and avoided as Mary is by most non-Catholics, Joseph is even more so! Yet, God the Father also chose him specifically to be the foster father of His Son Jesus. In this article Steve Wood describes the unique and important role Joseph can play in helping men today become loving, faithful and holy husbands and fathers.
The following article explains how the Catholic Church evaluates and authenticates reported private revelation.
We are living in a remarkable age. As we approach the third millennium of Christianity in the year 2,000, we are watching a world in extremes. Amid the rapid onslaught of secularization and irreligion, we find hordes of people seeking solace in religion.
The Hail Mary, traditionally known as the Ave Maria, is a Biblical prayer. In the first half, the words are directly from the Gospel of St. Luke, while the second half reflects what this could mean to us, praying Christians in the Body of Christ, pondering these things in our hearts.
The account of the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she is to be the mother of our Savior is familiar to all Christians. We find here the first elements of the Ave Maria. The angel’s words are “Hail, O favored one,” (Luke 1:28 RSV), or as Jerome translated it in his 4th century Latin edition, “full of grace.”
Despite the radicalism of early Protestantism toward many ancient Catholic “distinctives,” such as the Communion of the Saints, Penance, Purgatory, Infused Justification, the Papacy, the priesthood, sacramental marriage, etc., it may surprise many to discover that Martin Luther was rather conservative in some of his doctrinal views, such as on baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and particularly the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Many Protestant Christians believe that Catholic devotion to Mary eclipses Jesus, or involves improper worship of a human creature. In this short article, Dr. Miravalle, whose wife Beth is a convert to the Catholic Church, explains a proper view of Catholic devotion to Mary.
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