Abortion. Euthanasia. Sacramental marriage. Artificial birth control. There is no question where Holy Mother Church stands on these issues. She frequently sounds the clarion call to remind us of our moral obligations in murky, godless societies. But what about gun control? Is there an undeniably clear Catholic position? Does your gun control position affect your salvation?
We are part of God’s spiritual family but this does not make us perfect or immune to our sinful nature. Our rights and responsibilities as Catholics guide us in how we express and exercise our faith in the world.
Let us look at what the first two great commandments are and what they mean:
One of God’s greatest teachings is to love our neighbors just as we love ourselves. It is impossible to be capable of love without feeling mercy and compassion.
Both mercy and compassion refer to the concern we feel for people in need. But although they seem synonymous in the surface, and their usage is sometimes interchanged, they have significant differences.
IVF is one of the many methods used to overcome infertility but this procedure has stirred up many moral and religious debates. What is IVF and what is the the views of the Catholic Church on it?
There are about 65.6 million refugees, asylum seekers and migrants around the world according to the UN Refugee Agency. Beyond this unprecedented figure are stories of people who have been forced away from the security of their own homes and have to find their way in strange, unfamiliar countries.
Did you know Physician-assisted suicide is legal in five US states? Although it may seem like a viable option if we think about the painful effects of the patient’s degenerative disease, it is not reason enough to consider ending a life.
Some temptations are easier to overcome than others and we often hear people use the phrase, “I am only human and humans are bound to sin” in order to justify falling into temptation. But is this argument valid?
As Catholics we have been taught about charity work through the gospels and various practices like outreaches. Thomas Aquinas esteems charity as “the most excellent of the virtues.” What does charity mean in the context of the Catholic Faith and why is charity work important to us as Catholics?
Some people put religion at the center of their family relationships and traditions while others do not put as much importance on it. Let’s look into the differences between religious and nonreligious families to better understand how religion affects their relationships.
Catholic cremation is a divisive topic within the Catholic Faith community because not many people understand the Church’s teachings on it. When a loved one passes away, it is up to surviving family members to make arrangements regarding what to do with the remains and cremation may come up as a possible option.
Let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of Catholic cremation and what the Church says about it.
We as stewards of God’s creation must look into the Catholic social teaching on the environment so that we can understand the role we play in addressing its issues. Now more than ever we are confronted by many pressing environmental problems. We hear about global temperatures rising, with the year 2016 said to be the warmest year on record, ice sheets melting and many species of animals going extinct.
The death penalty is a very controversial topic especially within the religious community. The Catholic Church’s stand on capital punishment has been varied. In the past, theological writers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas have categorized the death penalty as a form of “lawful slaying” and a means of protecting innocent people.
Faith is at the center of our lives as Catholics but what does living by faith truly mean? To live by faith in today’s world can be quite a challenge especially because contemporary culture conditions us to value hard facts and accuracy and faith is quite the opposite of these things. Faith requires a certain degree of uncertainty and surrender. It can be quite intimidating when we think about it.
We live in a world that values cold logic and reason so a term like “spiritual warfare” may seem irrational, even impossible for many “modern” and “intellectual” people. However, spiritual warfare is very real and it is not just limited to exorcisms and casting out demons. As children of God, we engage in an unseen battle every day and what’s at stake is our most prized possession; our soul.
As you read this our fellow Christians in Iraq are being slaughtered for their religious beliefs. We as Catholic Christians stand united against genocide and religious discrimination. Iraqi Christians are being marked with the Arabic symbol for “N”, we too proudly display it in solidarity for those killed in Iraq. The “N” stands for Nazarene. […]
