Category Archives: Catechesis and Fundamentals
Catechesis and Fundamentals
“Let’s get back to the fundamentals.” Usually one hears this said when complications arise from hyperactivity or novel experimentation. As the saying goes “the old ways are tried and true.”
The Church teaches that our holy Faith comes to us from the two fountains of scripture and tradition. There are no new doctrines, no new, inspired revelations. Everything that we believe by Faith is found explicitly in at least one of these, and at least implicitly in the other.
When we speak of Catholic fundamentals, we are speaking of the basic tenets of our religion. Where are these tenets found? In our Creeds, in the Ten Commandments, in the theology of the seven sacraments, and in our prayers. In fact the structure of every good catechism begins with questions and answers about each of the articles of the Apostles Creed, followed by an inquiry of each of the Ten Commandments, questions about grace and the seven sacraments, the petitions of the Our Father, and ending with questions pertaining to discipline and the laws of the Church. Of course the common prayers approved by the Church are also listed in the final pages of every catechism.
So, getting back to the fundamentals in Catholic parlance means to get back to the catechism and the things that we learned directly therein, or indirectly as an extension thereof.
LCWR Could Learn From Sister Augustine: Nun Draws 66 Converts in First Year Catechising
AsiaNews: Sister Augustine, a nun at the Ave Maria Convent of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Nayakakanda, teaches catechism. In the first year and half of teaching, she brought 66 people to baptism. Currently, she is helping an additional six, drawn to conversion by love or hardships. Irrespective of their reason, if they “are here, it is because the Lord wants” it. Read more here.
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Catholic Online’s 10 Things to Know About St. Patrick
Actually they list eleven things. I respectfully take issue, however, with the way the website news’ editor describes the Trinity in item number 7, where he notes that Saint Patrick used the three-leaf shamrock to demonstrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
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St. Pius X Ordered All Parish Priests to Spend 1 Hour Every Sunday Catechizing Children
The Catholic Thing: Pope Pius X is often criticized because in 1910 he demanded that all priests take an anti-modernist oath. It’s hardly known that in 1905 he ordered all priests around the world to do something else, perhaps even more challenging. Did he call for greater commitment to the glory of Eucharist? Did he demand more emphasis on missions? Or did he rebuke them … More →
Posted in Catechesis and Fundamentals, History, News 2 Comments
Mothers, Fathers, and Wicked Spirits: Stories from the Catechist
[Taken from The Catechist by Very Rev. Canon Howe Imprimatur: Edm. Canonicus Surmont, January 26, 1922] Efficacy of the Hail Mary — In the year 1604 there were in the city of Flanders two young students who, instead of attending to the acquisition of learning, sought only the indulgence of the appetite and the gratification of their unchaste passions.
The Priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church
The Bible teaches that Christ had ambassadors or agents (His bishops and priests) who represent Him in this world. 2 Cor. 5:20: For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting you, be reconciled to God. 1 Cor. 4:1: Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God.
Catholic Stories, Edifying and Terrifying
[Taken from The Catechist by Very Rev. Canon Howe Imprimatur: Edm. Canonicus Surmont, January 26, 1922. For the Help of the Catechist in the Explanation of Christian Doctrine.] The Thundering Legion — Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor, was engaged in a disastrous war. His army had been hemmed in by the
More Stories for the Help of the Catechist: The Cross, the Judgment, etc.
[Taken from The Catechist by Very Rev. Canon Howe Imprimatur: Edm. Canonicus Surmont, January 26, 1922] Saint Andrew and His Cross — Of St. Andrew it is related that when he was led out to be crucified, as soon as he perceived at a distance the cross on which he was to suffer, he cried out in a transport of love: “Hail, precious cross,
Stories for the Help of the Catechist in the Explanation of Christian Doctrine
[Taken from The Catechist by Very Rev. Canon Howe Imprimatur: Edm. Canonicus Surmont, January 26, 1922] Words of Diderot — One of the greatest enemies of religion last century was Diderot; yet he taught his daughter the Catechism. When one of his impious friends saw this, and laughed at him for doing it, he said: “I make Marie learn the Catechism and the Gospel. Is … More →
Purgatory, Indulgences, Predestination, and Relics – an Apologetical Wrapup
[Questions Asked by Protestants on Purgatory, Indulgences, Predestination and Relics briefly answered by Father M. Philipps, Rector of St. Joseph’s Church, Buffalo, NY. Cabinet of Catholic Information, 1903 Imprimatur: Archbishop John Farley] Purgatory Does the Bible say that there is a purgatory? The Bible does not mention the word purgatory, but it says we should pray for the dead: “It is, therefore, a holy and … More →
Eucharist Stories
[Taken from The Catechist, by the Very Rev. Canon Howe. Imprimatur: Edm. Canonicus Surmount, Jan 26, 1922.] There once lived a man who had given himself up to every passion, and had become by his life a scandal to all who knew him. Being at length upon his death-bed, his family, who were good Catholics, sent for the priest, who heard the sick man’s confession, … More →
The Old Testament Was Fulfilled in Jesus and the Catholic Church
Michael Voris briefly explains a truth that many today don’t seem to understand. For more on this subject of religious continuity from the Old Testament to the New, see Our Patriarch Abraham and the Continuity of Religion and The Heresy of Dual-Covenant Theology.
Questions Asked of Catholics: The True Church
[The following is from Questions Asked by Protestants Briefly Answered by Father M. Philipps, Rector of St. Joseph’s Church, Buffalo, NY. Cabinet of Catholic Information, 1903 Imprimatur: Archbishop John Farley] What do you mean by the word Church? By Church we generally mean the society which Christ founded to make known His teachings to mankind. This Church is divided into teachers and people who are … More →
The Mass and Confession Explained to Protestants
[The following is from Questions Asked by Protestants briefly answered by Father M. Philipps, Rector of St. Joseph’s Church, Buffalo, NY. Cabinet of Catholic Information, 1903 Imprimatur: Archbishop John Farley] The Mass What do Catholics mean by a sacrifice? A sacrifice is the oblation of a sensible thing made to God through a lawful minister by a real change in the thing offered, to testify … More →
