The Narrow Gate Blog

This article was originally published at edwardsri.com. Imagine a Pope approaching a statue of Mary, carrying a bullet in his hand, putting the bullet in Mary’s crown, and repeatedly saying to her, “You saved me…You saved me…”That’s what happened in 1982 when St. Pope John Paul visited the apparition site of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, a year after he had been shot in St. Peter’s Square. But the pope wasn’t just giving thanks to Mary in a general way. He was recognizing the crucial role …

This article first appeared at: catholicweekly.com.au The Saturday night rosary was a cornerstone of my family life growing up. After dinner was finished, all 12 of us would gather in the living room, sitting on the couch, chairs or the floor.The lights would be switched off and the candles next to the statue of Our Lady holding the child Jesus would be lit.Mum and Dad would then list all the people we were going to pray for and if any child had anybody else to add to the list they could do so. …

This article first appeared at: stpaulcenter.com In contemporary society, most people have no awareness that the offering of sacrifice to God is a central act of the virtue of religion and thus a good and morally obligatory thing. Even Catholics who attend Mass are generally unaware that they are participating in an infinite offering to God or that that is the principal reason why there is a Sunday Mass obligation. The more society becomes secularized, the more the notion of sacrifice and its ob …

This article first appeared at: stpaulcentre.com By Dr Scott Hahn with Brandon McGinleyEverything that is true of so-called secular societies is true of so-called secular individuals. To refuse to submit oneself to the living God—to refuse to acknowledge, adore, and serve Him as justice demands—is not a neutral choice. It does not preserve one’s objectivity or intellectual freedom; it does not liberate the soul. One of the most destructive pieces of catechesis taught by modern secular liberalism …