Articles by Joe Tremblay
The strongest political instrument: points two & three
Jun 22, 2012 / 00:00 amThe second and third point that speaks to the lethal effects a State-run education has on a free and religious society is as follows:
The strongest political instrument: point one
Jun 15, 2012 / 00:00 amState-run education is the "strongest political instrument of our time." During the twentieth century it has demonstrated that it has the power to make culture into its own image.
Recall lessons for leaders
Jun 8, 2012 / 00:00 amWhether you were for the recall of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker or against it, any impartial observer would recognize it took courage to challenge public union’s uncontested practice of collective bargaining. Evidently, Wisconsin voters saw value in Walker’s fiscally conservative policies and austerity measures. The recall election was a testament to this.
Evangelization and the revolution of the Cross
Jun 1, 2012 / 00:00 amPreaching of the Gospel in ancient times led to the Revolution of the Cross. Christ-crucified was front and center of the early Church’s message and spiritual formation. It gave new meaning to suffering, manual labor, poverty and infirmity.
Evangelization: differences between the new and the old
May 25, 2012 / 00:00 amJust as the Old Paganism differs from the New Paganism; so too the New Evangelization, as it exists today, reveals certain differences from the Original Evangelization of the Apostles and early Christians.
Evangelization and the post-Christian world
May 18, 2012 / 00:00 amOfficial preacher of the Pontifical Household, Fr. Cantalamessa once made reference to the growing concern that we live in a post-Christian world. He said that if the New Evangelization is to have the same success as the Original Evangelization of the Apostles and Church Fathers, we have to consider their “methods and means” which brought about a Christian civilization. “Such means,” he said, “were fundamentally the announcement ‘in Spirit and power’ of the Paschal mystery of Christ dead and risen, united to the testimony of life.”
The Church’s survival skills
May 11, 2012 / 00:00 amChristianity can take a punch but it can also be sent to its deathbed in any given region.
Speaking the people's language
May 4, 2012 / 00:00 amThe voice of the Church, that oracle of Christ, has been an effective communicator when she has tapped into the deeply held questions and concerns of the people. The Church has done this well throughout history but not so well in previous decades. The last fifty to a hundred years or so are instructive to this end.
What 70 canonized Popes can tell you
Apr 27, 2012 / 00:00 amProbably the least studied data in the Church today is the disproportionate number of canonized popes during the early years of Christianity as opposed to the latter years. Take for instance, the first 100 popes. A whopping 70 popes were canonized out of the first 100 popes. Obviously, that means 70 percent of all popes from 33 A.D. to 827 A.D. were Saints. That's good! That’s really good! Moreover, it translates into holier bishops, priests, deacons, monks, consecrated virgins and laity. In other words, it has a trickledown effect. In no small measure does this explain the reason behind the multitude of conversions and the influence the Catholic Church enjoyed during those years.
The Eternal Sacrifice: Christ Whole and Entire
Apr 20, 2012 / 00:00 amThe Last Supper was both the celebration and fulfillment of the Passover, a solemn ritual inaugurated by Moses in Egypt the night before the Exodus. And yet it was the First Mass which anticipated and was indivisibly connected to the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
The Road to Emmaus: Meeting men where they are at!
Apr 13, 2012 / 00:00 amHuman beings have a strong tendency towards social conformity, that is, they are inclined to do what others are doing. This tendency is even stronger than our instinct to help others in need. An overwhelming temptation is to associate truth with what the greater number of people believe.
'America is Heaven on Earth'
Apr 6, 2012 / 00:00 am“America is heaven on earth!” These words caught my attention as I sat listening to a short talk several months ago. Egide Nimubona, a man born and raised in Burundi, Africa, was given the opportunity to say a few words after the conclusion of the Mass at my local parish.
Tebow: A Christ-bearer in word
Mar 30, 2012 / 00:00 amShortly after 12 p.m. on March 26th, Tim Tebow met the New York City press. Next to the city of Philadelphia, they are probably the most brutal in the country. Certainly, any sports celebrity in the Big Apple has to have thick skin.
A bishop experiences God’s liberating power
Mar 23, 2012 / 00:00 amGod does not find success where the politician, celebrity or even the wealthy might find them.
Law and liberation
Mar 16, 2012 / 00:00 amIn his 1991 book, “Turning Point for Europe?” Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, compared the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt 1400 years before Christ to the secular and uncertain path that Europe had embarked on.
Christ and Herod
Mar 9, 2012 / 00:00 amGod hates lukewarmness because it leads to the paralysis of the will and apathy of the heart. No ideology or state of mind communicates this moral and spiritual malaise better in modern times than secular-liberalism.
Lent: A rehearsal for death
Mar 2, 2012 / 00:00 amThe great paradox of life is that death is the only sure thing; the only future event we can truly count on.
The popularity of free stuff
Feb 24, 2012 / 00:00 amThis week on the O’Reilly Factor, anchor Bill O’Reilly noted a peculiar poll trend that shows President Barak Obama’s job approval rating is on the increase. Some polls have him close to 50 percent. This is peculiar and surprising considering our economic and religious liberty challenges. Although the so-called contraceptive (and abortifacients) mandate is predicted to hurt President Obama’s chances for re-election, he has not yet taken a hit on his job approval rating.
The pastoral mandate: Drawing the line in the sand
Feb 17, 2012 / 00:00 amThe questions that are being asked by many lay faithful are as follows: When the very politicians who advance the “Dictatorship of Relativism” and who aggressively deny religious liberty to the very Church they claim to love are allowed to walk through our church doors, then can we really expect to them to hearken to the complaints of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy? If our spiritual fathers do not discipline them as God the Father disciplines his children and as fathers of families are known to do, then can we expect these so-called Catholic politicians to reconsider their hostile actions? And most importantly, are the current pastoral practices consistent with Our Lord’s pastoral mandate in the Gospel of Matthew? Does he not instruct his Apostles to draw the line in the sand with regard to obstinate sinners?
The pastoral mandate, politicians and religious liberty, part one
Feb 10, 2012 / 00:00 amReligious Liberty