Articles by Joe Tremblay
Loved ones and lost souls
Sep 16, 2011 / 00:00 amThrough the saved, God very often searches for the lost. Quite often, loved ones of lost souls are the means by which the Good Shepherd finds his lost sheep.
Two competing movements for America’s soul: Socialism and the New Evangelization
Sep 9, 2011 / 00:00 amRiots in the U.K in recent weeks, global economic uncertainty and the fight to resurrect the U.S. economy, is all symptomatic of a greater conflict between the Catholic Evangelization and the propaganda of Socialism. In 1938, when the line between the City of God and the City of Man, between the Church and the World, between the Free World and Communism, was more clearly defined, a Catholic historian by the name of Christopher Dawson reminded Christians of the following:
Bearing contempt: How the avoidance of it is leading to religious intolerance
Sep 2, 2011 / 00:00 amSt. Thomas More “speaks critically of certain clerics who deliberately refrain from warning a rich and powerful man of the peril his soul is in out of fear of angering him and on the false premise that admonitions will do him no good.” -James Monti, “The King’s Good Servant But God’s First”
Principled opposition and the Dictatorship of Relativism
Aug 26, 2011 / 00:00 amEllen Meade recently wrote an article for the American Thinker entitled: “Why the Right is Wrong on Gay Marriage.” Her caviler “there are bigger fish to fry” approach to same-sex marriage is a growing phenomenon among conservatives, libertarians and Republicans. She said, “It saddens me that Republicans think it's okay to trample on civil liberties if it's for the right reasons: gay marriage, FISA, The Patriot Act.” Then she goes on to say, “But, there should be no room in the party for limiting liberty and freedom.” That’s right! Implied in Meade’s comments is that liberty and freedom are absolutes and ends in themselves. It doesn’t matter what you do with such liberty and freedom, as long as you are permitted to do what you want. As such, moral principles are totally arbitrary. If Meade gets her way, two things are bound to emerge with greater force: political despotism and social intolerance.
Martyrs and the State
Aug 19, 2011 / 00:00 am“...nor does your cruelty, however exquisite, accomplish anything: rather, it is an enticement to our religion. The more we are cut down by you, the more numerous we become. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians.”
The Letter of '71
Aug 12, 2011 / 00:00 amAccording to Archbishop Charles Chaput in “Render Unto Caesar,” in 1970 Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, asserted that the fallout of the cultural revolution from 1960s was nothing that we have seen before. And in response to the precipitous decline in priestly and religious vocations he said that “the city of man is beginning to strike terror in our heart … the Church is becoming extinguished in men’s souls and Christian communities are crumbling.”
Good-bye for now Rob
Aug 5, 2011 / 00:00 amDeath greets us all. On July 25th of 2011, in my extended family, death greeted a young gentleman by the name of Rob Koger after a severe brain injury. Totally unexpected was his death. As his life was sustained by life support, prayers poured in on his behalf that God might work a miracle. As for myself, I prayed in earnest that he would recover.
The temptations of a Catholic celebrity (continued)
Jul 29, 2011 / 00:00 amFor St. Paul, while laying the foundation of Christianity, he was constantly beaten down, not just by trying circumstances, but by a demon. He said, “…because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.” (II Corinthians 12:7) In his human weakness he implored God for help in the following passage: “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’" (II Corinthians 12:8-9)
The temptations of a Catholic celebrity – part one
Jul 22, 2011 / 00:00 amThe scandal and uncertainty surrounding the once highly acclaimed preacher, Father John Corapi, still lingers in cyberspace and among casual conversations around kitchen tables.
St. Joseph and the Sword of Conflict
Jul 15, 2011 / 00:00 amIt is not uncommon for God to frontload missions and great enterprises with adversity. St. Joseph was certainly no exception.
The Church and the Cinema: What used to be
Jul 8, 2011 / 00:00 amThe historic role the Catholic Church has played over the centuries in favor of freedom is that she mediated between the state and the citizen. By her moral influence, she restrained the overreaching power of civil authority from encroaching on the rights of citizens and those who could not defend themselves. With the same moral authority, the Church exercised a commanding influence on Hollywood during the twentieth century. The Legion of Decency, founded in 1933 by Archbishop of Cincinnati John T. McNicholas, was an organization behind this influence by opposing immoral or irreverent content.
The Church’s role in marriage trends
Jul 1, 2011 / 00:00 amThe Catholic Church is the hope and despair of mankind. When her pastoral practices mirror those of Jesus Christ, inspiring holiness in her members, society inevitably benefits from her graces. Hence, the institution of marriage, the cradle of society, flourishes all the more. And the guarantor of this cradle – at least in centuries past – has been the Catholic Church.
On the making of Catholics: How the Church Fathers united the faithful
Jun 24, 2011 / 00:00 amOne critical factor in strengthening the unity of the Catholic Church is the way in which candidates are received into her fold. The New Evangelization, if it is to be equally effective as the evangelization of the Apostles and Church Fathers, will be dependent upon how that unity is expressed.