Celibacy is always, shall we say, an affront to what man normally thinks. It is something that can be done, and is only credible, if there is a God and if celibacy is my doorway into the kingdom of God.
“If you believe what you like in the Gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”
It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops. We must really make an effort to change this.
For many people today, practical atheism is the normal rule of life...If this attitude becomes a general existential position, then freedom no longer has any standards, then everyting is possible and permissible.
One can readily admit that the Magisterium's manner of expression does not seem very easy to understand at times. It needs to be translated by preachers and catechists into a language which relates to people and to their respective cultural environments. The essential content of the Church's teaching, however, must be upheld in this process. It must not be watered down on allegedly pastoral grounds, because it communicates the revealed truth.
Honestly, I'll bake you a cake if you can make sense of what Bergoglio is trying to say in his speech on decommissioning churches, i.e., closing them because NOChurch has chased people away from the faith.
Courtship is hard work and the dating scene is a minefield. A dude on the Internet gives us tips on how to Find a Girlfriend Or Pick the Perfect Wife- The Wife Zone Chart.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar