Are you a prideful person? Are you committing spiritual idolatry? Are you what St. James calls an adulterer? Pride will keep you from God's grace and He gives it freely. Pride is a disordered view of yourself and distorts our sense of importance. It causes us to place ourselves ahead of other people. It causes us to question why others have more worldly things than we do. We want things so much that we are willing to put those created things before the Creator or even in place of the Creator. Matthew 6:24 tells us that a divided loyalty cannot last. But many of us are very content with our friendship with the world. We are very focused on believing that created things are very important if we are to be perceived by others as important. All of this angst creates an inner struggle and we know what happens when pressure builds. It has to escape and frequently that inner angst explodes on other people. We become angry, envious and greedy. We covet what our friends have and we want it no matter what the cost. We must be happy and free to pursue our lavish lifestyle even if that means killing our children to get there. The good news is that God is waiting to help us out of this disordered existence. We need to develop our faith life and pray. We must allow our prayers to come from our hearts and realize that sometimes the answer will be no. Doesn't God know best what we need? He knows everything about us including our future. Sometimes when the answer is no, we get angry. But if we look back at that situation calmly and in obedience, we realize that God did what was best for us. So I encourage you to pray for wisdom. Submit yourself to God and clothe yourself in humility. Remember who you are and who He is. Wash the world away, take deliberate action to change your life and God will exalt you. The exaltation that God offers is not fleeting like that of the world. Humility is the opposite of pride and brings us in closer union with God. I am humbly praying for wisdom during this Lent. I also urge you to continue to pray for the victims of the tsunami in Japan.
The release of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s note, Mater Populi Fidelis , on November 4, 2025, seems to have sparked some immediate and widespread confusion, driven largely by sensationalist headlines from secular sources. In response to requests, particularly surrounding a potential Fifth Marian Dogma of Spiritual Maternity , the DDF addressed the usage of titles like Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix. Unfortunately, this has led to a large contingent online and in the media claiming that the Church has "tossed out" centuries of doctrine, with some outside the Church even proclaiming a "victory" over Catholic teaching (This may be the saddest part of it all, that we as Christians, are "competing" with each other). It is essential to understand that this doctrinal note is fundamentally about titles and clarity, not doctrine and change according to the Vatican News. The true teachings regarding Mary's unique role in salvation remain inviolabl...
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