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Christianity is unintelligible without conversion from sin
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Our present lecture is on conversion from sin as necessary for salvation. This, as you know, is our reflection on the Scriptures and, concretely, on what the Sacred Scriptures tell us about conversion. First, by way of introduction,...
Lent: how to be educated in an authentic sense of penance
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. It seems certain that a Lenten season preceding Easter goes back to the time of the Apostles. The length of time has varied. But by the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), which was the first general council of the Church, Lent was observed for...
We should promote commitment, not vocations
by Fr. John A. Hardon Come & See Chapter 3: Vocations and the Commitment Crisis With the dwindling number of entrants into seminaries and novitiates, we naturally ask, "What happened?" And we are inclined to put the blame where it does not belong, on a lack of...
How to Win Lapsed Catholics Back to the Church
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J Our present conference is on how should Catholics be retrieved who have lost either their faith or they have at least lapsed from the practice of their Catholic religion. Our first conference, you remember, was on why there has been such...
Religious life: loyalty should be prudent, humble, and obedient
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. What we're doing, of course, is continuing our meditations on the Holy Father's essential elements of religious life. Before we proceed further, it may be useful to note that the Pope combines two kinds of fidelity, both, he says, required...
The Apostolate of the Laity Since Vatican II
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. It may sound a bit odd to address oneself to the subject of the apostolate of the laity since the Second Vatican Council. The address is not in talking about the lay apostolate but in implying that this apostolate is somehow different since...
Marriage: The Mystery of Faithful Love
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. We might begin by saying that this is the most fundamental truth of our faith in Christian marriage and the family. What is it? That, unlike all other marriages either before the coming of Christ or now in the world, two baptized people...
Catechism: Magna Carta of the Pro-Life Movement
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. The Twentieth century is the most homicidal in the history of the human race. Its principal claim to this tragic title is the widespread legislation of abortion on a scale and with a violence unknown in all the ages of mankind. Not...
Faith in Christ is Shown by Our Loyalty to the Pope
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. There are certain events in the Gospels that synthesize what a Catholic is supposed to be. These events are at once both mysteries and challenges. They are mysteries because, though revealed, we cannot fully understand them. That, by the...
The Meaning of Virtue in St. Thomas Aquinas
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Until modern times the relationship of morals to religion was taken for granted, and writers as far different in philosophy as Plato and Avicenna, or in theology as Aquinas and Luther, never questioned the basic truth expressed on Mt. Sinai...