Catholic Church

By Bradley Eli, M.Div., Ma.Th., Church Militant - Speaking in 1946 on the crisis in store for the Catholic Church, then-Bp. Fulton J. Sheen predicted the devil would attempt to counterfeit the Church: He will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counter church which will be the ape of the Church because he the devil is the ape of God. It will be the mystical body of the anti-christ that will in all externals resemble the Church as the mystical body of Christ.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - In today’s gospel there is a very familiar story of the healing of the blind man Bartimaeus. As with any familiar story, the danger is that we, upon hearing its opening lines say, “Oh that story,” and we just sort of tune out. But there are many things in the details of the story that we can easily miss. Ultimately the story of Bartimaeus is also our story, for we too must let the Lord heal our blindness and give us sight. One paradox of this gospel that we shall note, is that the man receives his sight as the result of hearing.

By John Grondelski, EWTN News - By this point in the Church year, given that we have been reading Mark since last December, the characteristics of a “Markan” miracle should be apparent: Jesus heals because he touches the whole man, body and soul ...

By Russell Shaw, Catholic Exchange - While the calendar of the Church contains no feast of Purgatory as such, we have its equivalent instead. It falls on November 2, just after the feast of All Saints, and is called All Souls Day. This is when the Church encourages us to pray, especially for our departed ones—spouses, children, family members, friends, and many others—who we believe and hope are most likely now in Purgatory.