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.
The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life."
That Christianity gives joy and breadth is also a thread that runs through my whole life. Ultimately someone who is always only in opposition could not endure life at all.
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.
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.
There really is never good news whenever one of the prince-of-heresy Cardinal Mars opens his rather evil mouth, or so it seems. I am not the only one to have discovered this, obviously:
Wise words from the future Pope Benedict XVI on fasting, reflecting on a conversation he had previously had with an Orthodox patriarch:
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar