Xt3

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear friends of Xt3,

……

Why Did God Give Us The Power Of Free Will?

One of the greatest gifts that God has blessed us with is the gift of freedom. Freedom allows us to choose our actions and proves to us that we are not bound by some predetermined plan for our lives. God granted us this gift as part of the dignity he bestowed on human beings to be able to be the masters of their own actions.

……

Questions on Sexuality Loom Large Ahead of Youth Synod

According to the official working document for the upcoming synod of bishops on youth, the major questions for young people ahead of the October discussion surround issues of sexuality and gender, the role of women and the desire for a Church that knows how to listen.

……

Mark Shea: Thou Shalt Not Put Buttons Up Your Nose

When I was in fourth grade I was much the same as I am now: a loudmouth who knew everything and therefore had to be taught by experience.

……

Summary of Amoris Laetitia: On Love in the Family from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

The Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia seeks emphatically to affirm not the “ideal family” but the very rich and complex reality of family life. Its pages provide an openhearted look, profoundly positive, which is nourished not with abstractions or ideal projections, but with pastoral attention to reality. The text is a close reading of family life, with spiritual insights and practical wisdom useful for every human couple or persons who want to build a family. Above all, it is patently the result of attention to what people have lived over 7 many years. The Exhortation Amoris laetitia: On Love in the Family indeed speaks the language of experience and of hope.

Biblical Basics about Mother Mary – A Homily for the Second Sunday of the Year

In the Gospel for Sunday 17 January 2016 we hear the story of the wedding feast at Cana. In this Scripture passage, there is a theological portrait of both Mother Mary and of prayer, including the incredible power and the product of Mary’s prayer.

……

The Rise and Fall of a Prophet and What His Story Means for Us

He is one of the more curious figures of the Bible; the details of his life and story are caught up in textual complexities in the Book of Numbers. Though a prophet, he was not even an Israelite. He wrote no book and is not counted among Israel’s prophets. And yet a prophet he was, for he spoke the oracles of God and brought blessings to Israel at a critical time in its history.

……

Religion and Its Duties Are Not Only an Act of Justice Toward God, but Something We Owe One Another

In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas discusses the virtue of religion within his treatise on justice. This surprises some, who expect it to be treated under the theological virtue of faith. But Thomas clearly states that religion is not a theological virtue. Theological virtues have God Himself for their object, whereas religion has as its object the reverence, worship, and honor due to God (cf IIa, IIae 81.5). Religion is a matter of justice because we owe God a debt of honor, worship, and gratitude (cf IIa, IIae 81.2).

……

People Who Think Jesus Didn’t Exist Are Seriously Confused

The news that 40 per cent of British people, according to a recent poll, do not believe that Jesus was “a real person” is pretty shattering whichever way you look at it.

……

Five Qualities Necessary for an Evangeliser - From St. Paul

St. Paul describes a kind of modus vivendi (a way of living) for himself and for us in Col 1:28-29. It has a dynamic urgency about it that we ought not to overlook.

……