Let’s take a quiz, who said:

It is obvious that in our days not only is wealth accumulated, but immense power and despotic economic domination are concentrated in the hands of a few, and that those few are frequently not the owners, but only the trustees and directors of invested funds, who administer them at their good pleasure

(Quadragesimo anno 105)

Obviously, no one who wished to be elected to any office in America would allow this to be published under his or her own name. It seems written by Karl Marx, another Communist, or some species of socialist. It was in fact Pope Pius XI in 1931. It was not an isolated statement. He wrote in the same letter (encyclical): Continue reading “Homily – Christ the King (Fr. Smith)” →

I think I am going to have a productive Advent. Painful but productive and productive precisely because it will be painful. It may seem premature to speak of Advent. Although the season officially is the 4 weeks before Christmas the church prepares us with prayers and readings for the two weeks before the first Sunday of Advent. Next week we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, acknowledging that God alone can bring the kingdom. This week, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time is often called “little apocalypse” Sunday. This year we read it from Luke. It tells us why Jesus must return and the signs of his coming. This week’s election should set our minds on these matters. It will take some time to get over the ugliness of the campaign but also the increasing difficulty of finding candidates we can support without violating our consciences. This may seem apocalyptic in the way we usually use the word, dreadful and hopeless, but it is also apocalyptic in the biblical sense.

Continue reading “Homily – 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Smith)” →