fidesetratio.us

Never Too Late to Love, Section V Mary Teaches Us to Pray - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Audio Player
V. Section V – Mary Taught Jesus in His Sacred Humanity to Pray, and We Must Learn from Her
Christian theology confesses a profound mystery: Jesus Christ is true God and true man. In His divinity He is eternally one with the Father. In His humanity He learns, develops, and grows as every human child does. This truth, solemnly defined by the Church, allows us to make an extraordinary claim with complete confidence. Mary, in her maternal vocation, taught Jesus to pray according to His Sacred Humanity.
This is not a diminution of Christ. It is the glory of the Incarnation. The eternal Son truly assumed our nature, embracing its pattern of growth. Saint Luke tells us that Jesus “increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”¹ Growth in wisdom includes genuine human learning. Within that development, Mary plays an essential role. She does not teach the eternal Word how to be God; she teaches Him how to express, as man, the perfect communion He possesses by …

fidesetratio.us

“truth” changes depending on who holds power. - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

the idea that there is no such thing as “objective truth” and in reality all “truth” is a product and an expression of social and political power—i.e., “truth” changes depending on who holds power.
This idea stands in direct opposition to the words of a famous American document: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”
So many commentators are stunned that Democrats are clinging to the idea of boys in girls’ sports, even though the idea is opposed by 82% of the public, and they are equally stunned that Democrats more broadly make the transgender movement a central component of their policy agenda, despite popular opposition.
These commentators are stunned because they do not grasp just how essential this issue is to the core beliefs of the modern Democrat Party. For Democrats, this is a hill worth dying on. I’ll explain. The modern Democrat Party is shaped and controlled by Karl Marx’s concept of historical materialism and its modern version, critical theory. These are the …

fidesetratio.us

Soaring Eagle - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

fidesetratio.us

Never Too Late to Love, Section IV The Third Step in Prayer - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Audio Player
Mary is the Pre-eminent Teacher and Model on Prayer and Relationship with God
Within the communion of saints, Mary holds a unique place not only as the Mother of God but as the supreme model of the interior life. Her existence is marked by receptivity, fidelity, and contemplative attentiveness to the word of God. To speak of spiritual development is to speak of Mary, because she embodies the perfection of prayerful relationship with God.
The Gospel reveals her as the first believer of the New Covenant. Her fiat is not a single act but the expression of a lifelong disposition: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”¹ This is the fundamental posture of authentic prayer. Prayer begins in listening. It matures in consent. It bears fruit in obedience. Mary demonstrates all three with simplicity and depth.
Saint Luke notes twice that Mary “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.”² These brief lines provide one of Scripture’s …

fidesetratio.us

Never Too Late to Love, Section III The Second Step in Prayer - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Audio Player
III. At the heart of Spiritual Development is our relationship to God. Prayer in its various aspects has as its fundamental goal establishing and fostering our relationship to God.
Section III – The Heart of Spiritual Development Is Our Relationship to God
At the center of spiritual development is not a technique, a discipline, or a program. It is a relationship. Christianity stands apart from every purely philosophical or ethical system because it proclaims that God is not a distant ideal but a living Person who calls the human soul into communion. The entire spiritual life is ordered toward this reality. Every form of prayer, every virtue pursued, and every interior transformation serves one purpose: deepening our union with God.
This relationship begins with God’s initiative. The Catechism teaches that “the desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God.”¹ This longing is not poetic imagery but an anthropological truth. Nothing …

fidesetratio.us

Never Too Late to Love, Section II The First Step in Prayer - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Audio Player
Spiritual Development should have pride of place. Our faith is foundational to everything else we do. For good or ill.
Section II – Spiritual Development Should Have Pride of Place
In every age, the Church has taught that the spiritual life is not an accessory to human existence. It is the organizing principle of a well-ordered life. To say that spiritual development should have pride of place is to make a theological and anthropological claim. It affirms that the human person is created for a supernatural end and that all created goods bear fruit only when placed in right relation to that end. Faith is not one category among many; it is the foundation upon which every other dimension of life stands or falls.
Placing spiritual development first is an acknowledgment that the most important work of every Christian is interior. This does not diminish the weight of our vocational, familial, or civic responsibilities. Instead, it orders them. When the interior life is starved,…

fidesetratio.us

COLLAPSE: 12 Years of the Bergoglio Age in Numbers - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Skip to content
The Bergoglian Age in numbers: in ancient Christian countries, but not only, the number of Catholics is declining. Of course, there are many reasons for this, such as secularization, urbanization, competition from competing ideologies and religions, and the unravelling of family units and traditional values in many places. But the statistics point to a worrying acceleration since the start of Pope Francis’ pontificate, particularly in places where bishops and indeed the Church as a whole pride themselves on their progressivism and their entry into the marvellous synodality.
The Bergoglian Age in numbers: in ancient Christian countries, but not only, the number of Catholics is declining. Of course, there are many reasons for this, such as secularization, urbanization, competition from competing ideologies and religions, and the unravelling of family units and traditional values in many places. But the statistics point to a worrying acceleration since the start of Pope …

fidesetratio.us

LIFE WINS IN SAN ANTONIO - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

LIFE WINS IN SAN ANTONIO
In December 2025, as the Church enters the quiet days of Advent, the San Antonio Family Association continues to defend life in San Antonio. This ongoing work is rooted in a landmark pro life ordinance secured ten years earlier, in December 2015, after sustained legal, legislative, administrative, and cultural efforts that helped save thousands of lives.
On December 17, 2015, the San Antonio Family Association secured a historic victory when the San Antonio City Council passed the city’s first pro life ordinance. The measure prevented abortion facilities from locating next to established residential neighborhoods, despite opposition from city staff.
This victory followed more than thirteen months of full time apostolic work on legal, administrative, legislative, and cultural fronts.
Legally, SAFA’s lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and Planned Parenthood South Texas delayed the licensing of a new abortion facility for more than six months. Court testimony …

fidesetratio.us

Shepherds of the Church: Why the Double Standard? - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

fidesetratio.us

Never Too Late to Love, Section I Beginning of a New Year - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Audio Player
The beginning of a new year has always invited the human heart to pause. Something in us looks back with honesty and gratitude, and forward with desire. Even in secular contexts, people instinctively sense that the turning of the calendar carries a call to renewal. We make resolutions because we recognize that life is not static. It moves, develops, and bends toward a purpose. The Christian understands that this impulse is not accidental. It reflects the God who created time, entered time, and redeems time.
The Church approaches the new year with maternal clarity. Her liturgical calendar does not begin with resolutions about efficiency or self-improvement. It begins with longing. Advent reawakens desire for the One who comes and keeps coming. In this way, the new year is not primarily about what we plan to accomplish, but about what God desires to accomplish in us. Our resolutions find their meaning only when they rest within His initiative.
Most resolutions focus on secondary …

fidesetratio.us

Catholics must refuse to accept a public heretic as pope: here's why - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

fidesetratio.us

LAPIDES CLAMABUNT - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Skip to content
It is necessary to prevent the progressive hierarchy from ensuring that one of their own is Bergoglio’s successor, that is, another usurper on the Throne of Peter who will be the heir and continuator of the previous one. Before hammering the final nail into Bergoglio’s coffin, it is therefore essential and urgent that light be shed on the usurpation he perpetrated and on the occupation of the Catholic Church by a corrupt and treacherous hierarchy, whose sole aim is to destroy Her from within.

fidesetratio.us

Pope Leo XIV The First 100 Days VIII Addendum - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Outrages of Recent Weeks.
In the past fortnight, developments in Rome have caused grave scandal for many of the faithful: an officially-listed LGBTQ pilgrimage held liturgies at the Church of the Gesù and then processed through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica during the Jubilee rites;¹ the Holy Father’s blessing of a large block of ice at a climate conference—an act defended by organizers as symbolic but widely criticized as bearing pagan overtones;² and off-the-cuff remarks presenting opposition to abortion as inconsistent with support for the death penalty or “inhuman” immigration policies, a framing that echoes the “seamless garment” approach and risks obscuring the unique gravity of abortion in Catholic moral teaching.³ These events, taken together, form a developing situation worthy of serious concern and sustained prayer.
Notes
“LGBTQ Catholics process through Holy Door at St. Peter’s,” America Magazine, Sept. 8, 2025 (noting Gesù liturgies and Holy Door passage; …

fidesetratio.us

WHY I AM NOT PRAYING FOR THE POPE LIKE OTHERS - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

fidesetratio.us

Pope Leo XIV The First 100 Days VIII IX - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Audio Player
Prayer
Pope Benedict XVI once asked the faithful to pray for him, “that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.” ¹ Those words revealed a man aware of the spiritual battle around the papacy. The same is true now. Every pope, no matter his gifts or limitations, stands at the center of immense pressures—political, cultural, and spiritual. That is why our first and lasting response must be prayer.
The Priority of Prayer
It is easy to offer commentary. It is harder to bend the knee. Yet prayer is the one act that genuinely sustains the pope. When we pray, we are not propping up a personality or defending an institution for its own sake. We are asking God to strengthen a shepherd so that he may keep his eyes fixed on Christ and guide the flock with fidelity.
Prayer protects the pope from discouragement and pride. It protects the faithful from the temptation to place too much trust in a man, or to despair when he disappoints us. Christ alone is the savior of the Church. The pope …

fidesetratio.us

Archbishop Viganò Calls for Forensic Audit of Catholic NGOs - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

fidesetratio.us

Pope Leo XIV The First 100 Days VIII - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

Audio Player
VIII. Cautions
When speaking about a new pope, it is easy to slide into extremes. Some voices rush to canonize him as a saint after his first gestures. Others condemn him after a single misstep. Catholic influencers often feed this pattern, because controversy and strong rhetoric draw attention. Journalists, too, thrive on dramatic narratives. But as friends walking together in faith, we must be cautious. Holiness cannot be reduced to headlines, and a pontificate cannot be judged by slogans.
Differing Theological Stances
The Catholic Church is truly universal, and with that universality comes real diversity in theological emphasis. Some place weight on social engagement, others on doctrinal clarity, others on liturgy and tradition. These emphases are not always in harmony, and at times they clash openly. It is part of the pope’s role to hold this diversity together without diluting the deposit of faith. ¹ That is no small task.
Recent months have revealed this tension. Some …

fidesetratio.us

Billions in Blood Money - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective

fidesetratio.us

USCCB and Catholic Charities Received $449 Million by Exploiting Migrant Children - Fides et Ratio | Reflections on life from a theological and rational perspective