Posts by Fr Jay Scott Newman

Dear Friends in Christ, The new Year of Grace will begin next week with the First Sunday of Advent, and on each of the four Sundays of Advent we will gather at 5 pm to sing the psalms and canticles of Vespers or Evening Prayer. Please join us at 5 pm on each of the…

Dear Friends in Christ, Next Sunday is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and during Mass at 9 and 11 am our sacred music will be fitting for the sovereign Lord of all creation. This also means that in two weeks we will begin a new Year of Grace on…

Dear Friends in Christ, The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and in the sacred liturgy this week, we keep four feasts that reveal these four marks: 9 November is the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome and therefore the head and mother of all…

Dear Friends in Christ, The Jubilee of Mercy will begin next month on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and the official commencement of the Jubilee will occur in Rome when Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. Jubilees have been kept in the Church since the year 1300, and they regularly…

Dear Friends in Christ, Last week I wrote to you about the difference between doctrine and discipline, but in addition to that distinction, we must also distinguish several different types of doctrine in the Church. Catholic tradition identifies at least four levels of teaching authority, with each type calling for its own level of acceptance,…

Dear Friends in Christ, During the Synod of Bishops now meeting in Rome and because of the debates among bishops at that meeting, parts of Catholic Christianity that are seldom thought about except by specialists are being discussed by many people, and in the service of bringing clarity to what might otherwise be obscure, here…