CTS: The Catholic Publishing Charity

25/07/2024

"Fifty years ago, a young woman who had predominantly masculine interests would be labeled a tomboy.

Now, with the evolution and power of language, she might conclude she is trans and would benefit from a double mastectomy because she was born in the wrong body.

But something can be learned from history here: Is the better approach for such a woman to discard womanhood and appropriate manhood, or to broaden her culture’s understanding of what it means to be a woman?

Gender nonconformity does not require people to identify as something other than their s*x.

After all, everyone is either a male person or a female person. There is no subset of human beings for whom s*x is irrelevant."

// Male, Female, Other? by Jason Evert is now in stock! Order your copy today to understand how to respond compassionately to questions about gender: https://loom.ly/G7VBjTg

18/07/2024

Why does tradition matter? And how does St Maximilian Kolbe reveal its importance?

The latest episode of Into the Truth with journalist and Catholic convert Sohrab Ahmari is out now!

Listen: https://loom.ly/3ovY9j0
Watch: https://loom.ly/QfMDvq4

17/07/2024

Why should we pray to Mary? The life of St Maximilian Kolbe offers a powerful example.

St Maximilian Kolbe took trials that he experienced as opportunities to come close to the Immaculata. The German authorities closed his monastery in 1941 and the Gestapo subsequently arrested him, eventually transferring him to Auschwitz.

The guards in Auschwitz regularly beat him for continuing with his priestly ministry. On one occasion, a sergeant tore Maximilian’s rosary beads away from him. The sergeant shoved the crucifix on the rosary towards him and asked if he believed in it. When Maximilian responded “Yes”, the sergeant struck him in the face. This was repeated several times.

When the sergeant moved on Maximilian told his compatriots that the whole thing was of no consequence and that they should not be concerned for him. He said that he had borne with the insults simply for love of Mary. He then just continued with his prayers. The witnesses would not have known that anything at all had happened, except that his face was still red from the blows.

It is reported that the final prayer on the lips of St Maximilian as he was killed was the Hail Mary.

// Save 15% this July! Learn how to love Mary with the saints in "Behold Your Mother". Now 15% off July on with code SUMMER15 - shop now: https://loom.ly/i-KzJf4

16/07/2024

On this day in 1251, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to St Simon Stock in a vision, giving him the Brown Scapular. Wearing this scapular, a symbol of the Carmelite habit, is a sign of trust in Mary’s maternal help, especially at the hour of death.

"Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of thy Order; it is the special sign of my favour, which I have obtained for thee and for thy children of Mount Carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire. It is the badge of salvation, a shield in time of danger and a pledge of special peace and protection." // Our Lady of Mount Carmel to St Simon Stock

16/07/2024

Is it true that using a person’s pronoun and chosen name is a basic courtesy and a simple way to show that you respect that individual? What should Catholics do?

These delicate questions should be considered on a case-by-case basis. However, to unhesitatingly endorse everyone’s preferred pronoun is to overlook that words express more than courtesy and inclusion. Language can convey sentiments of kindness, but it can also be used to sculpt ontology and anthropology.

Words should express the truth of the person, and to change a person’s pronouns is to call into question the very nature of what it means to be male and female.

According to postmodern thought, language doesn’t need to describe reality because it has the power to shape it. This is why it has been said that “All social engineering is preceded by verbal engineering.”

// For a more extensive answer to this question, get your copy of our new book "Male, Female, Other?" by Jason Evert: https://loom.ly/G7VBjTg

15/07/2024

“There’s something else going on here, but you need to see it.”

Listen to the full episode with bioethicist and mother Dr Pia Matthews on disability, IVF, abortion and euthanasia!

YouTube: https://loom.ly/_1pMBAg
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10/07/2024

Few words today generate as much controversy as "gender." In our new book "Male, Female, Other?", renowned Catholic speaker, author and podcaster Jason and Crystalina Evert addresses the most common claims of gender theory and shows how to respond with charity and clarity.

If you care about someone who identifies as trans and don't know how to respond, or you experience gender dysphoria and wonder what God's plan is for you, you'll find the answers inside.

Order now: https://loom.ly/G7VBjTg

09/07/2024

"Marriage is Christianity at its best." Dr Pia Matthews explains how marriage helps couples to grow in holiness in the latest episode of our Into the Truth podcast.

Watch: https://loom.ly/_1pMBAg
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04/07/2024

Are some human lives worth more than others? Tonight on Into the Truth podcast, Dr Pia Matthews explores the dignity of every human life & the compassionate response of the Church to today's bioethical issues.

Watch: https://youtu.be/SyYaQKuqfuc
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03/07/2024

Can you create your own meaning? In our latest podcast episode, Dr Joshua Madden says, "We're not in a good spot if it's all up to us!"

Watch: https://loom.ly/D9b3Rsc
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Apple: https://loom.ly/mrfsjRo

02/07/2024

How did Blessed Carlo Acutis accept the sufferings of the illness that killed him?

God, not his own condition, was the focus of Carlo's attention.This was his secret: God was the single goal and objective of his short life: “Sadness is looking at ourselves, happiness is looking towards God.”

And so: “Our goal must be infinite, not the finite. The infinite is our homeland. Heaven has been waiting for us forever.”

This helps to explain why, in his real bodily suffering, he was not afraid of dying.

“Do not be afraid because, with the incarnation of Jesus, death becomes life, and there’s no need to escape: in eternal life something extraordinary awaits us.”

Carlo teaches us to look at death through the eyes of faith. He taught this to his mother. Without faith, she says, she would have remained inconsolable after the death of her young son. With faith, her mourning can turn to hope.

// From "Blessed Carlo Acutis: 5 Steps to Being a Saint": https://bit.ly/3CSPzbo

01/07/2024

Think of vocations as our opportunity to offer God a gift. God himself has given us the awesome gift of his friendship and an invitation – a call – to share his happiness forever. An appropriate response to God’s gracious generosity is to offer him the gift of our own lives in return, as a sign of our gratitude.

God has prepared everything so that we might have the joy of offering him this gift. Yet the gift is truly our own. In this sign of our gratitude, we journey back to our heavenly Father in union with Christ, and so come to the end to which God calls us in fulfilment of our vocation.

// Whatever stage of life you're at, find more inspiration for your vocation in our book "Living Your Vocation: Even if You Don't Know What it is Yet" by Fr Nicholas Crowe OP: https://loom.ly/m1Zjqzw

28/06/2024

If your parish hasn't yet ordered the new Lectionary, or if you haven't yet ordered your new people's missal, this is your last chance to get up to 15% off! Our pre-order discount ends this Sunday 30th June at 11.59pm.

Order now and get the promo code: https://loom.ly/xBdv2MY

27/06/2024

Why is there so much darkness in the Church? If the Church is the dwelling place of God, why are we faced with so many instances of failure, lack of faithfulness, and moral evil, even among some of the Church's leaders? Has something gone dreadfully wrong?

As with Jesus the man, so with Jesus in the Church: only faith can open our eyes to the presence of the divine mysteriously united to the human. Faith looks for signs, hears the voice of God in the Scriptures, hungers for the bread of life in the Eucharist, and knows that Christ himself is present.

Illuminated by the vision of faith, we see that the fate of the Church is not decided by appearance, by public relations, by political or social machinations and manipulations. It is not upheld by money, by influential connections, or by human laws. Any of these factors may play a secondary role in a given strategy that Christ is using, but the strength of the Church is found in its heavenly divine life.

It is rooted in the eternal regions where it cannot be touched; it is animated by the life of God himself, inhabiting it as his body; and its militant wing is strong when its members are becoming holy, usually in hidden ways that no one can see.

Without the vision of faith, all that can be seen is a gathering of humans and their various organizations and activities, humans who are often unimpressive and who are sometimes downright evil - humans like us.

// Read more about the reality of the Church today in "Religion of the Day", the sequel to the popular "From Christendom to Apostolic Mission" by Mgr James Shea: https://loom.ly/xoLn6rQ

24/06/2024

Everyone should ask themselves the question, "What is truth?" Truth is not relative, and our will and choices do not define our reality.

Watch the latest episode of Into the Truth podcast with Dr Joshua Madden:

Everyone should ask themselves the question, "What is truth?" Truth is not relative, and our will and choices do not define our reality. Dr Joshua Madden, au...

20/06/2024

There is a whole generation of people who have never asked themselves the question, "What is truth?" The truth is considered purely subjective, dependent on experience and worldview.

Don't miss the latest episode of the Into the Truth podcast with Dr Joshua Madden!

Watch: https://loom.ly/D9b3Rsc
Spotify: https://loom.ly/XFunRQ8
Apple: https://loom.ly/mrfsjRo

19/06/2024

If you want to start reading the Bible, begin with the Gospels. Discover Who Jesus is and what He did. Then as you read ask yourself three questions: what does it say about Christ, what does it say about morality, and what does it say about my life?

Listen to the conversation with Fr Javier Ruiz in full 👇

YouTube: https://loom.ly/w-Pw6eU
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18/06/2024

A big change is happening to the Mass. On the First Sunday of Advent, we will bid farewell to the version of the Lectionary (the book containing the Scripture readings for Mass) familiar to us for over fifty years. We will then begin to use a version based on the English Standard Version Catholic Edition and the Revised Grail Psalms (also known as The Abbey Psalms and Canticles).

But why was this change needed? Why was this new version of Scripture chosen? And what will the benefit of all of this be?

Bishop Hugh Gilbert, OSB explains the change in Lectionary in our new book "Hearing Christ’s Voice: A New Lectionary for the Church".

Order now to find the answers you need and get 10% off with code PREORDER10 https://loom.ly/tCsGGSM

13/06/2024

"Christ who is your life is hanging before you, so that you may look at the cross as in a mirror. There you will be able to know how mortal were your wounds, that no medicine other than the blood of the Son of God could heal.

"If you look closely, you will be able to realise how great your human dignity and your value are.... Nowhere other than looking at himself in the mirror of the cross can man better understand how much he is worth."

(St Anthony of Padua)

12/06/2024

How do you know if your prayer life is going well?

Authentic prayer must translate into the reality of your life. Doctor of the Church St Teresa of Avila made this acute observation. The acid test to prove our prayer is authentic is how our prayer is manifested in our life. Jesus Himself reminds us that we can tell the tree by its fruit. A good tree brings forth good fruit; a bad tree, bad fruit.

If we are truly praying with sincerity, honesty, rectitude of intention and love for God, we will begin to see good fruit or virtues growing in our life.

Learn more about deepening your prayer life with our book "How to Overcome Distraction in Prayer": https://loom.ly/If4cqHs

07/06/2024

"The Bible is not a book. The Bible is a library of books with many different genres, in which the Word of God is expressed in human words."

Can we trust the Bible? Listen to Biblical scholar Fr Javier Ruiz explain in the latest episode of Into the Truth podcast!

Watch: https://loom.ly/w-Pw6eU
Listen on Spotify: https://loom.ly/XFunRQ8
Listen on Apple: https://loom.ly/mrfsjRo

07/06/2024

Happy solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus! Did you know that you can get an indulgence today? Pray this Act of Reparation: https://loom.ly/ig0s9P4

Pray it piously to receive a partial indulgence, or pray it publicly today for a plenary indulgence. The usual conditions for an indulgence apply, all the details are linked above!

(Image courtesy of Fr Lawrence Lew OP/Flickr)

05/06/2024

The world no longer thinks it needs a Saviour. The problem never lies with "me", but elsewhere. In the latest episode of Into the Truth, Mgr James Shea shares how we can share the Gospel in such a climate.

YouTube: https://loom.ly/0cFyuKA
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04/06/2024

Consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus this June with this prayer from St Margaret Mary Alacoque:

"I give and consecrate to the Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my whole life, all my actions, my trials, my sufferings, devoting every portion of my being to loving, honouring, and glorifying Him, to working for His love alone, renouncing with all my heart whatever may be displeasing to Him.

I take you, then, O Sacred Heart, for the one object of my love, the protector of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my inconstancy, the redeemer of all my faults, and my sure refuge in the hour of death.

O Heart of all goodness, be my justification before God the Father, and shield me from the effects of His just anger.

O Heart, overflowing with love, I place all my confidence in You, for I dread my own weakness, while I hope everything from your goodness.

Destroy in me whatever displeases you or goes against Your will. May pure love of You be so deeply imprinted in my heart that I may never forget You nor be separated from You.

I implore you by all Your love that my name may be graven upon You. May it be all my happiness to live and die as Your slave. Amen."

Find this prayer and more on the Sacred Heart in our booklet "Sacred Heart: Prayers and Devotions": https://loom.ly/gg8maDY

03/06/2024

Sin or death? This was the choice faced by St Charles Lwanga and 21 others. Charles and many others were baptised thanks to the presence of missionaries in Uganda, but King Mwanga II would not convert. He demanded that his male pages participate in s*xual acts with him - but they refused because of their Christian faith. Angry at being denied, he rounded up Charles and the other Christians of his court and told them to renounce their faith or die. They chose death.

02/06/2024

"This is why I tell people to be very careful when they approach the Eucharist. Were the elements simply symbols – inventions of our own spiritual creativity and desire – they would pose no particular threat. But since they are the power and presence of God, they will change the one who consumes them. When the communicant says “Amen” and receives the proffered host and chalice, he’d better be prepared to live an eternal life."

(Bishop Robert Barron - "This is My Body")

Happy feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ! On this feast, delve into an analysis of the Eucharist as sacred meal, sacrifice, and Real Presence by Bishop Robert Barron, with our book "This is My Body". Order your copy now: https://loom.ly/aeGKhcg

31/05/2024

Happy feast of the Visitation! "How wonderful it was - Almighty God chose an unborn child to announce the coming of His son!" (St Teresa of Calcutta)

30/05/2024

How do you share your faith in a world that rejects Christianity? We spoke to Mgr James Shea, renowned author of "From Christendom to Apostolic Mission", about the challenges of evangelising in a secular society that believes it no longer needs redemption.

Watch the conversation now:

Are you struggling to share the Catholic faith in a world that seems to reject Christianity? In this episode of the Into the Truth podcast, Mgr James Shea, r...

28/05/2024

The Sacred Heart novena begins tomorrow! The Sacred Heart devotion as we know it derives mainly from a French nun, St Margaret Mary Alacoque, who experienced a series of visions. These visions included a series of twelve “promises” made concerning the graces that would be given to those who practised devotion to Jesus under this aspect.

The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is next Friday, which means that the Sacred Heart novena begins this year on Wednesday 29th May. Join us as we pray this novena, with wisdom from St Margaret Mary Alacoque and an option to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart.

Sign up now: https://loom.ly/6IYJfI0

23/05/2024

Today's society is plagued by misery, poisoned by modern culture, and in dire need of the Gospel's healing power. Listen to Mgr James Shea, renowned author of "From Christendom to Apostolic Mission" and "The Religion of the Day" talk about bringing the Gospel to a post-Christian world in the latest episode of Into the Truth.

Watch: https://loom.ly/0cFyuKA
Listen: https://loom.ly/XFunRQ8
Get the books: https://loom.ly/ecRC3Vg