Faith can be weakened or destroyed by vices, which are divided into three groups. General unbelief, heresy and apostasy are the three categories of the first group and consist of resistance to preaching about faith or contempt for this preaching. This is an important issue because today those who don’t believe, who have doubts, are considered virtuous.

Christmas is an event of light, it is the feast of light: in the Child of Bethlehem the primordial light once more shines in humanity’s heaven and dissipates the clouds of sin. The radiance of God’s definitive triumph appears on the horizon of history in order to offer a new future of hope to a pilgrim people.

The Congregation for Divine Worship has published the Responsa ad dubia on the interpretation of Traditionis Custodes: further restrictions, with respect to Pope Francis' motu proprio, on the Sacraments, an ultimatum for those who do not want to concelebrate, and the centralisation of decisions (to the detriment of the bishops). In short, they want to bury the traditional Latin Mass.

Even if Grace is preeminent, the will and intellect dispose mankind to the act of faith or ensure that faith grows. Apologetics plays a fundamental role for the intellect; whereas for the will, it is necessary to cultivate virtues and fight vices.

The wrestling match over a link to an American LGBTQ organisation on the Synod website - put, removed, put back - reveals just how influential the gay lobby is today at the top of the Church. It amounts to the official recognition of a group disavowed by the American bishops, condemned by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 22 years ago, but now promoted by Pope Francis.

Grace is a gift that comes from God. By subjective grace God intervenes to illuminate the intellect and move the will. A fundamental aspect of preparation for the act of faith is the Church's prayer for others and a fundamental aspect for our faith to grow is our own prayer.

The Immaculata is the “complement of the Blessed Trinity”. In this union heaven and earth are joined; all of heaven with all the earth, the totality of eternal love with the totality of created love. It is truly the summit of love. The Daily Compass is publishing the last reflection Saint Massimiliano Kolbe wrote on the Immaculate Conception, 17  February 1941, just hours before the arrest which would lead to his martyrdom.

The words "I believe", in today’s culture permeated with relativism, have become synonymous of expressing one’s opinion. Instead, it is an adhesion to the Faith which, as Saint Thomas says, is a very certain adhesion, and more so than any other act. The act of faith combines  intellect, will and grace. Today, the Daily Compass begins the first lesson of Sunday Catechism on the Creed.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic we have been praying to ask the Lord to give us the strength to endure it, but more rarely do we ask Him to put His hand to stopping it. God is seen not as the Creator of the cosmos, but as the companion on our journey. Yet, He can direct the action of the causes that produce a physical phenomenon, while respecting the laws of nature. And Christian prayer assumes that God can act in the biophysical world in which we live". Interview with Father Serge-Thomas Bonino, Dean of Philosophy at the Angelicum.

The death and funeral in Morocco of the 97-year-old Trappist monk who escaped the massacre in Tibhirine (Algeria) in 1996 showed how friendship can be born between Christians and Muslims when faith is lived in daily fidelity to the Gospel, without compromise, even at the cost of one's life. The embrace of Christians and Muslims around his tomb was the miracle of a friendship possible when the sincere search for God inhabits the human heart.

There is an urgency to go back to the Catechism and teach it again, because too often today, the faith is reduced to a personal feeling. By saying, "I believe" means to open up under the influence of grace to the objective content that God reveals, to which we give our assent. Today, teaching is considered the opposite of experience, but it’s impossible to experience God except through teaching.
- THE DAILY COMPASS BRINGS US BACK TO THE CATECHISM

From today, the first Sunday of Advent and the start of the liturgical year, the Daily Compass will dedicate every Sunday to the catechism. Lessons will be  taught by Professor Luisella Scrosati which are introduced today with a reflection written by Cardinal Robert Sarah.