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Revisiting the New Translations: One Year Later
The new translation of the Roman Missal has been in use for one, having come into use on the first Sunday of Advent last year. The new translation was discussed extensively in the month following:...
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A glorious day
On November 29, the Community of San’Egidio held a ceremony in Rome to honor Connecticut, which last April became the fifth state in five years to abolish the death penalty. As part of this ceremony...
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Reflections on the Nativity
December 16, 2012, Gaudete Sunday A sermon delivered to St. Joseph Fraternity, Hartford, as part of our annual Christmas Creche devotion My brothers and sisters in Christ: may the Lord give you Peace!...
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Another Christmas, Another Appeal to Violence
My wife and I have many customs at Christmastide. Some are silly: for example, on Christmas Day we always cook hotdog wraps (hotdogs in a shell of biscuit dough) for our main meal. This started when...
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A Priest to Remember
For the past few years I have been hearing about “John Paul II” priests. This appellation, sometimes self-applied and other times applied to others, refers to a loosely defined group of priests...
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SSPX and Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism seems to be a recurring feature among many traditionalist groups. I have blogged about this problem before. I recently ran across another egregious example: Deacon Kandra had a link...
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The Election of Bishops
Resolved: the Church should move back towards the practice of the early Church, in which laity, clergy and other local bishops played a central role in the selection of new bishops. This question has...
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(Mis)Interpreting Vatican II
John O’Malley, SJ has a marvelous article at America Magazine on how not to understand Vatican II. I refer you to the whole piece, but as a teaser I give you here his 10 principles to avoid: 1. Insist...
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Missing Church Because of Snow
Because of yesterday’s blizzard in the Northeast, I didn’t get to mass today. The reason, however, is not what you may think. The Saturday vigil mass was canceled: the snow had stopped 7-8 hours...
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Pope Benedict Resigns
Early today, in a move that surprised even his closest aides in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, effective February 28. A consistory to elect a new pope follows immediately....
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Is it Theology, Misogyny or Power?
Two weeks ago the subject of women’s ordination to the priesthood was briefly in the news again. Father Wojciech Giertych, a Dominican and theologian of the papal household to Pope Benedict XVI, gave...
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Prisoners of Moral Mediocrity
This was the commentary added to the readings by Daily Gospel Online, a service I use to get the daily readings emailed to me, for Ash Wednesday. Now that the first burst of Lenten “enthusiasm” (for...
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Habemus Papam
We have a pope: Cardinal Bergoglio of Agentina, a Jesuit, and he will rule as Francesco I (Pope Francis). Cardinal Bergoglio was, according to rumor at the time, the strong contender against Joseph...
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Random Thoughts on an English Mass in Munich
For my spring break I have decamped to Munich to visit a colleague at Ludwig-Maximilliam Universitat. On Sunday, my wife and I went to an English language mass at the the Church of St. Boniface in...
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A Thought For Today on Divine Mercy
From Daily Gospel Online, this was the selected reading for March 5, when the gospel was the parable of the two servants, MT 18:21-35. What is human mercy like? It makes you concerned for the hardship...
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Remarks of Pope Francis
In the last congregation meeting before the conclave, Cardinal Bergoglio made some impromptu remarks that apparently very much impressed the other cardinals. The Cardinal of Havana, Jaime Lucas Ortega...
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Urbi et Orbi
Today Pope Francis gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi address, “the the city and the world.” The full speech can be found, for instance, at Whispers in the Loggia. I found it beautiful in its...
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It’s Not Just About Sex
A common criticism advanced against Catholics by secular society, and also by “liberal” Catholics against “conservatives” is that they are obsessively concerned with sexual morality. In my personal...
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What Deacons Should Know, and How They Should Know It
Over the past year, since I was dismissed from the diaconate formation program in my diocese, I have been thinking about the way the program was structured. Part of this was selfish: there were...
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A Challenging Thought for Today
I stumbled upon a very challenging and humbling thought for today that I waned to share. It is verse following the readings for the Feast of the Annunciation, which is omitted from the Lectionary:...
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