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On Mission Sunday
This weekend was Mission Sunday in our parish. As is usually the case, our Pastor was on vacation, so he arranged with the Archdiocese to have the annual mission priest come to the parish to say mass....
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Vocations to the Priesthood III: The Double Vocations Crisis
I was catching up on my reading and I found a fascinating article in America Magazine by Fr. Michael Heintz on the two vocations of marriage and the priesthood. Having been reminded by a commentators...
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A Good Question and a Bad Answer
Russell Shaw has an article at the Catholic World Report on Vatican II with the title Did We Really Need Vatican II? I think the question is a good one, and I wish I had time to ruminate on it at...
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Two Perspectives on Two Vexing Questions
I think it would be fair to say that two vexatious questions for the Catholic Church today (or at least the Catholic Church in the West) are contraception and divorce and remarriage. They are not the...
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A Story From Cardinal O’Malley
I was catching up on some old email and I found this story from Cardinal O’Malley as relayed by Michael Sean Winters: O’Malley …related a story about the Capuchin provincial asking for a truly...
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Welcoming the Stranger
Among the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are two: bury the dead, and pray for the living and the dead. At his blog, Deacon Greg Kandra tells a said story that relates to these: I just had a...
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The Name of God
A lovely quote from Pope Benedict, from the folks at the Daily Gospel online. They chose it to accompany the reading for the 7th Sunday of Easter, John 17:1-11a. I have highlighted a couple...
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Who Do You Say That I Am?
Resolved: most Catholics can’t answer this question. Worse, many of our problems come from people who think they can. Today’s gospel: Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his...
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What Are You Going To Write Today?
Another quote from the folks at Daily Gospel Online: Jean-Pierre de Caussade, a 17th century Jesuit, wrote So the rest of the story, which consists of the whole mystical life of Jesus in the souls of...
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A Poor Church For the Poor
During his recent visit to South Korea, Pope Francis touched upon many familiar themes in his talks and homilies. One in particular that he returned to was his desire that the Catholic Church be “a...
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Firing Teachers at a Catholic School
It seems to crop up in the news with regularity: “Teacher fired from St. X Catholic school because….” It could be because the teacher is openly gay, or has entered into a gay marriage, or had in...
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Whither the Liturgy
Writing over at NCR Online, Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ discusses the recent vacancy at the Congregation for Divine Worship and offers his thoughts on the issues that the new prefect (as yet unnamed) should...
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Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a feast that stands near the head of the Franciscan calendar. According to his biographers it was on or shortly after this feast in 1224 that...
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Kudos and a Thought on Divorce and Remarriage
Almost one year ago today, I wrote a post praising Bishop Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, for criticizing Pope Francis. I did not agree with a word he said, but I thought it was important to have...
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Islam and the Reformation
There is a meme that floats about that the “problem” with Islam is that it has never had the experience of a Reformation such as Christianity went through in the 16th century. I confess to having...
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There is a new Sheriff in Town
Last year I asked the rhetorical question: “Is there a new sheriff in town?” in response to the news that Pope Francis had suspended Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the Bishop of Limburg, Germany,...
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Life Recapitulates Art
I am really not sure what to say, but I had to share this. Almost 30 years ago, the comic strip Doonesbury featured a two week series about a single woman, Marcia, who decided that she was tired of...
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A Riddle that Tickled my Funny Bone
Fr. William Grimm, a Maryknoll priest in Japan, framed an essay about Pope Francis with a riddle that set me laughing and that I have to share: Q: What are the three things God does not know? A: 1)...
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St. Augustine and the Synod on the Family
The Synod on the Family has been very much in the news lately, particularly with the release yesterday of the Relatio post disceptationem to the media. This document deserves careful discussion, as...
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Suor Cristina Rocks Madonna
Suor Cristina Scuccia is an Italian nun who stunned Italy (and at one remove, the world) with her powerful singing voice. (A Youtube playlist of her songs from the The Voice can be found here.) She...
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