Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Deuteronomy 30:10-14 2nd Reading: Colossians 1:15-20 Responsorial: Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36-377 Gospel: Luke 10:25-37 Loving God & Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself, The Heart of the Gospel Message You shall love . . . your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27) Think […]
By Mark Riedemann TELSKUF, IRAQ (July 5, 2016)—It is the silence that you notice first. Not just a lack of noise but an absence of sounds. Even the birds have left. I am in Telskuf, Iraq, about 20 miles north of the Islamic State (ISIS) stronghold of Mosul and a mile and-a-half from the front […]
Some 22 years ago when I was being catechized, preparing to enter into the Church, I was much troubled by the Eucharistic phenomenon, transubstantiation. As a physicist, I could not understand how the wafer could become the flesh of Christ and the wine His Sacred Blood. The wise old priest who was instructing me asked: […]
New evidence from the United States suggests abstinence education is a reason why teen pregnancy has fallen to historically low rates. Nearly sixty percent of high school students had never had sex, up from 46% in 1991. Meanwhile, another new report links condom giveaways in schools with increases in teen pregnancy. This investigation of the […]
Praise Christ our Purifier Who filters the spite from our souls and decontaminates our spirits, Who cleanses us from all dross and removes anything ill or gross from our memories and old ways of doing things. Christ we praise for bathing us with His Blood on His cross of wood, cleansing us from sin, and […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14 2nd Reading: Galatians 6:14-18 Responsorial: Psalm 66:1-7, 16, 20 Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 Signs That We Are Heaven Bound Rejoice because your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20) Let’s take a moment right now to rejoice. We live in a […]
As an observer of the human species, I believe I have discovered a new type. I call them “paid internet protesters,” or “PIPs” in internet-speak, who are all armchair culture warriors. Dr. Rachel Lu, a senior contributor at The Federalist, wrote an article called, “The LGBT Movement Will Self-Destruct.” My response was titled, “The LGBT […]
In a recent conversation, I mentioned to a friend that I had started writing a new book. He immediately seemed interested and asked about the subject. “Well,” I said, “it’s about how we’re all called to be saints and what that requires of us.” “I look at a lot of the qualities of saints and […]
We are now in the Fortnight for Freedom — a two-week period the U.S. bishops have set aside for Catholics to appreciate our God-given right to religious freedom, the “first freedom” affirmed by the Bill of Rights. Our First Amendment freedoms are endangered in a myriad of ways today, and the threats to Catholic schools are greater […]
