It was a beautiful sunny day for a man to be at a playground with his preschool grandchildren. That’s exactly where I was. I took my grandson and grand-daughter to a playground at a nearby elementary school; one child sat on my lap while the other stood on the back of my electric wheelchair as […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 2:1-14, 22-33 2nd Reading: 1:17-21 Responsorial: Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11 Gospel: Luke 24:13-35 Knowing Jesus More Deeply through Reading and Reflecting on Scriptures Their eyes were opened and they recognized him. (Luke 24:31) Don’t you wish you could have been there when […]
In the sermon The Praise of Men,1 after indicating that ridicule is a powerful weapon used by the devil, Blessed John Henry Newman describes a case in which it is the cause of much pain: when a person who had shunned religion turns by God’s grace back to the practice of religion and meets the […]
The Ballad of God-Makers A bird flew out at the break of day From the nest where it had curled, And ere the eve the bird had set Fear on the kings of the world. The first tree it lit upon Was green with leaves unshed; The second tree it lit upon Was red with […]
Recent news articles about two rivers that have been granted the same legal rights as human beings give us pause to stop and think. Or at least, I hope they do! These rivers in New Zealand and India are viewed as “sacred” bodies of water. In India the decision was based on the idea that […]
Easter is the momentous culmination of our Christian faith. As the “Feast of feasts” and the “Solemnity of solemnities,” the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection could not be contained to just one day in the liturgical calendar. So, we celebrate the Easter Octave – the eight-day festal period from Easter to the Feast of Divine Mercy. […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 2:42-47 2nd Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9 Responsorial: Psalm 118: 2-4, 13-15, 22-24 Gospel: John 20: 19-31 Rejoicing in God’s Divine Mercy and Great Love Rejoice. (1 Peter 1:8) Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. It’s a special day for us to reflect on […]
For such a time as this, we have all we need. God has actually increased our spiritual riches during the last century through the messages of Fatima and the Divine Mercy devotion. Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, the director of the Association of Marian Helpers, and Tony Mullen, founder of MyConsecration.org, will explain how we can tap […]
A Daughter of Eve A fool I was to sleep at noon, And wake when night is chilly Beneath the comfortless cold moon; A fool to pluck my rose too soon, A fool to snap my lily. My garden-plot I have not kept; Faded and all-forsaken, I weep as I have never wept: Oh it […]
At the homily during a recent Sunday Mass, in a parish which I attended some years ago, the priest was in high dudgeon, almost hysterical about the actions of the current president in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Quoting the Protestant minister Dietrich Bonheoffer and Jesuit priest Alfred Delp, both murdered by the Nazis […]
The serpent’s bite was a deadly one. The venom had worked its way deep into the heart of the entire human race, doing its gruesome work. The anti-venom was unavailable until He appeared. One drop was all that was needed, so potent was this antidote. Yet it was not like Him to be stingy. He […]
The resurrection of the dead is one of the most consoling truths of Christianity. To die forever would be the most terrible of all destinies. The plant and the animal, unendowed with reason, die, never to live again; but they have not, at least, any apprehension as to what death is. To die is to […]
When I was a kid my Mom used to embroider old sayings and decorate them with stitched designs and images. When they were finished she’d frame them and hang them on the walls, so that walking through our house was a little tour through the patrimony of wisdom from the ages, all arrayed in a […]
Crushed Dragged to the cross, submissive. Broken by boards slung across his back. Violence in every aspect Inflicted by external forces. Holes pierced by nails driven with Violent swings of an iron mallet. Blood flows, precious blood, Which becomes wine. But only after the the grapes are picked, and Crushed. (Based on the Garden of […]
Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross about midday, expired thereon in the afternoon, and was taken down in the evening toward sunset, or the sixth hour. According to the language of St. Paul, thus did He, by His blood, pacify heaven and earth. If this form of expression convey not simply the reconciliation of […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43 2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4 Responsorial: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Gospel: John 20:1-9 He is Risen!! I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. (Psalm 118:17) Jesus, you are the risen Lord, and all creation sings […]
The movie, The Promise about the Armenian genocide, was viewed at the Vatican’s 50-seat screening room on April 4 with director Terry George, producer Eric Esrailian and some of the talent. The Pope was not able to attend however senior Vatican officials were in attendance at the screening. According to Variety: “When there was awareness [within the Vatican] […]
David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, investigative journalists with the Center for Medical Progress, are once again under attack by the justice system, this time in California. As we know, Daleiden and Merritt had previously faced multiple charges, including in the state of Texas where charges were eventually dropped. In addition, the National Abortion Federation filed […]
The Moment I See Your Face As the Psalmist said, Lord, how I long to see Your face. Yet I do so fearfully, Knowledge of my sinfulness, Would postpone this joy. Poor I am indeed, That I should think this, Your mercy is enshrined by the saved. Your forgiveness could never be questioned by the […]
The left expects everyone to accept its ideological authority.
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7 2nd Reading: Philippians 2:6-11 Responsorial: Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 Gospel: Matthew 26:14–27:66 (or Matthew 27:11-54) Deepening Our Faith in the Triumph of the Cross Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. (Matthew […]
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.” […]
Several years ago, I had a spiritual director who encouraged me to reflect on the following question: “Where did you find God today?” That is the question at the heart of Andy Otto’s new book, God Moments (Ave Maria Press, 2017). Otto, who has a master’s degree in theology and ministry, is a Catholic writer, […]
