This Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, we light the third candle of the Advent wreath. The rose-colored candle and the priests’ rose vestments mark a change in the tenor of this penitential season. For those who have been using Advent as a time to prepare heart and home for the celebration of Christ’s birth, it is a […]
Fourth Sunday of Advent Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24:1-6; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24) View NAB Reading at USCCB.org Sharing With Others the New Life We Have in Christ She was found with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18) For the first two months of a woman’s pregnancy, […]
Was there more underlying this unsettling culture?
The role of the laity will be crucial.
With Ireland having passed its law allowing abortion, without gestational age limits, in cases where a woman threatens suicide, the tiny island nation of Malta has become the European Union’s last man standing against abortion. Malta’s MEPs were among a small bloc at the EU who worked against the recent failed proposal by socialists and […]
In the Old Testament, the Azazel goat, translated as scapegoat, was one of two goats chosen for a ceremony on The Day of Atonement. The first goat was sacrifice but a priest would lay hands on the second goat and symbolically transfer all the sin and guilt of the community on to this animal. The […]
“Actions speak louder than words.” “One picture is worth a thousand words.” “Talk is cheap.” There are lots of different sayings in the English language that generally express the same thing–words alone don’t do the necessary job of communicating, especially in the case of a personal message. Like “I love you,” for instance. So human […]
Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s up? Who’s down? Who’s headed up or headed down? Whose influence is waxing or waning? Ah, Rome. The Eternal City of intrigue. Ah, Vaticanistas. Of making many speculations there is no end. I will concern myself with the goings on of the Roman Curia when: All the dust is gone […]
Congress and the states shall not create state-sponsored churches.
The narrative that has been played out since the election of Jorge Bergoglio is one of a Pope ready to overturn all the doctrines of the Church , ordain women priests, change the teaching on marriage and homosexuality, and generally turn the Catholic Church into a minor caucus within the Democratic Party. This narrative was […]
Last year, the Journal of Medical Ethics published an article entitled “After-Birth Abortion: Why Should the Baby Live?” Central to the paper’s thesis is the position that “the moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus, that is, neither can be considered a ‘person’ in a morally relevant sense.” The paper further poses the preposterous […]
I regularly receive an email called “Daily Heartlight.” It features reflections by a rotating group of people, all of them Protestant and most of them preachers. Most of my spiritual reading is Catholic, but I find these often have good insight about faith and Scripture. As we’re approaching Christmas, several reflections have involved Mary and […]
On Human Rights Day, famous athletes and UN officials met at UN headquarters to condemn what they consider to be discrimination against homosexuals. Russia took the brunt of the criticism ahead of the Winter Olympics to be held in Sochi next February. It is the first of several countries that have enacted a law to […]
Be careful who you leave behind. You just might have turned your back on love and happiness. I figured I would start with the bottom line. Dating should be about beginning your commitment to marriage when a suitable partner comes along. But sadly, dating today seems to be about perpetually waiting for “the right one,” […]
“The train that is the Mount Vernon Assembly has left the station, with no turning back.” So writes Jeffrey Lord of The American Spectator. At the first session of the Assembly, held earlier this month at George Washington’s home in Virginia, nearly 100 state legislators met to begin the planning process on behalf of an […]
Rejoice! (Gaudete!) We’re already halfway through the season of Advent. If you missed Weeks One and Two, or if you would like to reread them, they can be found here and here. This week, we match the cardinal virtue of temperance to our Advent journey. THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT (December 15-21): TEMPERANCE The Apostle James exhorts us in […]
Just down the Texas highways from me live Kevin McCormick and his daughter Rachel. A mutual friend introduced us, and I learned that Kevin and Rachel has just completed a Christmas album full of classic hymns and songs. The result is an endlessly listenable arrangement of beautiful Christmas favorites: “The First Noel” to “Silent Night” […]
Saint James the Just, one of Christianity’s early leaders, counsels readers across the ages to be patient but productive while waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. The canonical epistle composed by James (or by his community of disciples) urges his audience—“The Twelve Tribes of the Dispersion”—to be patient and to continue to live holy […]
The art of daily discernment is a practice and a virtue that many of us tend to forget and at times ignore. By definition the act of discernment from the Latin meaning discernere means one’s ability to distinguish what is happening around them whether positive or negative and to move toward a sound resolution of […]
In 50-17 vote yesterday, the Belgian Senate approved a bill that would allow euthanasia for children. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for final approval before being sent to the King to be signed into law. Most political observers are predicting the passage of the bill. Currently the law in Belgium allows […]
This is a heartwarming children’s book, but it will make readers of any age feel closer to the birth of our Savior. In 40 pages, Edward Looney crafted a story giving a message that does good to the soul: Christmas is about Baby Jesus. It’s about going with the Holy Family as they journey through […]
Today the Church celebrates the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a great appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego, which forever changed the course of history in the Americas. Her appearance on Tepeyac Hill, Mexico in 1531 helped convert millions and millions of people in the New World — Native Americans, […]
