The title of this article is also the name of an extremely valuable online booklet by the late Father Henry V. Sattler, CSsR (1917-1999), yet it is also an assignment for today’s parents. Our children and grandchildren are bombarded daily with messages that contradict common sense and put their very lives in jeopardy. It is […]
God guided me into the next step of my spiritual journey recently. I was accepted into formation with the St. Louis, Mo., group of the Secular Carmelites. I’m excited. I have my heart and soul open for what might be ahead. I recently completed my year of “aspirancy” with the Secular Carmelites. That stage involved […]
I admit it: I love the snow and the cold. I love to be outside, gazing up at the stars on cold, crisp evenings. I love how the snow blankets my hillsides. And most of all, I love how snow disrupts daily life — particularly in Washington, D.C. I lived in Washington for nearly eight […]
Last week was the final deadline to submit comments to our local bishop about the agenda for the upcoming Synod on the Family, to be reconvened this October at the Vatican. The Synod’s working document, or lineamenta, asked 46 questions about the pastoral care of the family, which the laypeople of our diocese were encouraged […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34 2nd Reading Hebrews 5:7-9 Responsorial: Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15 Gospel: John 12:20-33 Welcoming Others into the Church and the Family of God Whoever serves me must follow me. (John 12:26) You might wonder whether Jesus is giving the cold shoulder to […]
In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord’s temple, which he consecrated in Jerusalem (2 Chr 36:14). This is what happens when faith falls out of fashion. The Israelites learned that the hard way. Is […]
Maurice Ravel’s Pianoforte Concerto for the left hand was written for Austrian pianist, Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in the 1st World War. Imagine Wittgenstein’s grief! Music was the center of his world. He grew up in a prominent Viennese household visited by composers such as Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Straus: […]
This year – the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Women’s Conference – thousands of delegates and civil society representatives are gathered in New York to assess 20 years of progress on women’s issues. Rather than haggle late into the nights as is done each year at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, countries […]
If you had to ponder the most powerful alliance in human relations, how much strength would you accord to the “dynamic duo” of a young child and their grandparent? Playing on his celebrated phrase “How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor,” Pope Francis closed his General Audience on Wednesday, […]
As the camera pans the crowd at a football game, you see a few fans holding up the sign. It simply says “John 3:16.” For years, evangelical Protestants have extolled this little bible verse as the heart of the Gospel. In their minds, if you only have a moment to tell people something about the […]
Marriage, being the most intimate of friendships, depends on trust. The friendship between spouses weakens if anything stands in the way of trust and, in weakening trust, the bond of marriage suffers. Each marriage is tried on the level of trust. Whether through past personal histories or present infidelities, illness or job loss, childlessness or […]
As the camera pans the crowd at a football game, you see a few fans holding up the sign. It simply says “John 3:16.” For years, evangelical Protestants have extolled this little bible verse as the heart of the Gospel. In their minds, if you only have a moment to tell people something about the […]
Sr. Joyce Rupp, a member of the Servants of Mary, is well-known for her spiritual writings as well as for her work as a retreat director and conference speaker. In her latest offering, Fly While You Still Have Wings (Sorin Books, 2015), she focuses on her mother, both the example of her life and the […]
The stories of heroic mothers rarely appear on the nightly news, even when they include prominent figures like Genevieve Shaw Brown, Travel and Lifestyle Editor for ABC News. Genevieve recently wrote about her infant son, William Michael Brown, who has Down syndrome. The Browns knew prior to his birth that he would be born with […]
Most people associate the beautiful song Cavatina (written by Stanley Myers) for classical guitar with the 1978 movie The Deer Hunter. But Cavatina’s heartbreakingly beautiful melody originally appeared in a 1970 a movie called “The Walking Stick”. The Heroine of The Walking Stick was a 26 year old woman named Deborah Dainton who walked with a limp because […]
“All right, tubby, if you aren’t going to stop sitting in front of the TV, eating fatty and sugary treats, maybe the government should force you to change your ways.” “Force me to change my ways? But I know what foods do and don’t make me tubby. I choose to live this way.” “Yeah, and […]
Before I moved to Ohio and began my conversion process, I knew more fallen away Catholics than active, adherent ones. Catholicism in New York City and the surrounding suburbs appeared to be strictly a childhood religion that people abandoned as soon as they left the restaurant after their Confirmation party. A good number of Catholics I […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23 2nd Reading Ephesians 2:4-10 Responsorial: Psalm 137:1-6 Gospel: John 3:14-21 Serving the Lord in Accordance with His Will for your Life We are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared. (Ephesians 2:10) Wouldn’t […]
Hello William, In your previous letter you mentioned your concerns with the “indult ghetto” mentality that is evident in some (but not all!) traditionalist communities. Another way of saying this is that they tend to separate themselves from the Church at large, focus on only their liturgy and parish, and really not interact with the […]
You know, there are some really cool things about Jesus. For one, he was the Son of God. How awesome is that?! There’s more, though. He was a man. A dude. Like me. Well, kind of like me. Actually, He wasn’t really very much like me — but He hung around a lot of guys […]
Two recent episodes have parallels in Reagan’s life.
Among the hundreds of Christians and minorities abducted by Islamic State terrorists are women and girls forced into marriage and sexual slavery. As world leaders fumble to respond to ISIS attacks, another crisis looms – the perilous future of these women and girls and the children they will conceive during captivity. Throughout history, children born […]
It always makes me laugh to think of my fellow Southerners panicking at this time of year when the forecast is for snow. It is very typical for us to get a small dusting (or perhaps even more than a dusting!) right about now. But it seems that everyone forgets that tidbit of information and […]
Many people lump together all of the social changes that have taken place in American history as part of one broad march of “progress” toward a more just society. If this view is correct, does the march of progress ever reach completion? There is a classic debate between progressives and traditionalists on social issues. It […]
