The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest in the United States, rang in the New Year with some disturbing news: Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala had resigned in shame after publicly admitting to having sired two children with the same woman more than a decade ago. (I use the word “sire” intentionally, as “fathering” is something […]
It is a commonplace among believers in God’s written word to express a longing to have lived in the times depicted within its pages. To have seen, perhaps even conversed with, such towering figures of faith as Abraham, Moses, Samuel, and Nehemiah. To thrill at the great victories God granted through Joshua, David, and Jehosaphat. […]
We marvel at the physical miracles, big and small, that Jesus performed during his time here on earth – for example raising Lazarus from the dead and healing St. Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever. And well we should. But what we often overlook is the frequency with which Jesus spoke to and expelled demons – […]
As the political season heats up it occurs to me that, as important as elections are, unless the hearts of men are changed, the heart of a nation cannot awaken. Our nation is experiencing heart failure. It needs an awakening – a spiritual awakening. Desperately. Every year secular-“progressives” and obnoxious atheist pressure groups exponentially ramp […]
My own life did not take on a deep spiritual dimension until I was pregnant with my fourth child. But, once I turned seriously to prayer and saw the results, I became hooked. It began when my husband Mark lost his job. For the first time we consciously put our lives in God’s hands. Whenever […]
Careful examination of Fr. Murray’s corpus reveals that he takes great liberty (no pun intended) in his treatment of the traditional teaching on religious freedom. However, he does so in such a way that the casual observer may either miss it altogether, or may perhaps just consider it so subtle as to be irrelevant to […]
Things designed for good can be used for bad purposes. Art in its proper context captures images of beauty in the world or perverted to promote evil such as pornography. Books can teach and enlighten while others promote falsehoods or hatred. (Be careful what you read or watch.) Sometimes that which is life affirming in […]
Repeatedly, the US Catholic Bishops have issued their plaintive calls, asking us to fix our “broken and destructive” criminal justice system here in America. Most of us paid this call no attention at all. Perhaps this was to be expected; I’m afraid the USCCB’s recommendations have not always been free from a certain tincture of […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (1 Samuel 3:3-10,19; Psalm 40:2,4,7-10; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15,17-20; John 1:35-42) Saying Yes to Jesus’ Invitation to Make Him Our Lord and Savior “Behold, the Lamb of God.” (John 1:36) Most of us became Catholics as infants, when our parents presented us to the church for baptism. That […]
Everyone knows that religion is noble, and since no one in his right mind would possibly argue that liberty is not a precious right, it only stands to reason that “religious liberty,” as it is so often invoked these days, must be especially good! Now, it’s just a hunch mind you, but I suspect that […]
The so-called “Arab Spring” continues to transition into a “Christian Winter,” including in those nations undergoing democratic change, such as Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis dominated the elections—unsurprisingly so, considering the Obama administration has actually been training Islamists for elections. Arab regimes not overthrown by the “Arab Spring” are under mounting international […]
Up until now, all has been quite humble. A donkey-ride to a dusty town south of Jerusalem. Hotel rooms all booked up. Giving birth in a stable and laying the baby in an animal’s feed trough instead of a cozy cradle. Into this scene of obscure poverty suddenly bursts an exotic entourage from a far-off […]
“May you have a happy and prosperous new year!” This warm and well- intentioned greeting in the week before and after New Year’s Day, is one we offer each other each year. It is a good thing to wish someone prosperity. God wishes His people prosperity. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we find the Jewish people […]
Like a log rolling down an easy hill, I drifted out of bed late one morning in a tired funk. Dragging along at a snail’s pace, my mental fog would sharply clear up when I opened my refrigerator door. Resembling a hungry beast with a wide open mouth, the deep expanse of whiteness and sparsely […]
A recent Fox News report tells of how “a rash of attacks on Christian-owned businesses in northern Iraq has raised troubling questions about the future safety of the country’s shrinking Christian community, particularly as U.S. forces withdraw completely from the nation they’ve refereed since 2003.” In fact, “questions about the future safety of the country’s […]
Have you heard any good news lately? Bad news abounds. It’s been another tough year. Economic woes continue. Greece and Italy are on the verge of bankruptcy. Unemployment is still high in the United States (around 8.6 percent), and the stock market has taken a beating. With approximately $108 billion in insured catastrophic losses, 2011 […]
Once I ran for public office. Actually, it was more like a popularity contest. I was elected the most pessimistic member of the Torrington High School Class of 1989. I won by a large margin. My lone opponent, J.W., was confident he could win, and he campaigned aggressively throughout the halls of THS on a […]
My grandfather was a hardworking man. Growing up in frontier country, he started his career as a carpenter building barns; then travelled the West as an itinerant farm laborer. In World War I, he enlisted in the Marines and fought in Europe, including the Battle of Belleau Wood and the Battle of Chateau Thierry. He […]
The Roman god Janus had two faces, facing in different directions, so he could see what was coming and what was going. The Romans named the first month of the year, January, in his honor. Perhaps it might have been more appropriate to have named just this week January, for the end of the year, […]
The mother of the messiah has been called many things in the last 2000 years –the Virgin Mary, Our Lady, the Blessed Mother. But call her “the Mother of God,” and you’ll see some Christians squirm. This is nothing new. One day in the early fifth century, a priest preached a stirring sermon in the […]
Several churches in northern Nigeria were bombed December 25, in what has been described as “Nigeria’s blackest Christmas ever.” The attacks, perpetrated by the Muslim militant group Boko Haram, killed at least 39 people, “the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church [in Madalla near the capital of Abuja] after celebrating Christmas Mass […]
A few years ago I went to the Christmas Eve Mass and the priest was an old retired priest who seemed to ramble or maybe I was too tired to follow him. Nevertheless, one word struck me and has stuck with me: the word was awe. Can you imagine the awe the shepherds felt? An […]
“Joy to the World…” You have and will hear this phrase many times during the Christmas season. Often, people translate that into what God has done for the world. That is true. But, what about you? When the Angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce that Mary had been chosen by God to be the […]
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things” (Romans 11:36). “I do not endeavor, O Lord, to penetrate Your sublimity, for in no wise do I compare my understanding with that; but I long to understand in some degree Your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not […]
