Today on this feast of the Holy Innocents, let’s review why it is impossible to make the claim that you care about the poor or about social justice or about human rights and yet vote for anyone who supports abortion. Those claims are diametrically opposed. It is just a ludicrous as insisting that Herod cared […]
Charley had a secret. A secret he had been holding for several months. It was a secret which would bring great happiness, he thought, if people only knew. Charley’s family was suffering. Dad was out of a job. Mom was suffering from an illness, but they really couldn’t figure out what was happening to her. […]
As a writer, I find that my thoughts quickly turn into articles in my head. A recent at-rest thought was: What are the worst ideas in the world? High heels were my first thought. Heels prove that vanity lacks wisdom. Feet are for walking; high heels are anti-walking so regardless of what’s in your shoe […]
A tiny heart beat steadily within the baby boy’s mother. The blood circulating through that tiny heart would save us and change millions of human hearts across the centuries; hearts of stone and violence would melt into hearts of flesh and peace and joy. The infant’s birth was like no other birth. It had been […]
In the days of Caesar Augustus, an era of peace was established in the Mediterranean world after centuries of strife. But this peace was forged by the proud ambition of emperors and the edge of their armies’ swords. Upon this stage appears a baby acclaimed as king by eastern dignitaries. Neither Caesar nor Herod will […]
I am rereading Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the story about the change of heart wrought upon the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge after he is haunted by four ghosts who help him discover the true meaning of Christmas: peace on earth, good will toward all. In Dickens, the supernatural connects with the terrestrial and a wonderful […]
Most of us recall the joy and excitement we experienced as young children singing Christmas carols and happy birthday to Jesus while waiting to see what gifts Santa would leave under our tree. How many times did my siblings and I resolve to catch the jolly old man in the act only to fall fast […]
The Holy Scriptures contain examples of simple, even lowly men and women, who said a heroic yes to God. And always it cost them dear. Think of the humiliation Noah underwent as he built that ark and his neighbors laughed at him. Think of Moses who at age 80 was called away from home and […]
Some years ago, a class of students was asked to write about the meaning of Christmas. One student wrote, “Christmas is when Christians celebrate Christ.” The teacher liked the paper, but asked the student to change that one line to “Christmas is when people celebrate love.” What, some may wonder, is the difference? After all, […]
This morning began as any normally abnormal one around the Fenelon Clan abode – with me taking my handful of horse-pill vitamins, one agonizing swallow at a time. They say you can’t buy health in a bottle. Maybe so. But, I figure it’s like taking out an insurance policy: You go for years wasting your […]
In college, I majored in American Literature but took acting classes because I enjoyed the immediacy of theater. On stage everything happens in the moment. On a recent Sunday I was celebrating Mass and began the ceremony with the sign of the cross and then extended my hands to deliver the greeting: Grace to you […]
After years of discussion, preparation and anticipation, the new English translation of the Roman Missal – Third Edition was officially implemented in the United States on November 27th. The “reviews” are now starting to show up in newspapers, blogs and other media. As I read them, it seems as though most of the “people in […]
Every year I brace myself for winter. Knowing the air will turn crisp to cold, I whip out a cozy scarf, and as the sky dims and darkens, I store up on Vitamin D. The sun’s short stay and the often cloudy sky make afternoons feel more like early evenings. It’s dark, dark, dark! We […]
“Mystery,” he sneered. “That’s a good Catholic word.” My friend was a fundamentalist who had more than a bit of antipathy towards the Catholic Church, charging that it added to the simple faith of the Bible. But he didn’t read his bible very well. The word “mystery” is a Catholic word, only because it is […]
The problem many of us have with Christmas isn’t that we expect too much of it but that we expect much too little. My Christmas wish for all of us, myself included, is that we raise our sights and ask for all that God really wants to give us. If we can open ourselves to […]
During the season of Advent the readings at Mass include passages about John the Baptist, the humble inhabitant of the Judean desert who possessed nothing but the truth and owed no one but the God who created him. He was fearless in his preaching. He discomfited all in their complacency, but to all he gave […]
Charles de Foucauld was a dandy, a fop, or perhaps an epicure. Having lost his faith as a young teen, he learned to enjoy the good things in life and did all he could to continue to enjoy them. Even amidst a military career, in which he performed quite daring exploits, he still loved to […]
On December 8, 2006 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), Mel Gibson released his epic movie, Apocalypto . Hopefully many eyes were opened by this movie’s portrayal of the evil of human sacrifices practiced by the Aztecs and other Indian cultures in what would become Mexico. The movie provides the historical backdrop of today’s Marian celebration: the Memorial […]
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31). As I slowly reread The Confessions, savoring every jot and tittle, I am struck by the intensity of Saint Augustine’s search for truth—rather, for the Truth. Aurelius Augustine embraced many falsehoods during his life, but every successive identity he assumed […]
Eleven-year-old Ralphie Parker knows what he wants for Christmas. He begs his parents to buy it for him but when they say they won’t he takes his plea straight to the top: Santa Claus. “What do you want?” Santa asks. Ralphie confidently answers: “I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred shot range […]
On the third Sunday of Advent, penitential purple gives way to pink and we celebrate “Gaudete” or “Rejoice!” Sunday. “Rejoice heartily in the Lord, says Isaiah” (61:10). “My Spirit finds joy in God my Savior,” says the Virgin Mary (Luke 1: 47). “ Rejoice in the Lord always,” says St. Paul (I Thes 5:16). “Make […]
We conclude our reflection on the mysteries of the rosary with an examination of The Luminous Mysteries 1. The Baptism of the Lord Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come […]
In 1954, Father M. Raymond, O.S.C.O., a Cistercian priest, observed that the world was as pagan then as when Christ was born, that Catholics were suffering from amnesia, that they had forgotten the purpose of their lives and much of what it meant to be Catholic. More than fifty-seven years later, some argue that many […]
“Actions speak louder than words.” “A picture is worth a thousand words.” “Talk is cheap.” There are many sayings in the English language that generally express the same thing: words alone do not do the necessary job of communicating our thoughts and feelings, especially in the case of a personal message. “I love you,” for […]
