What are the staples of your diet? What is essential? A well-balanced, nutritional diet is important to a healthy physical, mental, emotional and spiritual life. And I don’t mean only the food we eat. Food is important, of course. For me, there’s fruit such as pineapple, cantaloupe, grapes, bananas – I love to eat those […]
Untangling one of Pope Francis’ public statements often resembles taking a final exam. “How many inaccurate implications can be drawn from Pope Francis’ statement? Explain why they are inaccurate, referencing canon law, Church history, and prevailing cultural trends.” For example, take his recent statement that divorced persons who remarry outside the Church are “by no […]
What do you want from God? Wait, are you saying you don’t believe in God? Or you aren’t sure? Are you feeling like you will get to the “God stuff” some time later in life? Or that you’ve tried the whole faith thing before – maybe even felt you gave it a really good shot […]
Colin is my 7-year-old grandson and, along with his little brother Lukas, they are among the most incredible gifts I’ve ever received. To say that they have ways of making my day and life brighter is pure understatement. For one thing, Colin can say some truly funny stuff. He has a pretty good one involving […]
At the close of the Extraordinary Synod of Catholic Bishops last October, the Synod’s Final Report ( the “Lineamenta”) included a questionnaire on pastoral practices on family issues. Among the questions was number 38. It opened with the following premise: “With regard to the divorced and remarried, pastoral practice concerning the sacraments needs to be […]
Fr. Emil Neubert, SM, one of my favorite Mariologists, wrote many books on Mary including Mary and the Priestly Ministry and My Ideal, Jesus, Son of Mary. Recently, the Franciscans of the Immaculate, through their publishing house, Academy of the Immaculata, have renewed interest in Father Emil Neubert by translating his French works from the 1950’s into English. […]
One of the towering figures of the turbulent period which culminated in the creation of the Church of England was St. Thomas More. He was born in 1478, just before the Protestant schism began in Europe, and was a prominent British lawyer and statesman who became a trusted adviser to King Henry VIII. As a […]
At one time or another, we’ve all dreamed of a perfect world. Imagine a company where everyone is productive, a government full of honest politicians, a church where all are saints. Dreaming about such things is natural; expecting such things is dangerous. Unrealistic expectations lead to discouragement, despair, even cynicism. That would be bad enough. […]
“The communion of the holy”, one of the most beautiful aspects of our faith, as it was defined by Pope Francis, was the theme of the catechesis of this Wednesday’s general audience, which took place in St. Peter’s Square and was attended by more than 80,000 people. The communion of the holy consists of two […]
When I was in graduate school studying theology, I took a course on the Trinity. It featured a very large scholarly book and lots of Greek words. I found it fascinating, but understood relatively little. There is a reason why the Trinity is considered a mystery. In The ‘One Thing’ is Three: How the Most […]
There are many programs currently on cable dedicated to the issue of hoarding. For those of you who are unaware of what hoarding is, let me try and explain. Hoarding is the collecting and or keeping of possessions. The common word would be “stuff”. The “stuff” that hoarders keep is piled up so high that, […]
