The readings today for this thirty second Sunday in ordinary time are basically about “true and false religion,” both of which have their origin in our relationship to divine providence — trust in providence leads to true religion, while a...
Reflection on the gospel for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time To be alive to God, one has to be dead to the world. This is a basic principle of the spiritual life. The more dead we are to the...
I’m an amateur artist. I love color, and I’ve always appreciated talented artists and their work. Sadly, I’m not a talented artist myself, nor have I been formally trained. The reason I paint is that my spiritual director, in the...
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off, and if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out.” The hand, the foot, and the eye: three things...
Anyone familiar with the history of the papacy is aware that factions among the curia are not a new phenomenon; hence, the current factions regarding the papacy of Francis should not come as any surprise. The current dispute about his...
An important objection was raised recently during a parish bible study, in the context of a discussion on the development of Church teaching and biblical interpretation. The idea was that in the face of disputes, uncertainties, and disagreements on the...
Reflection for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time I’d like to focus on one point from this gospel reading, specifically the incident involving the woman who for twelve years was afflicted with hemorrhages: “If I but touch his clothes, I...
Some errors seem to never go away. I refer, in particular, to those that result from reasoning on the basis of statistical data. Last year I took it upon myself to challenge a particular priest, one rather averse to Pope...
It was always a lot of fun teaching philosophy and showing students how human reason is able to demonstrate the existence of God, just through deductive reasoning alone, especially Leibniz’ proof: “If the Necessary being is possible, then it exists.”...
I remember an incident that happened at a 5 p.m. Mass, the first time I ever preached at the parish at which I am stationed. It was 2008, the year I was ordained a deacon. Just before the Mass, I...
The very notion of the development of Catholic doctrine is of course very much in discussion today and will be for a long while yet, but it seems to me that the concept itself is a bit messier than is...
Editor’s Note: A priest asked Deacon McManaman to write this article as something to give to couples who come to seek baptism for their child, but who are not married in the Church, to help them understand Catholic teaching on...
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