With Faces Unveiled
It is clear in reading the Gospels that tensions ran high between Jesus and the scribes, Pharisees, and lawyers. The Gospels recount a number of instances when one or another of them “stood up to test Him.” He in His...
Author: Sister Gabriela of the Incarnation, O.C.D.
Keeping God at Arm’s Length: The Danger Averted by Vatican II
In reading some articles presently published on Catholic websites, one might get the impression that the story of Cain and Abel is an apt parable for the state of the Catholic Church, especially in the United States. Who is to...
Contracepting Grace
I began this series “Union and Communion” with the consideration of the increasing isolation that people experience, especially in our country. I then looked at the Biblical account of Mary’s Annunciation and of Adam and Eve, and found that isolation...
Improving On God’s Plan
In our first article in this series on Union and Communion, we considered the state of peaceful integrity in which God created the human race, and in our last article we studied how that integrity was lost through our disobedience....
Spiritual Abortion
“Like as from polished and transparent glass, Or as from water clear and luminous, Whose shallows leaves the bottom shadowless, The image of a face comes back to us… So I saw faces , many and diverse, Eager to speak.”...
The Opposite of Alone
In our previous article in this series on Union and Communion, “One Hand Clapping,” we took a look at a phenomenon that is becoming more and more widespread in our American society: social and personal isolation. The breakup of the...
One Hand Clapping
“What is the sound of one hand clapping?” This question is a well-known Buddhist koan. A koan is a question that is meant to jog the hearer’s mind out of logical thinking into enlightenment or simply into awareness. Personally, whenever...
How to Get What I Want
Recently, Michael Sean Winters published an article entitled “How will a synodal church embody the virtue of obedience?” He shows that the Paschal mystery is accomplished through the obedience of Jesus, and indeed, the Church itself exists in through the...
The Glory of Being a Sinner!
It is well known that Pope Benedict XVI loved music, and that Mozart was his favorite composer. He was also an accomplished pianist and there is no doubt that he was familiar with Mozart’s piano sonatas. There is a saying...
Only Sinners Need Apply
A state funeral is a most impressive ceremony. We saw this recently with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. A nation faces its own mortality in the death of a leader. The fragility of life is enfolded in the power...
The Whole Christ
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”[1] The Catholic Church has often been criticized for promoting a religion of dos and don’ts, a religion...
The Ordinary Liturgy of Everyday Life
At the beginning of this month, we celebrated the Solemnity of Epiphany. During the Mass, after the Gospel, there has long been the custom of the solemn presentation of the Epiphany Proclamation. This dates back many centuries to the days...
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