We are all called to be holy
I am putting this together late on All Saints’ Day, so most of you won’t read this until November 2. But I would like to share a few things that might be worth reflecting on and carrying through this month...
Category: Reflection
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...
A Pope for All People
Pope Francis welcomed actress and activist Whoopi Goldberg to a private audience recently, and he told her she was “really important.” I used to have a really hard time with news stories like this one. The pre-COVID, self-righteous version of...
St. Thérèse’s Closeness to the Lost
Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, C’est la confiance (“It is confidence”), discusses at length an aspect of Theresian spirituality that is widely known but not widely examined. Thérèse is an enormously appealing saint, with there being...
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...
The Confidence of St. Therese
I just finished reading Pope Francis’s new exhortation, C’est la confiance, which was released earlier today and focuses on the life and message of St. Therese of Lisieux. I found it so rich and inspiring that I think as soon...
Nurturing Seeds of Wisdom During Times of Trouble
Have you ever felt so let down by God that you considered abstaining from the Eucharist as a form of protest, as a way of telling Him, “Fix this!” “Change them!” “Do something!”? I never thought I would get to...
Ideology and Synodality; A call to action on abuse; Radcliffe’s reflections
It has been a very busy week in the Church. Noteworthy events include the consistory creating 21 new cardinals on Saturday, September 30; the publication on Monday of two sets of dubia by Cardinal Raymond Burke and four other cardinals on...
The story of Dred Scott’s first tombstone
Earlier today, a dedication ceremony was held for a new Memorial Monument in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, at the gravesite of Dred Scott. Scott was an enslaved man who is best known for his role as the plaintiff in...
Pope Francis’s Timely Words to a Brazilian Care Organization
Today Pope Francis met with members of the Brazilian organization Família da Esperança, which cares for people in desperate situations like drug addiction and HIV/AIDS. His address to them can be read on the Vatican website. It touches on familiar...
Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?
We spend most of our lives hiding behind our true selves. It’s pitiful, honestly. I’m nearly 50 years old and I still spend much of my time worried about what others will think. Does it really matter? A few years...
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...
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