Category: Reflection
Forgetting God and the Consequences
Friends, I don’t know if you noticed, but we all walked into a bare Church. Silence greeted us. The altar is stripped of all its decorations. It is a skeletal altar that confronts us with the reality of death. God...
The Gospels Are Not Dry and Boring, They Are Human Like Us
Contemplating the human experience of Christ’s first followers can help us to better understand his ministry. I find that we often take the lives of the apostles for granted whenever we recount a scene in the New Testament, be it...
The Will of God and the Passion of Christ
Many people find the Christian doctrine of Redemption rather difficult to accept. Various questions are typically raised against it. Does God demand suffering in satisfaction for sin? Does God inflict suffering on the innocent? Does the divine mission of Christ...
The God Who Abandons Us
“The God who is with us, is the God who abandons us.” These words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are so ironic. The God who is with us, who stands in solidarity with our human realities of pain and suffering, is the...
Hope Never Disappoints
In his Wednesday General Audience today, April 5, Pope Francis spoke of the hope that arises from the cross, which is a true paradox. He began by asking “Where is your hope?” Do we, accordingly, place it rightly in Christ?...
The Sufferings of Jesus Were Many
On Saturday, April 1, Pope Francis was discharged from Gemelli University Hospital after recovering from bronchitis. Then, on Sunday, he gave a beautiful homily on Palm Sunday and the suffering of Jesus. Pope Francis said there were three types of...
How Parishes Can Support New Catholics This Easter
During this season of Lent, many parishes are preparing to welcome Catechumens into full communion with the Catholic Church. What a tremendous blessing and responsibility it is to welcome new members to our faith, but we must understand that our...
My Lenten Call
Lent invites us to conversion, and the call to conversation can be painful. Worse, it can be embarrassing, especially when it comes from an unlikely source. I’ve recently experienced this myself, regarding a vice I barely even knew I had,...
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...
Papal Preacher: Peter was right, Paul got carried away
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., now in his 43rd year as Preacher to the Papal Household (he was appointed to the position by Pope John Paul II in 1980), delivered the first of his Lenten sermons yesterday. It was a...
Still here
I am posting this from my trusty desk in my home office. I’m still feeling a bit groggy after the past few days, but I am here, and I’m feeling better, and that’s the most important part. If you’ve followed...
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