Death is inevitable. For the bulk of human history, this has been a universally acknowledged and widely emphasized truism. Victorious Roman generals, as they paraded through the city in triumph, would be accompanied by someone whose job it was to...
A reflection on the Sunday readings for November 1, 2020 All Saints’ Day has a very long and interesting history. While the exact origin of this feast is unclear, historians believe that it began organically at the end of the Christian...
God’s continuous act of separation occurs in the so-called first creation account of Genesis (Gen 1:1–2:3): light from darkness, water from water, water from land. This act of separation provides form to the formless, and as creation proceeds so too...
This morning, my local ordinary, Washington’s Archbishop Wilton Gregory, was named by Pope Francis as one of 13 new cardinals who will be elevated during a November 28 consistory in Rome. Archbishop Gregory has served the Church for many years...
A reflection on the Sunday readings for October 25, 2020 When couples approach me for marriage preparation, they must complete a pre-nuptial inventory form. One part of the inventory concerns the couple’s “spiritual assessment.” Among the questions in this segment is...
One key to understanding the Church’s teaching on the economy is to ask—as Francis does in Fratelli Tutti—whether we “include or exclude those lying wounded along the roadside” (FT 69). This is, of course, a reference to the parable of...
I see you. You were brought up with CCD and Sunday Mass and played Necco wafer communion. You gave up candy for Lent, ate fish sticks on Fridays, and know what “Holy Day of Obligation” means (get thyself to church). Your...
Fratelli Tutti is a signature encyclical—not only of Francis’s papacy, but for the Catholic Church. During a pandemic, when the world seems to be at a political, social, religious, and ecological tipping point, comes a papal encyclical on “fraternity” and...
I offer here a sketch of someone caught in the eddies of our time. A sketch because it is not complete; I am still in the midst of confusion and uncertainty. But something of an outline is taking shape, and...
A reflection on the Mass readings for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. At my parish, I am currently leading an eight-week series on St. John of the Cross. John’s poems are all brilliant, but the ones that are the...
The pandemic has revealed how inadequate our virtual lifestyles are for sustaining strong communities. Yes, the lockdowns, capacity limits, and other precautions were necessitated by a charity towards others in our society, especially the elderly and other vulnerable populations, and...
On Sunday, Pope Francis promulgated his third encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship. His timely assessment of the state of our world touches on issues including war, extreme inequality and economic disparity, environmental degradation, and the fractured global...
This reflection is written against the backdrop of the release of Pope Francis’s third encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti,“ on Oct 4, 2020, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The focus of this encyclical is “fraternity” and “social friendship.” In his...
Given the recent heightened interest in charismatic communities, especially in Catholic groups involved in the charismatic renewal, I wanted to share my own experience as a member of one such group, years ago. The community was called the Intercessors of...
Pope Francis is signing a new social encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, this weekend. The Holy Father has spoken about human fraternity throughout his pontificate, so it’s not a surprise that he chose this topic for an encyclical. In preparation for this...
American Catholics should embrace losing. It’s not as if we haven’t had ample opportunity over the last several years. We should know by now that U.S. Catholics often find ourselves among the least respected groups in modern society, particularly for...
As a fairly new Catholic, I always enjoy learning about new saints whenever I can. Thanks to all my friends who have referred different saints to me, I have learned about many holy men and woman of various ethnicities, ages,...
“The battle is marvellous and grievous to be borne. Oliver and Roland both strike hard, and the archbishop delivers more than a thousand blows and the twelve peers are not behind him, and the French all fight as one man....
This week at his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis spoke about the 51-year-old priest of the Diocese of Como in Northern Italy, Father Roberto Malgesini, who was murdered Tuesday while distributing food to the needy. Reportedly he was killed by a...
“Those who take care of the sick – play an essential role in today’s society, even if they often do not receive the recognition and recompense they deserve. … Taking care of those who are sick, of those who are...
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