A reflection on the readings for Sunday, July 11, 2021 — the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time In my office hangs a large framed print of one of my favorite saints, Ignatius of Loyola. He’s dressed in a red chasuble and stole, the traditional vestments for the celebration of Mass. His eyes gaze heavenward;...
“But if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be “devout” and to perform my “religious duties”, then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely “proper”, but loveless. Only my readiness to encounter my neighbour and to show him love makes...
A few days ago Religion News Service (RNS) ran an article by Jack Jenkins on Douglas Lucia, the Bishop of Syracuse, New York. Lucia has denounced something called the “doctrine of discovery,” and has called on the US bishops to draft a statement apologizing for the harm done by the Church to indigenous...
In his Angelus address last Sunday, Pope Francis delivered a beautiful reflection on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—a dogmatic teaching that is unique and essential to the Christian religion. From the very first months of his papacy, he expressed his profound belief in the Incarnation as foundational to the Catholic faith. In a...
Two days before Fr. James Martin, SJ, shared an image of the personal letter sent to him by Pope Francis, in which the pope offered Fr. Martin affirmation, guidance, and prayers for the upcoming Outreach LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Webinar, my wife and I sat around a small backyard firepit with Darren and his...
As a parish catechist, I am extremely indebted to Bishop Robert Barron. For years, not a week has gone by when I have not used several resources from his Word on Fire apostolate. Recently, in addition to his catechetical and educational resources, he’s been speaking out more frequently on issues that divide US...
This is the twelfth installment in “Postcards from the Camino” by Gareth Thomas, a series of reflections on the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage route leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. The pilgrim traveling through Spain to Compostela...
An update to our previous post: Matteo Bruni, Vatican spokesperson, indicated that Pope Francis is in “good general condition, alert and breathing spontaneously” after a successful surgery and is expected remain in the hospital for several days for recovery and monitoring, “barring any complications.” Philip Pullella, reporting for Reuters, has the story: Pope...
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, July 4, 2021 — the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s Old Testament and Gospel readings are about prophets. If you ask the average person what a prophet is, they will likely say, “someone who predicts the future.” This really isn’t accurate, and unfortunately it obscures the...
O King, the woods are ashes, No spots remain at crematoria, O King, there are no carers, Nor any pall-bearers, No mourners left And we are bereft With our wordless dirges of dysphoria — from the poem ‘Shabvahini Ganga’ (‘A Hearse Called Ganga’), by Parul Khakkar, translated into English by Salil Tripathi As...
“For the rest, in this as in other points of Christian doctrine, “the proximate and universal norm of truth” is for all the living Magisterium of the Church, which Christ established “also to illustrate and explain those matters which are contained only in an obscure way, and implicitly in the deposit of faith.”...
The Benedictine Monastery and the Franciscan Field Hospital Catholics aren’t Countercultural As Catholics, we’re called to resist the “culture of death” and the “throw-away culture.” Does this mean we are countercultural? Are we being called to oppose a culture, or an anti-culture? And more importantly, what should we do when faced with an...
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