“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 God who, in Bonhoeffer’s words, is “against us.” How can this be? “My...
As we progress through this Holy Week, turning our minds toward the great Paschal Mystery and the Passion of our Lord, I would like to share and reflect upon one of the moments that struck me deeply during the early part of Francis’s papacy. It was April 13, 2014, on Palm Sunday, when...
Hey there, everyone! I am excited to share some big news with you all. Dominic de Souza, founder of SmartCatholics, and I have teamed up to bring you a brand new weekly YouTube show called The Debrief. As the editor of Where Peter Is, I’ve been immersed in Catholic Church news and commentary...
A reflection on the readings for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, April 6, 2023. On Palm Sunday, I recall inviting my parishioners to make Holy Week a time to remember the events of our redemption. I recall saying that as Catholics we are a people of memory; that “we are what...
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? Or do we place it in the passing fads of the world. We...
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 sufferings that Jesus endured: the suffering of the body, the suffering of the...
One of the most beautiful things about being Catholic is the universality. Catholicism wraps its loving arms around so many rituals, practices, and traditions through inculturation. It embraces each and every person and presents to us an incredible array of ways in which to pray, celebrate, and remember who God is, what God...
I first heard of Eve Tushnet when I attended a Courage conference in Detroit several years ago that was hosted by Janet Smith. Even though I had much stronger, and much less nuanced, opinions back then I thought that Eve’s talk was the highlight of the conference. She spoke with clarity and honesty,...
On May 15, 2018, the Vatican announced the promulgation of Cor Orans, the document containing the directives for communities of contemplative nuns around the world. In the years that followed, few Catholic websites in the United States have given a platform for contemplative communities who want to follow the Vatican’s directives to share...
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 task doesn’t end with Easter weekend. For cradle Catholics, practicing our faith is...
A reflection on the readings for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, April 2, 2023. Jesus’ Galilean ministry has come to an end and the final journey to Jerusalem has been completed. He has preached the words of the Father, healed many, raised people to life, walked the streets of Palestine, eaten what...
In the human dream of a perfect world, holiness is always visualized as untouchability by sin and evil, as something unmixed with the later; there always remains in some form or other a tendency to think in terms of black and white, a tendency to cut out and reject mercilessly the current form...
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