The Vine’s Commands
In Sunday’s Gospel our Lord speaks of things that resonate deep in the human heart: love, joy, and friendship. We all desire these, so we delight in His words: Remain in my love. . . .I have told you this so that my joy may be
In Sunday’s Gospel our Lord speaks of things that resonate deep in the human heart: love, joy, and friendship. We all desire these, so we delight in His words: Remain in my love. . . .I have told you this so that my joy may be
By the second century A.D., the Christian religion had spread beyond its original Jewish context into a pagan world that very often misunderstood and hated it. Its circumstances were, in that respect, much like our own. Only worse, of course. For in those days, to
When was the last time you were amazed — really, truly amazed? Was it during the 2016 World Series, in which the Chicago Cubs, not having won a championship since 1908, won in extra innings in Game Seven? Or was it during the surprising presidential
The Sign of Peace is a staple of the Mass for most of us. The priest bestows the peace of Christ upon us and we in turn offer peace to our brothers and sisters in Christ. This part of the Mass has probably become routine
Imagine a world where no Christian is named for St. Joseph, where no church or religious organization bears his name. Picture St. Joseph absent from the Mass, the Breviary, the Church’s calendar, and the Litany of the Saints. No shrines, no special devotions, no hymns,
St. Patrick, patron saint of Nigeria (who wasn’t Irish and wasn’t the first Christian missionary to Ireland and didn’t drive the snakes out), pray for us. Wait, what? Popular devotion to St. Patrick might have one believing that he was an Irish pied piper who led the
The Vatican announced last week that Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero will be canonized in October. My immediate reaction, on both counts, was satisfaction – though I’ve been trying to explain to myself exactly why. Saints, of course, can have serious shortcomings. The Apostles
Although I never saw Billy Graham, he had a profound influence on my life. Both of my parents saw him a number of times in 1957, at Madison Square Garden and other venues, and went forward for his altar calls. My father calls that experience
The Church fathers loved to delve into Holy Scripture and find deep meanings and parallels; or types and shadows. One of the titles they gave to the Blessed Virgin Mary was New Eve or Second Eve: because the first Eve said “no” to God and brought about original
On a recent episode of The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert and frequent visitor Neil deGrasse Tyson joked about the astronomical insignificance of New Year’s Day. Before long, Tyson was talking about the role the Catholic Church played in creating the calendar as we know it. “The world’s