Lent

A gentleman heard me on Relevant Radio earlier. I had mentioned on the air that one of the great humiliations of a crucifixion was that a man was crucified naked. This thoughtful gentleman wrote to challenge my comments. Below is his e-mail and my response. Dear Mr. Ray, Please correct... Read more

Let’s continue our consideration of the Passion with a text describing the aftermath of Jesus’ crucifixion. The Gospel of Matthew recounts four immediate results of Jesus’ death, and while they describe historical events, they also signal deeper spiritual truths. And when Jesus had cried... Read more

St. Thomas contends that a man with no sense of humor is actually deficient, lacking something that ought to be present in a man fully alive. Jesus was perfectly man, so where are his casual smiles, his amused chuckles, and his belly laughs? Some of the most popular current answers to this... Read more

Why did Judas betray Jesus? Was it for the money? It is difficult to go back in time to discover the exact intentions of Judas Iscariot, but we can at the very least examine the price Judas was paid for his betrayal and see if the money was tempting enough to make a man hand over his friend to... Read more

There is a story about my patron and favorite saint, the great female doctor of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila, which centered on her encouraging her fellow Carmelites after they received the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The story goes that as the sisters would come out of the confessional... Read more

 Crucifixion Scenes in Film Dr Monica Miller – 03-31-17 Al Kresta:  And good afternoon.  I'm Al Kresta.  As we, again, move through Lent toward the Triduum, a lot of us preparing, of course, for Good Friday.  And one of the things that families have started doing on Good Friday is... Read more

On Thursday of Holy Week the Church remembers Christ’s Last Supper with his apostles and sets the scene for what will happen the next day. During the the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the liturgy re-enacts in a solemn way the movement of Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. After the... Read more

Jesus’ actions on Holy Thursday were revolutionary and radical.  They are meant to shock our consciences.  Indeed, St. Peter was so shocked he exclaimed, “You shall never wash my feet.” (Jn. 13:8)  His sensibilities were offended that the Messiah, the very Son of God, would perform the... Read more

Do you know this performance of the St. John Passion conducted by Karl Richter?” a friend wrote. “Good for Lenten reflection, I think.” The message arrived on March 5, the one-year anniversary of the death of Nikolaus Harnoncourt—the Austrian conductor whom I had long favored over... Read more

For Lent 2016, I adopted a new Forty Days discipline in addition to intensified prayer, daily almsgiving, and letting my liver have its annual vacation: I quit sports talk radio, cold turkey. This was not easy, as the purchase of a car with an XM radio years before had turned me into a... Read more