Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 * 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-172 * John 2:13-22     Why does this feast hold such significance? The Basilica of St John Lateran (dedicated to St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist) bears the title Mother and Head of All the Churches of the City and of the World.…

Q: In an earlier column, you said that purgatory was a state outside of time and that we can’t talk about how long someone spends in purgatory in terms of years. But then why do you sometimes see old holy cards that say a prayer is worth “100 days’ indulgence” or something similar? A: Purgatory…

With the onset of Advent, the Church begins a new lectionary cycle — Year A — which features the Gospel of Matthew. It is a fitting place to begin, not only because tradition long regarded it as the first Gospel written, but also because of its rich catechetical content and deep roots in the Old…

At a conference which I attended, a psychiatrist shared this story. A woman came to see him in considerable distress. Her anguish had to do with her last conversation with her husband before he died. She shared how they had enjoyed a good marriage for more than thirty years, with never more than a minor…

A few years ago, literary critic Declan Kiberd wrote a masterful preface to an edition of Richard Power’s novel, The Hungry Grass. The novel’s hero, Fr Tom Conroy, is a somewhat angular priest, who does not fit easily into either the lives of his people or the structures of the Church he serves. Of Conroy’s…