Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34); “Faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13); “God is love” (1 John 4:8). No matter how far the Church wanders from the primacy of love, it is always the prophets and the saints who bring us back. One…
Q: The nondenominational church near my house offers praise and worship nights with music. I’ve been interested in attending, not because I want to convert, but because I like that style of music and any opportunity to join in prayer with others. Would it be wrong for a Catholic to attend this event? Am I…
A leading British bishop has said he is “deeply alarmed” by the Israeli military’s decision to declare the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh a closed military zone after a series of settler attacks on the village. Bishop James Curry, auxiliary of Westminster and Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of…
The peace and security of all people depend on the establishment and implementation of a strong rule of law in all nations. Otherwise, chaos and atrocities of all kinds — including war crimes — will prevail, like what is happening in a number of countries. There are currently over 20 permanent and active international tribunals…
There’s a difference between being in bloom and being fruitful. Take a flower for example. It begins as a wee bud, hardly noticeable, and eventually in full bloom grows into a beautiful flower. In full bloom it’s very noticeable. This is its optimal moment of beauty, of being admired, of glory. But this isn’t its…
After almost every Mass, I notice something disturbingly common. As parishioners leave the church, many reach instinctively for their phones. Conversations are interrupted by beeping notifications. Some pause to check messages before greeting friends. It might seem like an insignificant routine. Yet it makes me wonder: if a digital device fills every spare moment, what…
In the summer of 1989, Antrim’s hurlers carried more than just the hopes of a county when they ran out in Croke Park for the All-Ireland final. They carried the weight of isolation, expectation and identity, a team from a northern stronghold of hurling that had fought their way onto the biggest stage at the…
A federal high court in Nigeria has restrained authorities in the country’s Kano state and the Islamic religious police, known as Hisbah, from arresting a 22-year-old woman because she converted from Islam to Christianity and rejected a forced marriage. In its May 26 ruling, the court described the actions taken against the woman, identified by…
Honestly, you can’t help but think: This was not on Peter’s bingo card. There he was, the appointed leader of the apostles, trying to show his devotion and loyalty to Jesus, his willingness to defend him and protect him. And what did he get in return? Jesus turned around and called him “Satan.” What? That…
“But who do you say that I am?” Matt 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Matt 16:14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser