The world is in turmoil. Europe is in chaos. Metaphorically speaking, a hurricane is raging all around us. How are we to respond? Certainly, there are those whose response is to enter into the fray. That can possibly be a legitimate reaction but it perhaps at times contributes to the chaos and confusion of our…
Say that a person is “broken” and watch what your mind does. Either it reaches for a picture you do not really mean – a snapped bone, a body collapsed on the floor – or it gives you no clear picture at all, only a grey sense of trouble with no edge and no location.…
In his first address to the Church and the world on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica after his election in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV identified himself as “the son of St Augustine”. With these words, the new Pope was not just drawing our attention to him being the first Augustinian Pope in history,…
Q: Could you please tell me what exactly predestination is? Also, is this a dogma of the Catholic Church or is it heresy? A: The term “predestination” can mean a few different things depending on the specific context. In some of these contexts, predestination is a heresy (i.e., a teaching or idea that directly contradicts…
Something in us is dissatisfied with the ordinary. There’s something in the ordinary that can have us think that predictable routines, domestic rhythms, and commitment to duty can weigh us down, swallow us up, and anchor us outside the more rewarding waters of passion, romance, creativity, dance, and celebration. We often vilify the ordinary. I…
Jeremiah 20:7-9 Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27 The Sunday Gospel There is a rather surprising response to St Paul’s famous question: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The readings of this Sunday seem almost to answer: everyone. We might imagine that friendship with God guarantees an easy life. But today’s…
The plan was simple: invite some other men to discuss a book chosen beforehand. The invitation turned into hundreds of monthly meetings over more than a decade. In hindsight, it is a minor miracle it worked. G.K. Chesterton wrote in a 1904 essay on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “The sincere love of books has…
For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. The Gospel Matt 16:21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief…
I listened recently to an excellent interview with Dr Hannah Vaughan-Spruce who presented a hopeful vision for the future of the Church, where parishes become centres of discipleship, evangelisation and authentic community. Hannah is Executive Director of Divine Renovation UK, a ministry that inspires, connects and equips parishes to become missionary (see www.divinerenovation.org). She also…
One Sabbath Day, Jesus entered the synagogue. Knowing that there was a man there with a deformity, Jesus’ opponents were keeping a careful eye on him, to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath. Jesus was being watched. The first commandment of biblical religion is not ‘watch,’ but ‘listen,’ or ‘hear’: “Hear,…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr Dominik Domagala