Daria Sockey During his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI said that there was one prayer that he wished all Catholics would learn to use. Can you guess what it is? Guess again – not the rosary. Nope. Not the Divine Mercy Chaplet either. Here are some hints. This prayer is nearly as old as the…
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: I’m reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church and have a question about ccc 460. Can you please fully explain the lines: “For the son of God became man so that we might become God” and “… might make men gods.” I am to become God? That doesn’t seem right.…
Andrew Greeley once suggested that we might profitably meditate on the following vision of heaven: The condition of physical ecstasy and emotional satisfaction which results from sexual intercourse between two people who are deeply in love is the best anticipation currently available to us of our permanent condition in the resurrected state. “The powerful inspirational…
Deacon Greg Kandra August 20, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 56:1, 6-7 Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 Rom 11:13-15, 29-32 Mt 15:21-28 At first blush, you can’t help but wonder: what kind of Jesus is this? The Jesus in this Gospel isn’t the comforting figure preaching love and mercy, with a light yoke and an easy…
August 15 is the great Marian feast that honours the whole human person, writes Dr Sarah Jane Boss For many centuries, the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in the Church without any formal definition of the doctrine. In most places, it was the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary and it is…
David Mills Some years ago, a priest sent me occasional criticism of something I’d written. He tended to pick at small points. We’d had dinner a couple of times and were friendly, and I eventually responded that I’d find it easier to hear his criticism if he’d ever offered any comment but criticism. I…
Elizabeth Scalia In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a point where Atticus Finch, seeking to teach his son about making reparation for damaging another’s property (and about something else, too) orders his young son Jem to visit the bedside of sickly old Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose and read aloud to…
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: How do we reconcile the story of Adam and Eve and original sin with evolution? A: We can say the creation story in the Book of Genesis – while being true – was not meant as a literal or technical scientific account of how the material world was formed. Although…
A number of years ago, I attended the funeral of a man who died at the age of ninety. From every indication, he had been a good man, solidly religious, the father of a large family, a man respected in the community, and a man with a generous heart. However, he had also been a…
Jem Sullivan August 13 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a Ps 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 Rom 9:1-5 Mt 14:22-33 Utter disbelief was the sentiment deeply felt in the hearts and minds of many as the rapid spread of Covid-19 brought normal life to a shuddering halt in March 2020. We might remember…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser