Jenna Marie Cooper Q: When I was an Evangelical I was told there was no such thing as ghosts and that paranormal phenomena were likely demons. What does the Church say about this? Doesn’t the Church teach that there are no such things as ‘apparitions’? A: The word ‘ghost’ can refer to several different concepts.…
The 13th Century Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Rumi, once said that this is how faith moves in our lives: We live with a deep secret that sometimes we know, then not, and then know again. New York columnist David Brooks says something quite similar. In his book, The Second Mountain, he shares how he…
Deacon Greg Kandra Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, August 6Deuteronomy 7:9-10,13-14Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9II Peter 1:16-19Matthew 17:1-9 A lot of children will tell you (and some of their grownup friends will agree) that they are afraid of the dark. The unknown and unseeable can be frightening. There are the usual things to be…
Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ Does it make sense to write about a spirituality of summer? At one level not at all, if it is to suggest that the spiritual life is subject to seasonal fluctuations, or that there is something about the summer that is more or less spiritual or spiritually-significant than any other time…
Fr Patrick Briscoe World Youth Day (WYD) brings together young people from every corner of the globe to celebrate their Catholic faith. Away from home and buoyed by the witness of their peers, it becomes possible for many to have a transforming encounter with Jesus Christ. But it is not friends, travel or universal embrace…
Effie Caldarola Today, I spent time with the Gerasene demoniac. At least I did so in my imagination. I journeyed there in prayer and then stood with Jesus, watching the tortured and screaming man descending the hillside and identifying his demons as “legion”. Praying with the imagination is a hallmark of Ignatian spirituality. It’s an…
Jenna Marie Cooper Q: Since the Church teaches that God is a forgiving God, how could he banish a person to Hell? It is very difficult for me to believe that God would make that an eternal habitat for anyone. A: According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Hell’s principal punishment consists of eternal…
In a 1990s movie, City Slickers, there’s a scene that sheds light on the importance of private integrity. Three men, New Yorkers, close friends, have gone off together for a summer to ride on a cattle drive in the hope that this experience will help them sort through their respective mid-life issues. There is no…
The Sunday Gospel Jem Sullivan 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time I Kings 3:5, 7-12 Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130 Romans 8:28-30 Matthew 13:44-52 Antiques Roadshow is a long running, popular television programme that evokes the treasure hunter in all of us. The show features art experts and appraisers who see people from all walks…
Maria Wiering “He was the world’s flower and glory, and has rendered superfluous the writings of doctors (of theology) who shall come after him.” St Albert the Great is said to have exclaimed these words upon the news of the death of St Thomas Aquinas, his former student, in 1274 at age 48. July 18 marked the…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser