Last week, we highlighted the figure of Peter who is one of the saints that features prominently in the Gospels during Holy Week and Easter. This week, we feature another, namely that of Mary of Magdala and see in her the beauty of a life transformed by Christ. Mary became one of Jesus’s most prominent…
Q: I heard a priest on the radio talking about holy water fonts in church, and he said that as a sacramental, the holy water “absolves us from venial sin.” He actually used the word “absolves.” That doesn’t sound right to me. What does the Church teach about this? A: I can see where…
Like Christmas and other Catholic holy days, Easter is often misunderstood. Either its origins are said to be based on pagan holidays, or we reduce it to a cultural celebration – a feast after fasting, marked by food, family and tradition. But for the early Christians, it was neither a borrowed festival nor a simple…
The Church makes use of three holy oils: the oil of the sick, the oil of the catechumens and the holy chrism oil. The first two are blessed, and the bishop consecrates the third, ordinarily during the annual chrism Mass. Each has a distinctive purpose in the Church. Oil of the sick The oil of…
John 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. John 20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them,…
The three days leading up to Easter Sunday are known as the Sacred Paschal Triduum, and the liturgical ceremonies that mark these days are the richest, most solemn and most dramatic of the entire liturgical year. The curtain raises on Holy Thursday evening, with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This opening scene of…
We often want God to follow our plans but discipleship begins when we learn to follow Christ writes Fr Billy Swan The liturgical calendar is quiet at this time of year as feast days of saints rightly give way to the approaching celebrations of Holy Week and Easter. That said, I would like to focus…
Matt 27:32 As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. Matt 27:33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), Matt 27:34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted…
I was shocked to receive the notification that the Middle East conflict had begun, and it was even more shocking that it had spread throughout the gulf region. I grew up in Dubai, my early memories as a child were in the UAE, and it is a beautiful country with opportunities not seen before. Hearing…
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7 Philippians 2:6-11 Matthew 26:14-27:66 The Sunday Gospel There is a small, almost unnoticed detail in the Gospels that may well be the key to understanding the whole of Holy Week. Before Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph, before the palms are waved and the crowds cry Hosanna, there is Jericho. And in…
Fr Dominik Domagala