Q: In a recent homily, my parish priest suggested that we all “give up prayers of petition for Lent.” He said we’re not being good friends to God if all we do is ask him for things, and that “you’ve all said enough prayers of petition, it’s time to say some other prayers.” But I’m…
Pope Leo has declared the Eight Centenary of the death of Francis of Assisi the special Jubilee Year of St Francis, “a year of grace”. In 1226 Francis of Assisi left this world. Lying naked on the naked earth close to the little chapel of the Portiuncula he had rebuilt, he went to meet his…
I heard this story from a renowned theologian who prefers I don’t use his name in sharing this, though the story speaks well of his theology. He was giving a lecture and at one point stated that God didn’t want Jesus to suffer like he did. A woman in the audience immediately raised her voice:…
This story is found only in the Fourth Gospel. The first four chapters of this Gospel address the different “constituencies” of the Gospel’s readers: followers of the Baptist (1:19-51), the Jews (2:1-12), the Pharisees (3:1-21), the Samaritans (our Gospel today) and the Gentiles (4:46-54). The story is symbolic of the journey of faith, using marriage…
When God gives us sanctifying grace in baptism, what he gives us is a share in his own divine life. The spirit of God is poured into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5). The Spirit, in turn, forms our hearts into a likeness of the eternal Son (cf. 2 Cor 3:18). Yet, all of this takes…
A vocation is an inner voice so strong that it becomes unthinkable to turn away, writes Fr Ron Rolheiser, any of us are familiar with a famous line from C.S. Lewis who, when writing about his conversion to Christianity, shared that he was “the most reluctant convert in the history of Christendom.” When he first…
The mission of the Church from the very beginning right up to the present day, is to unite people through love, justice and peace. In every culture and time, the Church presents a vision of unity in Christ that transcends differences along the lines of race, ethnicity, nationality or any other way that marks us…
Head, neck, torso bent in a curve like the bend of a river. Grasping rail. I am looking up at the spectacular dome of St Peter’s Basilica. Awe-inspiring. Vertigo-inducing. No wonder Shakespeare said that human beings are little less than gods. The Bard may have exaggerated when it comes to the rest of us, but…
Q: I think the Catholic Church’s Lenten discipline is kind of a joke. Specifically, Friday abstinence really isn’t that tough since most people aren’t going to suffer if they can’t have meat for one day a week. Why doesn’t the Church require something more demanding, like omitting all animal products on days of penance, or…
Genesis 12:1-4 2 Timothy 1:8-10 Matthew 17:1-9 There is always a certain tension between ideals and reality of life. Let us be honest about that. Only those who have flattened their ideals beyond recognition do not experience it. The rest of us live in that space between what we profess and what we manage…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr Dominik Domagala