Jesus said: Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise Luke 23:32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. Luke 23:33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his…
As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another Luke 21:5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, Luke 21:6 “As for these things that you see, the days will…
Am I praying right? You often hear people talking about mindfulness and breathing exercises and the like, and opinion is divided about whether these practices are allowed for a Christian. Well, worry no more! Back in ‘89, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, while still working at the CDF under John Paul II, put out a document on…
Are we sometimes too stingy about who we allow into God’s family? Says Fr Ron Rolheiser John Muir once asked: “Why are Christians so reluctant to let animals into their stingy heaven?” Indeed, why? Especially since St Paul tells us in the Epistle to the Romans that all creation (mineral, plant, animal) is groaning to…
Every generation has its naysayers and prophets of doom. I knew a man once, now gone to his eternal reward, who was convinced that the world would end in 1984 – 100 years from the date that Pope Leo XIII composed the St Michael prayer, in 1884, allegedly with a prophecy that Satan would be…
Growing up in Limerick, close by the Dominican church, our go-to saint was St Martin de Porres. So, it was a particularly memorable for me to visit Lima in Peru last week on pilgrimage. Together with another Dominican priest and 35 pilgrims we visited the ‘City of the Kings’, as Lima was known at the…
We must explore our shared humanity before we lose it,” said Bishop Richard Clarke. Recognising Ireland’s growing diversity of traditions, Bishop Clarke, then Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, wrote in The Irish Times (October 10, 2005) of the need for “a seeking together to establish what it is to be human in…
Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 * 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-172 * John 2:13-22 Why does this feast hold such significance? The Basilica of St John Lateran (dedicated to St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist) bears the title Mother and Head of All the Churches of the City and of the World.…
Q: In an earlier column, you said that purgatory was a state outside of time and that we can’t talk about how long someone spends in purgatory in terms of years. But then why do you sometimes see old holy cards that say a prayer is worth “100 days’ indulgence” or something similar? A: Purgatory…
With the onset of Advent, the Church begins a new lectionary cycle — Year A — which features the Gospel of Matthew. It is a fitting place to begin, not only because tradition long regarded it as the first Gospel written, but also because of its rich catechetical content and deep roots in the Old…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr John McCarthy
Fr Dominik Domagala