When I was growing up, as part of our family prayer we used to pray for a happy death. In my young mind, I had a certain conception of what that might look like. A happy death would be to die inside of grace, warmly cradled in the loving arms of family and church, fully…
Q: I try to have a Mass said for my deceased grandparents every year around the anniversary of their deaths. But this year, my parish said their Mass intention calendar is very full, and people are requesting dates as far as six months out! Then I went to Mass last Sunday, and the priest offered…
The Gospel *** Matt. 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. Matt. 14:23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, Matt. 14:24 but…
*** Bless our hearts, when my husband and I had been married all of three months, we signed up to become a team couple with our local Engaged Encounter program. We had enjoyed the retreat that we took as a requirement of our pre-Cana preparation, surprised to find it fun and helpful, not the drudgery…
“God has no favourites, except that every one of us is God’s particular favourite,” John Muir once asked, “Why are Christians so reluctant to let animals into their stingy heaven?” The same might be said of us as Churches: why are we so reluctant sometimes to welcome others into God’s mercy and to our communion…
As the Church in Ireland approaches the National Synodal Assembly this October, one of the seven priorities that will be discussed and discerned will be ‘Formation and Catechesis’. According to the synodal preparatory document ‘Baptised and Sent’, the hope of renewal in this area of the life of the Irish Church, is to “deepen faith…that…
Q: I recently attended an ordination, and that got me wondering: Hypothetically, what would happen if the bishop accidentally left out the part of the ordination Mass where the future priest promises celibacy? That wouldn’t mean that the new priest was actually free to marry, would it? A: The short answer is no, if for…
Mass Readings: * Isaiah 55:1-3 * Romans 8:35, 37-39 * Matthew 14:13-21 *** Modern advertising has an uncanny ability to appeal to our deepest anxieties. “Don’t leave your family unprotected,” one life insurance advertisement urges. “Take out a policy today.” There is, of course, wisdom in making sensible provision for those we love. Yet there…
Isaiah 55:1-3; Psalm 145 (144); Romans 8:35, 37-49; Matthew 14:13-21 The Gospel *** Matt. 14:13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. Matt. 14:14 When he went ashore, he saw…
Isaiah 55:1-3; Psalm 145 (144); Romans 8:35, 37-49; Matthew 14:13-21 Readings 1 and 3 In the first reading, the prophet alerts people to their unrecognised hungers of the heart. In the Gospel, the disciples point to the unrecognised ordinary hungers of the people. The responsorial Psalm Psalm 145 (144) is an alphabetical psalm, uniquely carrying…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr Dominik Domagala