Michael R. Heinlein I’ve noticed a pattern lately. Whenever my 7-year-old son presents himself for Holy Communion to a minister unknown to him, he is routinely denied the sacrament. I find this fascinating. He does all the right things. He bows. He makes the sign of the cross. He waits patiently to say “Amen” before…
Sabine Kleyboldt (KNA) It took Bernini nine years to create his first work of art in St Peter’s Basilica. It will have taken a good nine months to free the bronze canopy from the dust of the centuries. Then visitors will be rubbing their eyes. The excitement is growing: the huge grey cuboid in the…
Several years ago, I went with another priest to visit a mutual friend. Our friend, a successful businessman, was living on the top floor of a very expensive apartment overlooking the river valley in the city of Edmonton. At one point during our visit, he took us out on his balcony to show us the…
The Sunday Gospel Nm 11:25-29 Ps 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14 Jas 5:1-6 Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 In our divided and divisive times, this weekend’s Gospel should give all of us pause. It poses some hard questions about how we judge others – and asks us to look more closely at how we judge – or…
Q: Listening to a Catholic radio station one day, they mentioned that leprechauns and fairies were demonic. This shocked me. St Patrick’s Day celebrations always include leprechauns. Fairies are loved by little girls and big girls alike. I made a small fairy garden for me and my granddaughters. We also have many other fairy items. Are we…
When I was an undergraduate, during a Renaissance module, my professor suddenly asked a question that took the class by surprise, “Imagine waking up to the news that a new continent has just been discovered. How would you react? Would you believe it?” It felt absurd, given the world we live in, where satellites map…
The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth was a historical event occurring in a particular time and place. But the cross casts a long shadow, one that stretches across all of history. As Christians, we believe that the narrative of human destiny is the story of redemption in the cross of Christ. It stands at the…
Any discussion of the differences between men and women and their roles in society seem to be particularly charged these days. As the role of wife and mother continues to be embraced and celebrated by the Church, it is often downplayed in an increasingly secularised culture. At the same time, Catholics today grapple with the…
Bishop Robert Reed It’s that time of year, again, when the waking air has a chill crispness to it, and the hallways are lined with bookbags full of fresh spiral notebooks, binders still blank of the doodles of midwinter boredom and the good old marble-covered notebooks, as yet unsullied. Pencils have been sharpened, erasers are…
Several years ago, at a time when the national news was much fixated on a high-profile case of sexual harassment, I asked three women colleagues: “what constitutes sexual harassment? What’s the line here that may not be crossed? What’s innocent behavior and what’s harassment?” They answered to this effect. It’s not so much a question…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Renata Milán Morales