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…
Q: I was married in a non-Catholic wedding ceremony, then divorced years later civilly. Once I became Catholic and wanted to marry again, I got an annulment of the first marriage. My non-Catholic friends and relatives said this was a Catholic cop out to get around Jesus’ prohibition against divorce, by saying that the first marriage ‘never happened’. Could you comment?…
The Sunday Gospel Wis 2:12, 17-20 Ps 54:3-4, 5, 6 and 8 Jas 3:16—4:3 Mk 9:30-37 The lives of the saints reveal the many trials and persecutions that the holiest men and women encounter from within or from outside the Church. We learn that some saints who founded religious orders were even rejected by the…
I was very conscious that if I said ’yes’ my life would change in a radical way, says Bishop Paul Dempsey At the age of 18, I made the decision to enter the seminary. Some might think, “God, that was a very young time to become a priest.” Of course, I wasn’t becoming a priest…
Whether our hopes for this summer have been fulfilled or not, the season is waning. Most kids have returned to school, and the full force of the fall calendar is poised to kick in. All we can do now is hope that whatever rest and recreation we managed to get will be enough to draw…
Every week my sons stand in the pew at Mass. Like stairsteps, all five in a row by age and height. Or like a motley crew, mixed together by shapes and sizes. Five boys in the midst of becoming men. They are the reason why the short line tucked within the Nicene Creed catches me…
Renata Milán Morales
Fr Ronald Rolheiser