One of the great religious stories in history is the biblical story of the Exodus, the story of a people being set free from slavery, passing miraculously through the Red Sea, and finding themselves standing in freedom, on a new shore. Most of us are familiar with this story. A nation of people, Israel, was…
Q: What is the criteria determining who can wear a ‘clerical collar’? I’m not sure if it varies from one seminary/diocese to another, but I’m curious why seminary students would wear a collar since they are not a member of the clergy just yet? It’s caused a bit of confusion for adults and children alike…
The Sunday Gospel Is 50:5-9a Ps 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Jas 2:14-18 Mk 8:27-35 I can still remember the priest who taught us Scripture during diaconate formation talking about the passage from the Gospel that we hear this Sunday, and then asking us what seemed an irrelevant question. “Where does it come in?” he asked…
St Bernadette gives hope to young people facing the challenge of discerning their future, says Fr Barry White Lourdes has always been a place of prayer and healing in my family, especially during times of suffering and illness. My journey with Lourdes began in childhood, inspired by books and the 1943 film The Song of…
Assuming that only atoms and forces exist, you’ll miss out on things like beauty, truth and love says Br Guy Consolmagno “What do I do if science tells me one thing, but religion tells me another thing? Which do I believe?” There’s a false assumption at the centre of that question, because neither science nor…
Kenneth Craycraft The Book of Genesis explains that God created the universe by His word alone, speaking the world into existence. As we read throughout the first chapter of Genesis, “God said, ‘Let there be … ‘” And as God reflected on the six days of creation, He looked upon his work, and “found it…
Sr Hosea Rupprecht One day, I was at the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a bright, sunny day and the ocean was sparkling. On my way home, I spotted a few empty parking spots along the side of the road and, totally on a whim, pulled into one. I rolled up that window but kept…
Inside each of us, beyond what we can picture clearly, express in words, or even feel distinctly, we have a dark memory of having once been touched and caressed by hands far gentler than our own. That caress has left a permanent mark, an imprint of a love so tender and deep that its memory…
Q: Some people have said a spiritual communion is the same as a sacramental Communion when one has a sincere desire and cannot receive otherwise. If this is so, why do we say, “Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.” Would it count in the case of making…
The Sunday Gospel Dt 4:1-2, 6-8 Ps 15:2-5 Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Are we doers? The letter from James this Sunday lays it all on the line and reminds us of what truly matters. Think showing up at church, saying prayers and dropping an envelope in the collection basket is enough?…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser