What is a monastery? How do monasteries work? St Benedict (480-547AD) who is considered the founder of Western monasticism, offered this counsel as an essential rule for his monks: Stay in your cell and it will teach all you need to know. Properly understood, this is a rich metaphor, not a literal counsel. When…
Q: My older sister told me that after age 80, you are relieved of the duty to attend Sunday Mass. I didn’t believe her until a friend who is 86 told me the same thing. I have never heard of this. Is it true? A: I have never heard of this either! The relevant citation…
Need a summary of the Christian faith? This Sunday’s Gospel offers one. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). The evangelist John leads us to the heart of the Gospel and the heart…
Christians know the life of a disciple will not be easy. Christ did not mince words about this – telling his disciples they must take on life’s sufferings as in the form of capital punishment that would later be used to take his life: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself…
Scott P. Richert Every year, for over 40 years now, I have given up watching TV for Lent. I know it’s no longer fashionable to give something up for Lent; instead, we are urged to ‘do something positive’, something that will make a difference in our spiritual life or (preferably, it seems) in the corporal…
I hate crowds, at least most of them. I’m okay at football games, where a crowd has bracketed its sanity for a couple of hours for a cathartic release. But I hate those crowds that are caught up in a fever that feeds off group think, be that a cultural fad, a political ideology, a…
Deacon Greg Kandra Incredibly, we’re already entering the third week of Lent. The ashes are a distant memory. We’ve gotten used to grilled cheese and Filet-o-Fish sandwiches on Fridays and we’ve mustered the self-control to resist having that chocolate bar at 3pm. Maybe we’ve settled into the rhythm of Lent and become used to it.…
Q: Did Pope Benedict XVI validly resign even though he did not renounce the munus? A: As many of us will recall, on February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI surprised the world when, after noting his advancing age and declining health, he announced: “ … For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of…
I just celebrated my birthday. Twenty days after I entered the world, I was carried by my godparents to Immaculate Conception Parish in Maplewood, Missouri, to be baptised by the pastor, Fr John Ryan. Mom told me she and dad were nervous because they had waited almost three weeks instead of the expected two, and…
D.D. Emmons As the penitential season of Lent begins, we Catholics, like Christians everywhere, prepare to commemorate the passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Just a few short weeks ago, we celebrated his birth, and now the Church begins our preparation to join him on his journey to Calvary. The Church scene becomes sombre, more…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser