Effie Caldarola One morning, I was half-listening to America’s National Public Radio as I quickly prepared for an appointment. Into the shower, grab the coffee, find the toothbrush and in the midst of this, bits and pieces of the day’s news. Then, ‘StoryCorps’ was playing. An independent nonprofit, StoryCorps exists to let people tell their…
What is the Ascension? The Ascension is an event in the life of Jesus and his original disciples, a feast day for Christians, a theology, and a spirituality, all woven together into one amorphous mystery that we too seldom try to unpackage and sort out. What does the Ascension mean? Among other things, it is…
Questions of Faith Q: I recently moved to a rural area, and my current parish is now nearly an hour drive away. There are no Catholic churches in my new area. There is, however, a Methodist church right across the street from my new home, in easy walking distance. They are open for services on…
The Sunday Gospel Acts 2:1-11 Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Gal 5:16-25 Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15 When St John Paul II was elected to the papacy in 1978 among his first words to the world, spoken during his inaugural homily, were, “Be not afraid! Open wide the…
May is a chance to celebrate Mary’s many appearances, writes Gretchen Crowe Seven years ago this May, the Church celebrated the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary to three shepherd children at Fatima. To commemorate the event, Pope Francis visited Portugal, as did thousands upon thousands of pilgrims. Apparitions It was a time of…
Charlie Camosy Raising faithful Catholic kids in today’s society is not easy. Holly Taylor Coolman, assistant professor of theology at Providence College and adoptive mother of five, recognises the many challenges and recently spoke with OSV News’ Charlie Camosy about her new book Parenting: the Complex and Beautiful Vocation of Raising Children. Why yet another…
We are all priests from our baptism, and with that comes an invitation, namely, to pray for the world as a priest through the prayer of Christ and the Church. What does that mean exactly? Everyone who is baptised as a Christian is baptised into the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The priesthood is given to…
This is a Sunday of beginnings and endings. We hear the very first words of the Acts of the Apostles – and then, moments later, the last words of the Gospel according to Mark. Both focus on The Ascension – a moment that ties together two remarkable parts of our salvation, marking the end of…
Sr Anne Marie Walsh SOLT We tend to like a lot of things. The more we like something, the more attached we can become to it. This can be good, bad, or indifferent. Being attached to our families, our spouses, our children, etc., is a good thing so long as it is a healthy attachment…
Q: Can an artificial intelligence program licitly receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders? And regardless, what role do you think AI might be able to play in catechesis, if any? A: No, an artificial intelligence program cannot receive the sacrament of Holy Orders (or any other sacrament, for that matter). Sacraments can only be received…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser