Jenna Marie Cooper Q: My parish recently returned to communion under the second species. A Eucharistic Minister holds one cup and one cloth and does one wipe after each serve. Most people are still not receiving it for fear of Covid or other illness. Why can’t the Church simply use disposable plastic cups with…
I live on both sides of a border. Not a geographical one, but one that separates the church pew from the academic halls of theology. I was raised a conservative Catholic. Although my dad worked politically for the Liberal party, most everything within my upbringing was conservative, particularly as this pertains to religion. I was…
Deacon Greg Kandra Ez 43:11-12, 15-17 Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28 Mt 25:31-46 Are we here already? Suddenly, we find ourselves at the end of the liturgical year, gazing down the road toward Advent and Christmas, and facing one of the biggest feasts on the Church calendar, with one of the longest…
Christians should be striving for the same ‘unity of life’ Christ embodied, writes Russell Shaw The state or condition called “unity of life” isn’t a virtue in itself. It can even serve bad ends. So what’s it doing as the subject of an article on virtues for people trying to lead good lives out in…
Fr Patrick Briscoe OP The year was 1938, and the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain delivered a powerful radio address against antisemitism, as relevant today as it was then. His words, spoken in the shadow of the Holocaust and the rise of Nazi Germany, were a voice of reason and compassion springing from the heart…
Sr Nancy Usselmann Integrating our faith with our media use is a real challenge, particularly as adverse media messages often run so contrary to our values. How can we bring faith into our digital media dialogue without losing who we are as Christians? How can we become holy within a culture that often tempts us…
Q: I receive solicitations from many religious organisations with pictures of saints etc. I cannot not afford to give donations to all, so I trash them. I hope it’s not a sin to throw away those pictures of saints? My priority is my contribution to our parish and other areas that the Church gives donations.…
Sometimes we are the most helpful and life-giving at the very times when we are most helpless. We’ve all been there. We’re at a funeral and there’s nothing to say that will ease the heartache of someone who has lost a loved one. We feel awkward and helpless. We’d like to say or do something,…
Jem Sullivan Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 1 Thes 5:1-6 Mt 25:14-30 Mt 25:14-15, 19-21 (alternative) As we gather around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends, hearts and minds fill with gratitude to God and our loved ones. We may not realise it but in giving thanks to God…
Freedom is a gift we must not misuse, writes Bishop Donald Hying In his groundbreaking document on Catholic moral principles, Veritatis Splendor, St John Paul II dedicates many paragraphs to the question of freedom, articulating it as an authentic gift from God. The Lord gives us the freedom to choose how to live. We are…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser