During the years I have been writing this column, I have rarely mentioned the fact that I belong to a religious order, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. That omission is not an evasion, since being an Oblate of Mary Immaculate is something of which I am quite proud. However, I rarely flag the fact…
Jem Sullivan Dt 18:15-20 Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28 In this 21st Century, we absorb the news of the world quickly, through myriad technical gadgets. We’re seeking information, knowledge and understanding of the world all day long. As we travel the information superhighway, though, we must learn to discern the authenticity…
A sound theology and a sound science will both recognise that the law of gravity and the Holy Spirit are one in the same principle. There isn’t a different spirit undergirding the physical than the spiritual. There’s one spirit that’s speaking through both the law of gravity and the Sermon on the Mount. If we…
Deacon Greg Kandra Jon 3:1-5, 10 Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Cor 7:29-31 Mk 1:14-20 Do you hear it? Jonah did. So did the brothers Simon and Andrew, and then James and John. It’s the insistent invitation to drop everything, change direction and follow where God is leading. It can take you where you don’t…
Piety is the enemy of humour, at least whenever something less than piety is masquerading as piety. Here’s an example: I once lived in community with an overly serious man who, after someone would tell a colourful joke, would bring us back to earth with the question, “Would you tell a joke like that in…
Jem Sullivan 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19 Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20 Jn 1:35-42 The new year is a good time to begin anew in our spiritual lives. Along with resolutions to improve our health, habits and relationships, a renewed commitment to prayer gives direction to our inmost longings for…
The Belgian spiritual writer, Bieke Vandekerckhove, comes by her wisdom honestly. She didn’t learn what she shares from a book or even primarily from the good example of others. She learned what she shares through the crucible of a unique suffering, being hit at the tender age of 19 with a terminal disease that promised…
Deacon Greg Kandra Is 60:1-6 Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 Eph 3:2-a, 5-6 Mt 2:1-12 On a Sunday that centres on discovery, revelation, and manifestation – the very definition of ‘Epiphany’ – one of the most important discoveries for the magi (and for us!) comes at the very end of this week’s Gospel. A…
Why don’t we preach hellfire anymore? That’s a question asked frequently today by a lot of sincere religious people who worry that too many parishes and too many priests and ministers have gone soft on sin and are over-generous in speaking about God’s mercy.
In paragraph 30 of his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis wrote, “Every family should look to the icon of the Holy Family of Nazareth”. As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, God’s word invites reflection on the joys, responsibilities and challenges of family life in the light of Christian faith and discipleship.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser