Archives for April 2014

Homilies for May 2014

For Sunday Liturgies and Feasts Homilies for May 2014 Feast of the Ascension 3rd Sunday of Easter—May 4, 2014 Stay with Us. Purpose: The Road to Emmaus is one of the most popular post-Resurrection stories and it offers    toda … [Read more...]

Images of the Priest in the Life and Thought of John Paul II

February, March, and early April 2005 unfolded as not just an extraordinary human drama, but as an extraordinary Christian drama and, indeed, an extraordinary priestly drama ... what the world saw ... and what the Church lived through ... … [Read more...]

Pope John XXIII, 1958-1963: A Brief Biography

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do." - … [Read more...]

In Truth I Tell You, Today You Will Be with Me in Paradise

The act of repentance by Dismas, the good thief on his cross next to Jesus on Calvary, fulfilled God’s greatest desire to pour forth the richness of his grace into his soul.   Dismas and Christ The ultimate goal in the spiritual life and … [Read more...]

How to Help Cohabiting Couples

I would like to point out what I believe to be the via media, whereby these our brothers and sisters in Christ can both be welcomed and challenged to live the call of their baptism.   But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the … [Read more...]

Faith Needs Philosophy: A Primer on the Relationship between Reason and Revelation

The great philosophers that preceded the Judeo-Christian Revelation demonstrated many of the truths about God and the faith that are affirmed in Scripture, and are what St. Thomas calls the preambles of faith.   I recently had a brief … [Read more...]

He is Risen!

Easter Sequence Victimæ paschali laudes Christians, to the Paschal Victim Offer your thankful praises! A Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, Reconciles sinners to the Father. Death and life have contended in that … [Read more...]

Carrying the Cross with Simon of Cyrene

We can be sure that Jesus was grateful to Simon for providing some relief during the Passion, but also for helping him reach his goal of redeeming humanity (see Jn 12:27 and Acts 2:23) by his suffering and death. “He summoned the c … [Read more...]

“Ex Corde Ecclesiae” and the Importance of a Catholic Education

Editorial for April 2014

Ex Corde ... is not a document that stifles academic research or expression; it is a document that simply wants to allow Catholic schools to be, well, Catholic. Was it not William F. Buckley who famously quipped that he would rather be … [Read more...]

‘Til Death Do Thee Part

The necessary manifestations of love, to include self-sacrifice and self-giving, and an ongoing readiness to forgive, could only continue to be present in a marriage fueled by God’s graces. By the basic principles of neurology, we know t … [Read more...]

Preaching the Truth in Love and Wisdom: Pope Francis’ 2013 Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”

...conversion occurs when the Gospel speaks to the deepest yearnings of our hearts, and the desires present within us are filled by a supernatural grace that comes from God. “The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who e … [Read more...]

Prayer as Turning Point Toward Christ

The good news is that even though we sin, God loves us and wants us to return to him. With God’s grace, bad habits can be unlearned. Ecclesia semper reformanda: The Church forever in need of reform. Because we are the Church, we are the o … [Read more...]

On Catholic History

The Catholic sacramental perspective continues (consciously or not) to inspire the works of historians who recognize the importance of material reality—of politics, society, economics, the arts, and all the habits and institutions of human c … [Read more...]

A Priest by Any Other Name

The nature of Holy Orders is both collegial and personal.  Collegially, all priests are addressed as “Father” because all share in the one priesthood of Jesus, icon of the Father. Personally, each priest retains his own individuality, his ow … [Read more...]