13th Sunday in Ordinary Time—July 1, 2018 Readings: Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24 ● 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15 ● Mk 5:21-43 http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070118.cfm The gracious act of Christ, emptying himself for us. In the liturgy today, we are g … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2018
Jesus Offers Us His Sacred Heart
For millennia, the human heart has served as a living sign of love and affection. For the Greeks, the heart—or kardia—was where the nerves of all sensate animals met; but in humans, it was also the place where the soul enlarges, “when it des … [Read more...]
The Skirts of the Infinite
Art, Fashion, and the Catholic Imagination
___________ “[Christianity allows mankind to] grasp at the skirts of the Infinite. Since Christ the dead world has woken up from sleep. Since him we have lived.” — Oscar Wilde ____________ Introduction: Idyll or Idol? Memories of Subur … [Read more...]
Understanding the Four Aspects of Dogma According to Bernard Lonergan in The Way to Nicea
Introduction As a professor of theology, and as academic dean of a seminary, I feel it’s important to lay a solid foundation for the student who is beginning his study of theology. In my introductory seminar in fundamental theology, t … [Read more...]
Humanae Vitae and the New Evangelization
Introduction This year sees the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Humanae Vitae. Over the years, the encyclical has received quite a mixed response across the Church. Even now, we still have theologians, bishops, and others s … [Read more...]
Is the Holy Family a Realistic Model for Ordinary Families?
In this time of troubled marriages and beleaguered families, a renewed focus on the Holy Family, and what it teaches us, can act as a bracing support. Dr. Mary Shivanandan’s new book, The Holy Family, Model Not Exception, provides just such … [Read more...]
On the Truth that Heals the Crisis of Marriage
Part II: On Christ’s Love of the Sinner[1. This is now a part of the book, The Family on Pilgrimage: God Leads Through Dead Ends, (Chapter 4: Part I: enroutebooksandmedia.com/familyonpilgrimage/)] Do we believe that God can act in our l … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
Question: It is my impression that when we celebrate the Eucharist in my diocese at community Mass, Eucharistic Prayer 2 predominates. What might underlie this preference? What merit is there to criticisms about the historicity, and … [Read more...]
Homilies for June 2018
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ—June 3, 2018 Readings: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/060318.cfm EX 24:3-8; PS 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18; HEB 9:11-15; MK 14:12-16, 22-26 I was very close to my grandparents, and w … [Read more...]
A Church Without Borders
In a recently published book-length interview with Pope Francis, French sociologist, Dominique Wolton, questions the Holy Father about his repeated references to the borders of nations, wall-building, the plight of refugees, and the … [Read more...]
Renewing or Imperiling our Understanding of the Sacrament of Marriage?
In a recent essay, the canonist Fr. John Alesandro makes the bold claim that for hundreds of years “the Catholic church has simplistically “canonized” marriage, stripping down its sacred character as a covenant and likening it to a secular c … [Read more...]
Artificial Birth Control, the Sexual Revolution, and the Modern Collapse of Morality
Artificial Birth Control, the Sexual Revolution, and the Modern Collapse of Morality A generation ago, Blessed Pope Paul VI (the great) projected out of the infallible, bountiful treasure of God’s truths—that is, the formal Catholic tea … [Read more...]
On Coming to the Sacrament of Marriage
A Personal Pilgrimage
Part I of II: On Christ’s Love of the Sinner[1. This is now a part of the book, The Family on Pilgrimage: God Leads Through Dead Ends, (Chapter 4: Part I: enroutebooksandmedia.com/familyonpilgrimage/).] In the context of the widespread d … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
Question: Since I was a child in school many years ago (I am now 67!), I have had a question I could not answer. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, we learned as children. We also learned about prehistoric man. Were our first … [Read more...]
Early Summer Book Reviews
Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?: Questions and Answers about the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. By Carl E. Olson. (Ignatius Press, 2016), 199 pages. Reviewed by Matthew B. Rose The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion … [Read more...]
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