Archives for October 2018

Homilies for November 2018

For Nov. 4, Nov. 11, Nov. 18, and Nov. 25. 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time – November 4, 2018    Readings: Dt 6:2-6 • Ps 18:2–4, 47, 51 • Heb 7:23–28 • Mk 12:28b–34    usccb.org/bible/readings/110418.cfm Our first reading from Deuterono … [Read more...]

My Jesus, Where Do You Live?

John 1:38 and the Trinitarian Intimacy of Christian Discipleship

Introduction In John 1:38, Andrew and another disciple pose the following question to Jesus: “Rabbi, where do you live [Gk. méno]?” What do they mean? Certainly, on one level, they want to indicate their desire to come under the tutelage of … [Read more...]

The Inseparable Unitive and Procreative Purposes of Marriage — and Appropriate NFP Use

In 1946, theologian Fr. Mathias Scheeben’s The Mysteries of Christianity appeared and therein he wrote of married couples, “They can rightfully unite with each other in matrimony only for the end which Christ pursues in His union with the Ch … [Read more...]

The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the New Evangelization

Is the New Evangelization still relevant? The assured answer is a resounding Yes! However, it has fallen out of favor as a pastoral movement, fallen under the weight of its own branding. Given its origins as the overarching thesis of the … [Read more...]

Is There Such a Thing as Episcopally Sanctioned Adultery?

The Attack on Marriage, Morality, and the Eucharist

Prior to the publication of Amoris Laetitia (hereafter AL) in March 2016, certain influential German bishops had a direct hand in persuading a willing Pope Francis to incorporate a subjectivistic view of conscience and discernment into the … [Read more...]

The Doctors of Ravenna

Peter Chrysologus and Peter Damien

The city of Ravenna boasts two Doctors of the Church named Peter: the fifth-century bishop of Ravenna, Peter Chrysologus, and the eleventh-century cardinal bishop from Ravenna, Peter Damian. The earlier Chrysologus is honored each year in … [Read more...]

Homilies for October 2018

For Oct. 7, Oct. 14, Oct. 21, and Oct. 28. 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 7, 2018   Readings: Gn 2:18–24 • Ps 128:1–6 • Heb 2:9–11 • Mk 10:2–16, or 2–12   usccb.org/bible/readings/100718.cfm I’ve always been rather put off by … [Read more...]

Love’s Oblation

William L. Stidger told about a young lad he had baptized as a baby. The boy grew up, and when World War II began, he joined the Navy. One night his ship came into Boston, and the lad visited his former pastor and friend. During their visit … [Read more...]

Renewal and the Penitential Life

Wherever we may look for solutions to the present tension and confusion, we must realize that the solution will begin with the Eucharist, return to the Eucharist, and be formed by the Eucharist. Whatever secular processes may be deemed … [Read more...]

Integrating Pope Francis

Introduction The Pontificate of Pope Francis has been full of surprises.[1. This essay was written over the summer as an exercise in synthetic theology with a goal of better understanding and interpreting the Mind of the Magisterium. Only … [Read more...]

Marriage and the Juridical Relevance of Pastoral Language

The revised Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983 (CIC-83) brought with it a definition of the consensual incapacity for marriage. This formula is a kind of juridical innovation given that it did not exist prior to the CIC-83 and literally … [Read more...]

“To Jesus through Mary” Is Not Enough

St. Louis de Montfort’s “To Jesus through Mary” is a common refrain amongst lovers of Mary, and rightly so. To be sure, she is the way to Jesus — Jesus does not come to us via any other way. Nor is anyone transformed into Christ but through … [Read more...]

On Prayer

Let me share some reflections by Baroness Catherine de Hueck Doherty and St. Francis de Sales, including inspirations in prayer, liberty of spirit, prayer and solitude, dryness and prayer, prayer and mystical theology, methods of prayer, … [Read more...]