Archives for October 2020

Homilies for November 2020

For All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, November 8, November 15, November 22 (Christ the King), November 29 (First Sunday of Advent) All Saints’ Day – November 1, 2020 Readings: Rv 7:2–4, 9–14 • Ps 24:1BC–2, 3–4AB, 5–6 • 1 Jn 3:1–3 • Mt 5:1 … [Read more...]

Confessions of a Millennial Priest

I shared with a friend that I was weighing the idea of writing an article with this title and he laughed. I am aware of the irony. I don’t wear tight pants. I don’t have debt. I can’t get the tasting notes of craft beers or coffees (my taste … [Read more...]

The Truth, the Priesthood, and the Eucharist

Is the Eucharist the Real Presence — Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity — of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, or is the Blessed Sacrament a mere symbol of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? This que … [Read more...]

Deacons as Apostles for the New Evangelization

“Whoever believes that Christ the Lord is the way, the truth and the life, whoever knows that the Church is his continuation in history, whoever has a personal experience of all this cannot fail, for this very reason, to become fervently m … [Read more...]

Newman: Conscience as an Ongoing Activity

St. John Henry Newman eloquently presents his idea of conscience as something actively engaged both with the realities of lived experience and with direct apprehension of a particular situation. Logic is part of one’s assessment of the s … [Read more...]

The Bill Atkinson Story: An Interview

First Quadriplegic Priest in Church History

Relatively few people have yet heard the story of Fr. Bill Atkinson, an Augustinian priest who died in 2006 — and the first quadriplegic priest in Church history. Fr. Atkinson is now being considered for canonization, perhaps a new patron s … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – November 2020

Ceremonies Explained for Servers: A Manual for Altar Servers, Acolytes, Sacristans, and Masters of Ceremonies. By Peter J. Elliott. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (skip to review) The Disabled Church: Human Difference and the Art of … [Read more...]

Weaning Off the Livestream Mass

“Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming o … [Read more...]

A Primer on Liturgical Music

While it still varies from place to place and parish to parish, it seems overall that COVID restrictions are slowly waning. This will, as it has until now, affect liturgical celebrations. One of the main ways this will happen is that soon, … [Read more...]

The Last Word on Sacred Celibacy

The last word on sacred celibacy is, actually, the original word because it comes directly from the Word of God Himself, Jesus Christ. This word has been handed down to us infallibly in “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture which forms one … [Read more...]

Human Life and the Divine Life

Introduction The article presented here was originally written by the Dominican priest Fr. Ambroise Gardeil, O.P. (1859-1931). Fr. Gardeil was a professor at the house of formation for the French Dominican Province at the turn of the … [Read more...]

On the Lord’s Prayer

When the dawn appears, When the light grows, When midday burns, When has ceased The holy light, When the clear night comes; I sing your praises, O Father, Healer of hearts, Healer of bodies, Giver of … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – October 2020

The Question of Gluten-Free Hosts Question: Are the following valid matter for the Eucharist: grape juice or gluten-free hosts? Answer: I am astonished at how many questions I get about what constitutes valid matter for the Eucharist. … [Read more...]

Homilies for October 2020

For October 4, October 11, October 18, October 25 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 4, 2020 Readings: Is 5:1-7 • Ps 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20 • Phil 4:6-9 • Mt 21:33-43 usccb.org/bible/readings/100420.cfm The Jewish Scriptu … [Read more...]

The True Meaning of Vatican II

The Church today is divided, and very likely to divide even more. Throughout Church history there have been disputes; that’s not so unusual. What’s odd about this situation is that the two disputing groups, the “liberals” and the “conser … [Read more...]