Archives for January 2021

Homilies for February 2021

For February 7, February 14, Ash Wednesday, February 21, February 28 February 7, 2021 – Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 • Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 • 1 Cor 9: 16-19 • Mk 1:29-39  bible. … [Read more...]

Preaching Politics from the Pulpit

With the 2020 electoral campaign now behind us, candidates in close races strategize about how to garner votes among religious believers in two and four years. So, too, religious leaders will once again have to brace for political battle in … [Read more...]

The Significance of Signs and Symbols

Our Catholic faith is replete with beautiful signs and symbols that remind us of our heritage, teachings and traditions as followers of Jesus. A Christian sign is something that gives us direction by pointing beyond itself to a spiritual … [Read more...]

Beyond the Realms of Justice

The purpose of this essay is to explore what light the deeper truths of our faith can shed on the criminal justice system. The light of faith illuminates reality so we can see all things through the life, death, and resurrection of our … [Read more...]

The Cohabitation Dilemma

The number of couples who choose to live together without marriage has risen dramatically in the past fifty years, from near zero to 60%. For Catholics the percentage is almost 50%. One subject regarding this which has received little … [Read more...]

Toward a Causal Account of Priestly Formation

A Reading of Pastores Dabo Vobis

Pope St. John Paul II published Pastores dabo vobis on March 25, 1992, when the Church celebrates the Annunciation, the initial moment of the Incarnation. No doubt he chose this date deliberately — and fittingly so. For when a man enters s … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – February 2021

The Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward. By Ralph Martin. Reviewed by Eduardo Echeverria. (skip to review) Sex and the Spiritual Life: Reclaiming Integrity, Wholeness, and Intimacy. By Patricia Cooney Hathaway, ed. Reviewed by Christopher … [Read more...]

Clergy Sex Abuse: Why Do We Still Need to Talk About This?

  Often at the scene of a horrific accident, police will tell bystanders to “Move along. There is nothing to see here.” The Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is a terrible tragedy and many laity feel they are being given this very mess … [Read more...]

Doing Ministry for the Sake of the Apostolate

In the fifty-plus years since the close of the Second Vatican Council, the Church has witnessed a rapid growth of lay ecclesial ministry, of members of the lay faithful participating in a wide variety of ministerial functions and roles in … [Read more...]

Ten Commandments That Should Shape Palliative Care

The Ten Commandments that are found in the Old and New Testament are meant to set limits to human freedom so that when obeyed, they produce within human beings a set of virtues or inner strengths, which enable a certain flourishing of one’s … [Read more...]

The Early Eucharist: How Was It Experienced?

The Eucharist many Christians experience today has its roots in historical and cultural practices no longer shared by contemporary society. Described in texts of the Early Christian period, the Eucharist was similar to meal customs of the … [Read more...]

Christ, the Sublime High Priest

Old and New Covenant Continuity and Fulfillment in Priesthood and Liturgy in Aquinas’s Commentary on Hebrews

Aquinas’s Commentary on Hebrews exquisitely treats of the relationship between the salvific works of Old Covenant sacrifices and their fulfillment in the person of Christ as supreme High Priest of the New Covenant. Contrary to the position o … [Read more...]

The Demographics of the Extraordinary Form

Young People, Families, Sex Ratios, and Diversity

The Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce (FIUV, or Una Voce International) recently submitted to the Holy See a report on the availability of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite around the world (hereafter, “the FIUV Report”), in the pre … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – January 2021

What Does It Mean to Judge? Question: When can we and when can we not judge? Answer: “Judge not, lest you be judged.” (Mt. 7:1) This text is the origin of much handwringing on the part of Christians about judging others. As a confessor, … [Read more...]