Given the reality of the coronavirus pandemic which besets the country and the world, it seems only a matter of a short time before the anti-God proponents start dragging out the same old, tired arguments which they feel attack the … [Read more...]
Articles
Transubstantiation and the Real Presence
June 5, 2020 by Fr. John Zupez, SJ
A PEW survey made public in August 2019 reported that only 63% of Catholics who attend Mass weekly believe that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ and only 58% know the Church’s teaching on t … [Read more...]
Mass in Time of Pandemic
What Is the Celebrant Supposed to Do?
April 27, 2020 by Fr. Marc B. Caron
The suspension of the public celebration of Mass in large parts of the country due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus has left many priests with a dilemma. How does one celebrate Mass according to the Novus ordo with no one present? For … [Read more...]
Mass ad Digitalem
Among the livelier discussions in which our seminary community engaged this year was one initiated by the seminarians themselves and focused on the practice and pastoral concerns associated with celebrating Mass ad orientem. Literally … [Read more...]
Navigating a Passive Night of the Senses during the Coronavirus Quarantine
April 27, 2020 by Dr. Tamra Hull-Fromm
For many, the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 virus has meant enforced quarantining in terms of stay-at-home/shelter-in-place directives by federal and state authorities. Despite innovative responses by dioceses and parishes to provide a … [Read more...]
Absence — the Appeal for Love’s Presence
Three Points on Priestly Reform in a Time of Pandemic
April 27, 2020 by Fr. John Nepil
“There are moments when you must physically absent yourself in order to learn what it means for something or somebody to exist in his own right.”[1. A. Bloom, Beginning to Pray, Paulist Press, New York 1970, 12.] The first days of pan … [Read more...]
Communion, God’s Presence, and Death with “Dignity” amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic
April 27, 2020 by Joel R. Gallagher
In my last article in Homiletic and Pastoral Review, entitled “Benedict XVI on Self-‘Excommunication,’”[1. Joel R. Gallagher, “Benedict XVI on Self-‘Excommunication,’” Homiletic and Pastoral Review (January 26, 2020).] I examined the value o … [Read more...]
Mass, Interrupted
Longing for the Eucharist in a Time of Exile
April 27, 2020 by Dr. Dennis W. Feltwell
When the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was pronounced a pandemic in March 2020, bishops around the world began to suspend the public celebration of Mass. Soon after, secular media mistakenly reported that “Mass is suspended” and even that “Ea … [Read more...]
Epidemic and the Liturgical Reform
April 27, 2020 by Dr. Joseph Shaw
The Church reformed the liturgy at a moment of great optimism. The developed world was enjoying the long post-war boom. Seminaries were full. And new-fangled antibiotics and vaccination programs were sweeping away one major disease after … [Read more...]
Online Education Is Not Fully Catholic Education
April 27, 2020 by E. Tyler Graham
I am a Catholic high school teacher, and, by May 1st, I will have taught five weeks of online education. This is an act of obedience to various authorities so that, instead of having nothing available for my quarantined high school … [Read more...]
The Form of the Liturgy
April 4, 2020 by Fr. James Dominic Rooney, OP
It is to be regretted that the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the form of the Latin Mass promulgated after the Second Vatican Council in 1970, has become a symbol of near-complete rejection of the Latin Catholic liturgical tradition. This … [Read more...]
The Book of Jonah
On Repentance, Mission, and Compassion
April 4, 2020 by Fr. Matthew Gonzalez
Of the twelve minor prophets, the book that has been consistently pondered and examined with much fascination is the Book of Jonah. This is attributed to its mythical imagery, which illustrates the prophet’s journey to the land of Nineveh. U … [Read more...]
God the Father Revealed in “The Prodigal Son”
April 4, 2020 by Thomas Hardy
Traditionally the parable of The Prodigal Son has been one of the greatest sources of hope for mankind, as Jesus provides us with a metaphor for His Father that stresses His forgiveness and mercy. We stray as the prodigal son strays, but … [Read more...]
How Does God Forget All the Bad News?
April 4, 2020 by Brent Withers
Isn’t it fanciful to think that a prayer somehow wins graces for other people who we don’t know? The bygone era of offering up our day and the sufferings throughout the day, isn’t it an outdated devotion that surely has little merit in our t … [Read more...]
Homily Possibilities for the Sunday Scrutinies
March 20, 2020 by Fr. William Dillard
During the three middle Sundays of Lent, the Christian people welcome in a special way the Elect who are presented to Christ’s Church as those seeking full communion. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent thus provide great opportunities f … [Read more...]
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