Articles on preaching typically emphasize advance preparation. The most crucial advance preparation occurs in seminary, or even pre-seminary, in the systematic reading of Scripture. Long years and discipline in Lectio Divina are the … [Read more...]
Articles
How to Read Christology and Still Keep Your Faith
March 11, 2015 by Dr. Jake Yap
“Christology” is everywhere. That is, if we take its basic etymology and understand it simply as “speech concerning Christ.” People can utter his name flippantly, even blasphemously. Popular films and novels can be “christological.” And ther … [Read more...]
New Testament Witness
March 11, 2015 by Fr. John Navone, SJ
The faith of the early Christians in Jesus and the Kingdom of his Father constituted them as a community or Church. If it was their shared faith that formed them into a community, who and what they believed in would be the decisive factor … [Read more...]
St. Joseph: His Increasing Importance in Our Times
March 11, 2015 by Fr. Stanley Smolenski, SPMA
In his Apostolic Letter Le Voci of March 19, 1961, the “Pope of St. Joseph,” St. John XXIII, invoked that saint as the Patron of the Second Vatican Council. Shortly after the beginning of that Council, he inserted the name of St. Joseph int … [Read more...]
Jesus, the Flowing and Living Water of “Yhwh”
A Biblical Reflection of the Relation Between Ez 47:1-12 and Jn 5:1-16
March 11, 2015 by Fr. Dempsey Rosales Acosta, SSL, STD
This essay is a theological reflection of two biblical passages and their implicit allusions in matters of theology and Christian spirituality. The first episode is taken from Ez 47:1-12, concerning the pericope of the stream of water that … [Read more...]
What Is the Spirit Saying through Pope Francis?
March 11, 2015 by Fr. Michael Najim
When I was in seminary, I learned in moral theology the importance of avoiding moralistic preaching. In short, moralistic preaching is when a priest simply states the rules. For example: a priest preaches that abortion is wrong and sinful; … [Read more...]
A Due-Process Compliant Pathway to Restore Constitutional Fetal Personhood and Reverse Roe v. Wade
March 11, 2015 by Philip Rafferty
“The power of the modern state {including one of its arms, such as its highest court} makes it possible for it to turn lies into truth by destroying the facts which existed before, and by making new realities to form what until then had b … [Read more...]
Sacrificing Priests on the Altar of Insurance
February 24, 2015 by David A. Shaneyfelt and Joseph P. Maher
Fr. Bob (that’s what we’ll call him) was a faithful parish priest for more than 25 years. One day, a process server showed up at the rectory door and handed him a summons and complaint. The complaint alleged that some 20 years earlier he had … [Read more...]
“We Will Be Judged by Love”—and Other Insights of Jorge Bergoglio
February 24, 2015 by Eduardo Echeverria
We are still trying to figure out the thought of Pope Francis. Examining several insights in his collection of writings and talks, entitled, Only Love Can Save Us, will help. Embedded in letters, homilies, and talks he wrote between 2005 … [Read more...]
What Does Authority Have to Do with Religion?
February 24, 2015 by Fr. John M. McDermott, SJ
“Authority” is generally used as a derogatory term in our world. Nazism gave the word a bad name as German officials, one after another, at the Nuremburg war trials sought to excuse themselves by claiming that they were just obeying a hig … [Read more...]
Jansenism and Ireland
February 24, 2015 by Fr. Brian Van Hove, SJ
Too often, writers claim that classic Irish religious culture was “Jansenistic,” or pessimistic, and that Ireland was nothing more than an island with a dark and dreary religious history. Harsh critics point to the recent “scandal” in Galway … [Read more...]
Rediscovering Preaching within the Liturgy of the Hours
February 12, 2015 by Colleen R. Vermeulen
For most Catholics in the United States, the terms “homily,” “sermon,” and “preaching” nearly exclusively evoke the occasion of a priest or deacon preaching as part of Mass.[1. The use of the specific terms, “homily,” “sermon,” and “preachin … [Read more...]
Reclaiming the Fifth Way
February 12, 2015 by James Iovino
“New Atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris utilize evolution’s supposed purposelessness to cast doubt upon God’s existence, and draw atheistic conclusions about morality, ethics, and human nature.[1. See, for exam … [Read more...]
The “Sanctus”: A Catechetical Signpost for the Mass
February 12, 2015 by Dr. Michael Brummond
The Eucharistic Liturgy is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”[1. CCC 1324; Cf. Lumen Gentium 11. ] Active participation in these mysteries constitutes the “foremost and indispensible font” for acquiring the Christian Spirit.[2. S … [Read more...]
Preaching, Music, and Acoustics
February 12, 2015 by Deacon W. Patrick Cunningham
The work of the New Evangelization is identical to the work of evangelization in every age: to communicate to those who are unaware of the saving work of the Son of God those things that will bring them to accept the gift of faith, and come … [Read more...]
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