Magazine

Book Reviews – August 2023

Murmuring Against Moses: The Contentious History and Contested Future of Pentateuchal Studies. By John S. Bergsma and Jeffrey L. Morrow. Reviewed by Fr. Peter Heasley. (skip to review) The Heart of Perfection: How the Saints Taught Me to … [Read more...]

Homilies for July 2023

For July 2, July 9, July 16, July 23, and July 30 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 2, 2023 Readings: 2 Kgs 4:8–11, 14–16a • Ps 89:2–3, 16–17, 18–19 • Rom 6:3–4, 8–11 • Mt 10:37–42  bible.usccb.org/bible/re … [Read more...]

There but for the Grace of God

“O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling.” Exultet One of the four Americans mentioned by Pope Francis in his address to the joint session of Congress on September 15, 2015 was Thomas Merton. Thomas Mer … [Read more...]

Vir Catholicus: Seminary Formation in Affective Maturity

The Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, written in 1992, was a major gift to priestly formation from Pope St. John Paul II. Most fundamentally, it was an encouragement to all involved in priestly formation to take seriously the human … [Read more...]

Just a Click Away: Morality for Gen Z

Offering Formation of Good Conscience

Generation Z, or the Zoomers, are those who were born between 1996 – 2010. Their parents are mostly Generation X. Although many developed countries are struggling with aging populations and declining birth rates, Generation Z (hereafter: G … [Read more...]

Rethinking Vocational Discernment

Nearly everyone reading this has probably heard something on the subject of vocational discernment. For those accustomed to Catholic terminology, these words may evoke images of a retreat for young people praying to find their path in life, … [Read more...]

The Importance of the Value of Reputation, Part I

Note: This article is derived from a part of the author’s JCD thesis, “The Right of a Cleric to Bona Fama” (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, 2022). It is difficult to put a price on the value of someone’s reputation. Throughout Sc … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – July 2023

When Conscience Is Mistaken Question: Much has been made of the primacy of conscience today in morals. Even some bishops have claimed that as long as a subject is following their conscience, the Church must support their decision no matter … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – July 2023

In the School of the Word: Biblical Interpretation from the New to the Old Testament. By Carlos Granados and Luis Sánchez-Navarro. Reviewed by Sr. Mary Micaela Hoffmann, RSM. (skip to review) Jesus Becoming Jesus (Volume 3): A T … [Read more...]

Homilies for June 2023

For Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, and the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul Solemnity of … [Read more...]

Recovering Eucharistic Wonder

The following has been adapted from a homily preached by the Reverend Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Ph.D., S.T.D., during the Holy Hour to conclude a course on the Holy Eucharist on May 5, 2022, for students at Regis High School in New York … [Read more...]

Sacrificing Sacrifice

In the midst of the Eucharistic Revival, Dr. Lawrence Feingold, seminary professor at Kenrick-Glennon and author of (among many other things) The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion, suggests that we may be missing … [Read more...]

Aristotelianism in Eucharistic Theology

Father Thomas Reese and Transubstantiation

This article has been reworked from a paper entitled “They Must Fall into Being: The Son’s Power as Quasi-Subject of the Accidents of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Eucharist” which I delivered on Feb. 4, 2023, at The Holiness of God … [Read more...]

True Thanksgiving

The word “eucharist” may be defined in a few ways, but one of the original translations from the Greek is “thanksgiving” or “to give thanks.”[1. Cf. CCC 1328.] In modern culture, we often associate thankfulness with a sense of being happy … [Read more...]

“Reading” a Marian Eucharistic Icon

Scripturally, Theologically, and Liturgically

This icon has a double appellation. The first is that of place, Our Lady of Connecticut, because its basic symbols are derived from the state’s shield and motto. Its second designation is that of grace, Virgin Mother of the Holy Vine, from w … [Read more...]