Church Teaching on Living Wills Question: Many states are encouraging living wills to settle end of life decisions. Is this wise? What is the teaching of the Church on this subject? Answer: The Church is enthusiastic to promote the … [Read more...]
Magazine
Book Reviews – June 2023
May 26, 2023 by Book Reviews
As a Priest Thinks, So He Is. Ed. by Beth Rath McGough and Patricia Pintado-Murphy. Reviewed by M. Ross Romero, S.J. (skip to review) Pray, Think, Act: Make Better Decisions with the Desert Fathers. By Augustine J. Wetta, O.S.B. Reviewed … [Read more...]
Homilies for May 2023
April 26, 2023 by Rev. John P. Cush, STD
For the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays of Easter; the Solemnity of the Ascension; and Pentecost Sunday Fifth Sunday of Easter – May 6, 2023 Readings: Acts 6:1–7 • Ps 33:1–2, 4–5, 18–19 • 1 Pt 2:4–9 • Jn 14:1–12 bible.usccb.org/bi … [Read more...]
Preaching the Saints at Universities – A Case Study
Blessed Antoine-Frederic Ozanam (1813-1853)
April 26, 2023 by Bishop John Barres
In his Apostolic Exhortation The Word of the Lord (2010), Pope Benedict XVI includes a section entitled “The saints and the interpretation of Scripture.” He writes: “The interpretation of Sacred Scripture would remain incomplete were it n … [Read more...]
Translating Each Other
A Rabbinic Reflection on Jewish-Catholic Understanding
April 26, 2023 by Amelia Wolf
Editor’s Note: Pope Benedict XVI reminded us in Verbum Domini 43, “I wish to state once more how much the Church values her dialogue with the Jews. Wherever it seems appropriate, it would be good to create opportunities for encounter and exc … [Read more...]
Sacred God, Sacred Church
The Catholic Church and the Hermeneutic of Mystery
April 26, 2023 by J.T. Knox
In the religion of the Old Testament, Hebrew knowledge and experience of covenantal obligations inspired God’s people to treat his name as particularly sacred and holy, and to refer to it as the great, the only, and the glorious and t … [Read more...]
Preaching the Heart of the Gospel
April 26, 2023 by Fr. Brent Bowen
Although I grew up in a nominally Catholic home, neither of my parents was particularly religious. We attended Sunday Mass occasionally as a family, but as we got older the demands of family life, sports, and other obligations quickly began … [Read more...]
Stuck in Neutral: When Parish Evangelization (Still) Fails
April 26, 2023 by Susan Windley-Daoust
It has been five years since the four-day United States Convocation of Catholic Leaders on Evangelization was held in Atlanta. It has been nine years since Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel, was … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – May 2023
April 26, 2023 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Guilt in the Spiritual Life Question: Can you explain guilt to me? Is it good or bad for the soul? Answer: To understand the place of guilt, it is necessary to recall that every moral act involves three powers of the soul: the … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – May 2023
April 26, 2023 by Book Reviews
Joseph Ratzinger and the Healing of the Reformation-Era Divisions. Ed. by Emery De Gaál and Matthew Levering. Reviewed by M. Ciftci. (skip to review) Benedict XVI: Servant of Love. By Bénedicte Delelis. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (s … [Read more...]
Homilies for April 2023
March 29, 2023 by Fr. Christopher O'Connor
For Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, and the Third Sunday and Fourth Sunday of Easter Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord – April 2, 2023 Readings: Mt 21:1–11 • Is 50:4–7 • Ps 22:8–9, 17–18, … [Read more...]
Pope Francis and the Symposium on the Priesthood
March 29, 2023 by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio
Many times, Pope Francis has been very critical in speaking about priests and even seminarians, and for sure bishops. He is calling the Church to a renewal, and he does not seem to have this concern without some experience. He began his … [Read more...]
Why Doesn’t Holy Communion Always Seem to “Work”?
St. Thomas Aquinas and Ronald Knox on Objective Grace and Subjective Dispositions at Work in the Reception of the Sacrament
March 29, 2023 by Fr. Charles Fox
For anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with Holy Communion, questions emerge about its efficacy that do not admit of easy answers. The Eucharist is immensely powerful, so why does it not seem to make more of a difference in every … [Read more...]
What Many Priests No Longer Believe
March 29, 2023 by Fr. Robert McTeigue
Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi. Loosely translated: “The norm of prayer governs the norm of belief; the norm of belief governs the norm of living.” Many priests nowadays (including myself) are asking, “What if there’s deficient lex in … [Read more...]
Altar Server Training and Ars Celebrandi after the Pandemic
March 29, 2023 by Fr. Timothy Smith
Note: This article was drafted in spring 2021 and completed and submitted to Homiletic & Pastoral Review in October 2022. In the June 2022 Apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi, Pope Francis issues the clarion call for liturgical … [Read more...]
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