One of my proudest accomplishments in college was reading Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville’s 1830s masterpiece on what really made “democracy” work here, after so many near-misses or never-starts in history. The book was assigned … [Read more...]
Intensive or Extensive Religious Education?
Why do parish religious education programs so often seem to be one-size-fits-all? Whether a parish’s program is dubbed religious education, faith formation, or good ol’ CCD, parish-based catechesis of children tends to be rather coo … [Read more...]
Culture of Encounter in Ferguson
March 30, 2018 by Rev. John O'Brien
Ferguson, Missouri has become a touchstone of contemporary discourse on race relations, usually juxtaposing African American and white populations. Yet, this Missouri town is also home to a Catholic parish that serves, among others, over a … [Read more...]
Corrupt Pastoral Practice Means Corrupt Doctrine
Amoris Laetitia’s Dirty Little Secret
March 30, 2018 by Jeffrey Tranzillo
When Amoris Laetitia (hereafter AL) was first published in March 2016, Pope Francis’s episcopal cheerleaders insisted that the document has introduced no changes to Church doctrine: it merely explores how we are to understand the “pastoral a … [Read more...]
Briefly Revisiting Pre-1983 Canonical Practice for a Better Response to Marriage Issues
March 15, 2018 by Catherine Godfrey Howell, JCD
The juridical significance of mental illness and psychic anomalies in marriage has shifted over centuries from a description of an illicit act to one of invalid consent. Early pronouncements on insane individuals who contracted marriage … [Read more...]
Understanding Anger in Those We Care For
February 24, 2018 by Dr. John Buri
A friend of mine conducted an informal survey of priests in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul to find out which sins were heard most often in the sacrament of reconciliation. No surprise that #1 transgression for men involved … [Read more...]
A Reflection on Youth, College & Young Adult Ministries, Part II
Animating the Xennial, Millennial, and Post-Millennial Generations with the Spirit of Christ
February 24, 2018 by Father Philip-Michael F. Tangorra, STL
In the first part of this two-part article, I had discussed the levels of youth, college, and young adult ministries. My emphasis was on why it is so important, and what is appropriate for each level and age of young people we serve. Now, I … [Read more...]
Geriatric Spirituality
February 24, 2018 by Cornelius F. Murphy
Early in the last century, the specialty of geriatric medicine became an essential part of the American health system. It differed from the standard forms of medical treatment because it was directed toward the physical and psychological … [Read more...]
Late Winter Book Reviews
February 24, 2018 by Book Reviews
The Cardinal Müller Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church. By Gerhard Ludwig Müller with Carlos Granados. Translated by Richard Goodyear. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017. pp. 221+xi. $17.95 pb. ISBN 9 … [Read more...]
A Reflection on Youth, College and Young Adult Ministries, Part I
Animating the Xennial, Millennial and Post-Millennial Generations with the Spirit of Christ
January 23, 2018 by Father Philip-Michael F. Tangorra, STL
Part I Building, re-building and restoring youth, high school/college campus, or young adult ministries: this is what our work has been for the past decade. When someone first arrives in a new youth ministry, or is given the task of … [Read more...]
Conformed to a Vulnerable Savior
A Christmas Reflection for Priests
December 30, 2017 by Rev. Thomas V. Berg, PhD
Msgr. Stephen Rossetti’s 2011 study, Why Priests Are Happy,[1. Stephen J. Rossetti, Why Priests are Happy: A Study of the Psychological and Spiritual Health of Priests (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2011).] gave the lie to any number of p … [Read more...]
Recovering Our Bearings
The Role of the Common Life in the Rebuilding of Priestly Fraternity
December 30, 2017 by Fr. John Nepil
Many priests consume themselves in work, but become alone and lose their bearings. It is thus all the more important that the unity of the presbyterate is lived and experienced. Support everything which strengthens priests to encounter and … [Read more...]
My Side of the Confessional
A Scrupulous Penitent’s Plea to Confessors
December 12, 2017 by Monica Lyons Montanaro
For months, I had been mustering the courage to go to confession. I had faced the terror of Hell to marshal my sins. I had waited in the empty church for half an hour, palms in a cold sweat, rehearsing my lines. It had been three months and … [Read more...]
Bringing the Gospel to the Troops
A Survey of American Military Homiletics
November 27, 2017 by Deacon William Smith
The record of preachers in uniform is a remarkable one, filled with physical bravery and moral courage in the face of internal and external pressures, ameliorated by a deep, and very personal sense of care for the ordinary combatants who … [Read more...]
Now Is the Time
The Urgency of the New Evangelization
October 19, 2017 by David H. Delaney, PhD
At the beginning of his pontificate, Saint John Paul the Great coined the term “new evangelization” to describe a great urgency facing the Church. Nearly forty years on, the use of the term is now widespread among Catholics involved in alm … [Read more...]
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