Ceremonies Explained for Servers: A Manual for Altar Servers, Acolytes, Sacristans, and Masters of Ceremonies. By Peter J. Elliott. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (skip to review) The Disabled Church: Human Difference and the Art of … [Read more...]
Second Peter
The Transfiguration Is the Interpretive Key of the Second Coming
Reading Mark’s Gospel with the Faith of Saint Peter and the Church Saint Peter’s Second Epistle soars the heights of the Spirit akin to the spiritual heights of John’s proclamation of the Gospel (Jn 1:1–14). He whose gift of faith caused Ch … [Read more...]
“Do You Love Me more than … These?”
Introduction The catch of exactly 153 fish in the closing chapter 21 of John’s Gospel has been an exegetical challenge for a very long time. “So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fift … [Read more...]
Peter, Mary, and the Cross
An Examination of the Ecclesiology of Von Balthasar’s Dialectic
Hans Urs von Balthasar has proposed that a dialectic, or “reciprocal relationship,” exists between the objective and subjective holiness of the Church—represented by the persons of Peter and Mary—which he associates with its institutional an … [Read more...]
Spring Reading for March 2015
Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers That Even I Can Offer. Leah Libresco (Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 2015) 192 pages; $12.12. (Reviewed by Fr. David C. Paternostro, SJ) --------- Master Thomas Aquinas and the Fullness … [Read more...]
Where is Prayer for Christian Unity in Our Parishes?
Every post-conciliar Pope has emphasized, with Vatican II, that ecumenism is a necessary aspect of the Church's mission, and one involving the effort of all the faithful, clergy, and laity alike. It was once quite common for many C … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
For August 2013
Is there another theory of the origin of the Synoptic Gospels besides Marcan (or "Markan") priority? How important is the ceremony in the liturgy? Authors of the Synoptic Gospels: Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Question: Is ther … [Read more...]
Four Rocks in a Garden
In the garden are four small rocks, each inscribed with a capitalized word: BELIEVE, HOPE, TRUST, WAIT ... If the small garden ... can imaginatively serve to suggest the divine “grandeur”; how might one order the realities represented by th … [Read more...]
Running in the Bible
Its Implications for the Christian Life
In the United State of America in the early twenty-first century, running is one of the most popular forms of physical exercise. Of these, today’s runners, one might ask: how many know that running has a significant place in the Bible? Many … [Read more...]