AMID THE FRAY Fifty-three journalists were killed worldwide in 2018. Some died in war, but a shocking number died exposing corruption, covering protests or just doing their job. Time magazine called them and their harassed and persecuted colleagues “Guardians” of truth, and named them collectively “Person of the Year.” In the United States last June, […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: Why so much incense at Mass? Can non-Christians be saved?
QUESTION CORNER Can’t stand the incense Q: Our pastor is very old-school and loves elaborate liturgy. He uses incense frequently, and my wife — who is seriously affected by the smoke — is at the point of not going to Mass at all. (She never knows when he might fire up the censer.) I […]
Effie Caldarola: Just do it
FOR THE JOURNEY Many years ago, my spiritual director was a no-nonsense nun. When I arrived for my companioning session with her, I would notice the little sign on her desk, “Just Do It.” That phrase is, of course, a trademark of the shoe company Nike. But on her desk, it spoke, not to Sister […]
Msgr. Owen F. Campion: A voice from the sky
BAPTISM OF THE LORD Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is very important to the church’s process of bringing us to Christ. It reveals both the identity of the Lord and begins the Gospel revelation of the Lord’s work of salvation. Jesus […]
Christina Capecchi: It’s OK to start 2019 with you
TWENTY SOMETHING I’ve always appreciated the notion of self-care in an Oprah Winfrey, hot-baths-and-expensive-chocolates kind of way. We work so hard, the thinking goes, that we deserve a break here and there. So splurge on that full-price gift-to-yourself. Book the massage. Binge on the new season. This philosophy is easy to get behind. But it […]
Bishop Larry Silva: Sing with joy in your hearts
WITNESS TO JESUS | THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT Here is the text of the Bishop Larry Silva’s homily for the Mass for the Third Sunday in Advent, delivered Dec. 15 and 16 at Sacred Heart Church, Waianae. Around this time many of our parochial schools are putting on their Christmas concerts and pageants. When I […]
Mary Adamski: Hope and joy, bring it on!
VIEW FROM THE PEW There’s an aged poinsettia plant near my front door. At the tip of one bedraggled branch, there’s the tiny beginning of a red blossom. I’m writing a week before Christmas so maybe there’ll be a blooming miracle of color soon enough for this poor t’ing to perform as it has for […]
John Garvey: Holy mother church
INTELLECT AND VIRTUE I’ve been having some trouble lately with the Nicene Creed. The First Council of Constantinople in 381 added the sentence, “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” It’s the holy part, as you might expect, that’s bothering me. The Pennsylvania grand jury report released in August disclosed years of unholy […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: What if the priest is a worse sinner? And how to mark your baptism day
QUESTION CORNER Q: I know of several Catholics today who refuse to go to confession because they feel that the priest might be a worse sinner than they are. But yet if they get sick, they want their parish priest to come immediately to give them a blessing. How can I explain to them their […]
Laura Kelly Fanucci: Good news for crowded churches
FAITH AT HOME Quick reminder for those of us who attend Mass regularly. Many people who don’t normally come to church joined us on Dec. 24 and 25. They took our parking spots and our usual pews. What fantastic news! More people crowding in the doors? Not enough chairs to drag up from the basement? […]
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