THE HUMAN SIDE “I feel worse than I felt when Kennedy was assassinated.” The depressed look in my friend’s eyes the morning after the presidential election was terrifying. Equally terrifying was the venom that poured out as another friend said, “Hillary Clinton is the devil personified: untrustworthy and a killer.” “I’ll bet you’re happy we […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: When did we stop paying for indulgences?
QUESTION CORNER Q: When did the church stop asking for money for indulgences? And why did they ask for money in the first place? (Wichita, Kansas) A: I am almost reluctant to answer your question because, as asked, a simple response would imply a serious admission. Though it has been accused for centuries of having […]
Father John Catoir: To my brother priests
After 56 years of the priesthood, at age 85, I want to say a word of thanks to my brother priests, who have sacrificed so much to bring the good news of God’s love to our troubled world. Years ago, the priests of my diocese elected me to be their clergy personnel director, a job […]
Bill Dodds: How to cope with holiday grief
YOUR FAMILY I was startled a few weeks ago when familiar feelings of grief surfaced. It was evening, mid-October, and there was a sadness I hadn’t felt for a while. The same thing happened the next night. This January, it will be four years since my wife, Monica, died of uterine cancer. It’s not an […]
Msgr. Owen F. Campion: Turn from sin to God
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12 Once again, the first section of the Book of Isaiah provides the first biblical reading. This weekend’s reading is in the same mood as that of last week. Isaiah was very unhappy with the turn of events of his time. As was so often the […]
Mary Adamski: Mercy, mercy, me
VIEW FROM THE PEW “Mercy, mercy, me. Things ain’t what they used to be.” That’s the song running through my head this week. Seems like a post-Vatican II musical version of the Kyrie Eleison? Not. It’s lyrics from a 1970s song by blues singer Marvin Gaye. It was the title of the Mackey Marianist Lecture […]
Father Eugene Hemrick: Dealing wisely with turbulent times
THE HUMAN SIDE “If only I had wings like a dove that I might fly away and find rest. Far away I would flee; I would stay in the desert. I would soon find a shelter from the raging wind and storm” (Ps 55:7-9). Sadly, many people are fed up with our uncouth political atmosphere […]
Father John Catoir: The beauty of human sexuality
In an age of porn and sleaze, the need for a deepened respect for the positive aspects of human sexuality is real. In marriage, the desire to give one’s self to the delight of the beloved is a sign of Christian holiness. Human sexuality is perhaps the most talked about but least understood subject in […]
Christina Capecchi: A cure for election overload
TWENTY SOMETHING It’s almost as if November’s Mass readings were written for election-weary Catholics, with their foreboding tones and calls for “perseverance” and “endurance” amid distress. “They will seize you and persecute you,” St. Luke warns. “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,” St. Paul exhorts. […]
Effie Caldarola: Need and gift matched
FOR THE JOURNEY Not too long ago, a 15-year-old refugee from Eritrea was found walking along the side of a road in Hampton, England. Just another statistic, perhaps, representing a microcosm of an enormous problem, a worldwide conundrum encompassing millions and millions of people who have been displaced by war, famine, tyranny. It’s a refugee […]
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