Commentary Eighty thousand adolescents thought they were traveling to Rome for the much-anticipated canonization of Carlo Acutis. Instead, many were in the Eternal City for the Holy Father’s funeral. A pope’s death isn’t like a presidential election or even the death of a king. Popes don’t have heirs. So, when the chair of St. Peter […]
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe: Christianity calls for total immersion
Commentary They say learning a language is like riding a bicycle, but I’m not sure I believe that. Back in the day, I was pretty good at French. Five years of instruction, mostly by Ursulines who had a vested mission interest in spreading French language and culture, gave me a much more solid foundation than […]
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe: Jesus is knocking on our closed doors
Commentary The recent reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris offered everyone who watched — both believers and nonbelievers — a rich feast of ancient pageantry. It also confirmed, again to believers and nonbelievers alike, that nobody does ceremony better than the Catholic Church. As the Archbishop of Paris knocked on the doors of the […]
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe: Discipleship can be messy and flawed
Commentary We all like things neat, uncomplicated and in good order. But as we step over the threshold into the virtual world created by artificial intelligence, it seems to me that inclination may be more problematic than ever. Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen a number of images circulating on social media. A baby […]
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe : Embrace Lenten practices all year long
COMMENTARY Living liturgically means approaching Lent as a built-in annual retreat. For most Catholics, that takes a time-tested and traditional shape. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are, after all, the hallmarks of the season. So, we set aside more time to pray. We abstain from meat on Fridays, give up something we enjoy and try […]
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe: AI homilies might sound good, but …
COMMENTARY With all the talk about ChatGPT, and Pope Francis’ ongoing criticism of bad preaching, a dark question crossed my mind: What if the homilies we heard at Mass were composed by artificial intelligence? Would they be better than what the average Catholic hears in the average parish every Sunday, or somehow, even worse? […]