We are all on a journey — the journey of this life. It begins in the mystery of “not being” before we are conceived, and seems to end, humanly speaking, in the “not being” of death. From dust to dust. But faith — not precisely scientific, repeatable, experimentally verifiable knowledge, but a type of knowledge […]
“He said what?!” These were the first words that came out of my mouth when I heard my Confirmation teacher explicitly go into detail about how it was perfectly all right to have sex with your girlfriend if you truly “loved” her. Naturally, he told us he had sex with his girlfriend because he loved […]
The situation of Christians in Syria could worsen under a new government. This was the fear voiced by Bishop Samir Mazloum of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch, in a discussion with international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). According to Bishop Mazloum, whose See is in Bkerke, Lebanon, the Church is […]
In the mid-1980’s, I spent a lot of time with Michelle, a seventeen year-old parishioner who suffered from a terminal brain tumor. In the last weeks of her life on Earth, I visited with her every day. It’s difficult to declare God’s love to a dying teenager and her family. It was a humbling way […]
A few years ago, I toured northern England. There, stretching 73 miles from coast to coast, the Roman Emperor Hadrian built a massive wall. Constructed of stone, it was built to last, since it marked the northernmost boundary of the greatest empire the world had ever known. Soldiers from every corner of the world were […]
The Roman galley cruised through the surf and flotsam into the harbor on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. While the galley slaves slumped exhausted across their oars, the convicts disembarked and formed a long chain bound for the penal colony and marched up the road to the sound of the lash and […]
September 30, 420 saw the death of the Latin Church Father St. Jerome and hence September 30th is his feast day. Jerome spent the last half of his life rendering the Scriptures into the contemporary Latin of his day. Since Latin was at that time, the common or “vulgar” tongue, his translation was called the […]
God is love, therefore we exist. The Divine Goodness is the pulsing root of all things. We are created for communion with Him, conjured from nothingness to behold the Beautiful One. Creation is a great romance: “For You love all the things that exist” (Wisdom 11:24). The God of Jacob is not merely the Craftsman, […]
In the tradition of Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, cross-cultural comparisons can sometimes provide insights to which we, as citizens, might be blind. A recent visitor to our parish in metropolitan Seattle, Father Kiiza Justus of Uganda, granted me an interview.[i] . Uganda — “the pearl of Africa” — has the youngest population in the […]
Fr. Peter and I have been trying to get together for over a year. We’ve both been so busy, he as a pastor of a parish and Catholic school (an hour’s distance from me), and me as a wife, mother and author. But, just recently we finally succeeded on the day before St. Padre Pio’s […]
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month you shall keep a Sabbath rest, with a sacred assembly and with the trumpet blasts as a reminder; you shall then do no sort of work, and you shall offer the oblation to the Lord.” (Leviticus 23:23-25) I’m embarrassed […]
I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia — Galatians 1:17. John the Baptist was dead. Herod Antipas had had him executed to placate the cruelty of Herodias, his second wife, who had demanded that the king deliver to her the prophet’s head. An ugly night […]
The Gospel (Matthew 20: 1-16a) tells of a vineyard owner hiring and paying his workers. Some workers work all day. Others come at noon. Still others start work at three in the afternoon. The last group comes at five in the afternoon. In the evening, much to everyone’s surprise, everyone is paid the same! When […]
Shortly after the first of many meetings between the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in October of 2009, I wrote in my column: Regardless of whether or not the meetings result in the SSPX arriving at full communion – something each of us should […]
Does the Church deny couples the opportunity to marry? If your answer is yes, then we need to rethink our understanding of why the Word became flesh. The Incarnation is the fountain of the grace of the sacraments and the Church would never deny anyone that grace. However, there is more than merely the desire […]
When I finished purchasing a product, the server handed me the bag and said, “Here you are; have a good day.” Remember in the Gospel story that the official came to Jesus, trying to justify himself, “An official asked him this question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, […]
This series was developed in order to collate some—by no means all—of the foulest instances of Muslim persecution of Christians that surface each month. It serves two purposes: Intrinsically, to document that which the mainstream media does not: habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians. Instrumentally, to show that such persecution is not “random,” […]
“But that’s not fair!” Most parents have heard this phrase umpteen times. The notion of fairness, also known as justice, is wired into us. It makes us aware that each of us has certain rights that need to be respected. But it also means that we each have duties. If others have the right to […]
The First Epistle of Peter is the second of the seven “catholic” or universal epistles written and circulated to the faithful throughout the world during the first century following the birth of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Simon Peter wrote this short letter, in just 105 verses. Or the letter might have been dictated to Silvanus, […]
There is One Being, Who knows Himself and sees Himself. He dwells in Himself, And from Himself sets forth. Glory to His name. This is a Being Who by His own will is in every place, Who is invisible and visible, Manifest and secret. He is above and below. This hymn was composed by Saint […]
Many years ago, I had an encounter with a coworker that would forever ignite a stronger desire to articulate Church doctrine in a clear practical manner. The story goes this way. I had recently finished developing a pilot Adult Education program for the Diocese I worked in at the time. The Bishop of the Diocese […]
Chapter 5 Mary is Ever-Virgin The perpetual virginity of Our Blessed Mother is frequently disputed by those interested in discrediting the Catholic Church. In this we find an unintended argument to prove the necessity of Mary’s perpetual virginity. It is logical to expect that someone interested in discrediting a kingdom would first try to cast […]
It’s the first day of school here at the Fenelon Clan Abode, and I made our high school sophomore a super-duper, extra-special, sunshine theme breakfast: Eggs in a basket with little mini-sun cutouts, sunshine drink (milk with vanilla, sweetener, and yellow food coloring), and yogurt parfait with bursting sun rays (peach slices arranged along the […]
Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Vatican, celebrated a Pontifical High Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Marian Sanctuary in Knock County Mayo on Saturday the 10th of September. His Eminence was formally welcomed by the Parish Priest of Knock who hosted a private dinner for the Cardinal with a […]
