Our opening prayer this afternoon concludes with these words: “may the presence of your Spirit among us bring renewal and courage.” And in a few minutes, we will pray a very searching and thorough Litany of Renewal, asking the Lord Jesus for many graces of both deliverance and reform. ...
Every human being has a natural desire for God. Many don’t believe in God but that doesn’t mean God is not there, caring even for those who don’t believe in Him. We can either heed our natural desire for God and search for Him, or we can frustrate it, by...
The Son of God drew his humanity from Mary. Hers was a uniquely pure humanity, soaked with the fullness of grace and matured by the fullness of her freed yes to God. Being free from sin did not make her less human, because to sin is not human. It is...
If God’s gift of marriage is the crowning of creation, his gift of the family is the crowning glory of marriage. Man and woman were created in his image and likeness, but that image is perfected in the gift of children. The family is the image of the Blessed Trinity....
The way in which the Christmas story is depicted nowadays can make it seem like a story just for children, magical even. The advent of Santa Claus as a major Christmas character reinforces that perception. What can then happen is that we adults get caught up in a kind of...
The very personal and moving encounter between Jesus and Peter in which Jesus asks him three times “do you love me?” tells us what sin is really all about and what mercy is really all about. This scene takes place back in Galilee, and the apostles are doing what...
The two names assigned by the angel to Mary’s child are Immanuel and Jesus. They are both verbs, not nouns. Immanuel means “God-is-with-us” and Jesus means “God saves.” As Immanuel, God is with us in his divine compassion, which embraces and permeates us completely. As Jesus, God saves us,...
Education is not just about information. Nor even just about teaching people how to think for themselves. Nor just to gain skills or qualifications for good money and good job. All these are certainly important, but Catholic education, if it is authentic, is so much more. In the light of...
Think of the war in Ukraine! Think of the First and Second World Wars! Think of Nazism and Stalinism! Thinik of Pol Pot! Think of all the massacres and wars of all time! And if you are not already overcome by despair, think of what your cry to God must...
Holiness is not the leisurely pursuit of the chosen few. It is the final goal, the end-game, of the human adventure, of every human life. It is a universal, a Catholic, call and destiny. If the Beatific Vision is the destiny for which we strive; and if the content of...
