Posts Tagged ‘Faith & Current Events’
There are so many wonderful details in the Epiphany story: the call of the Gentiles, the nations, and their enthusiastic response, the significance of the star they see, and the gifts they bring, the dramatic interaction with Herod and their ultimate rejection of him in favor Christ. In this meditation I would like especially to [...] Read the rest of this entry »
On of my problems on the blog is that I often “commit typos.” That is to say, I am lousy at proof reading my own material. A number of you send me little corregida, for which I am grateful. I do read over what I have wrote, but I read right past my errors and [...] Read the rest of this entry »
When I was a young man, a teenager really, I did the usual crazy stuff of the early, 70s, long hair, bell bottoms, wide ties, crazy plaids, shirt open at least least three buttons, and of course, rock-n-roll. But, through it all I had this love for older things. I think it had something to [...] Read the rest of this entry »
Many Catholics seldom think past their own parish when the consider the Church. And yet the Catholic World is huge and quite vibrant: 1.2 Billion Catholics in the World. 412,236 Priests 721,935 Religious Sisters 221,055 Parishes 92,847 Catholic Elementary Schools with 31 million students. 43,591 Catholic Secondary Schools with 17 Million Students [*] 117,000 health [...] Read the rest of this entry »
A lot of breakdown in modern communication comes down to logical fallacies and cognitive distortions that have us talking past each other. Perhaps, as the new year draws near, we might spend a little time reflecting and “thinking about our thinking.” All of us fall into these traps. I have spoken before on the blog [...] Read the rest of this entry »
Here in the middle of the Christmas Octave, the Church bids us to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. On the old calendar, the feast of the Holy Family falls on the Sunday after Epiphany, which makes some sense. For it is a bit odd to read a gospel portraying Jesus as 12 years [...] Read the rest of this entry »
The video below is a Coca Cola commercial from about five years ago that takes up the Christmas theme of the star of Christmas. Let us review the impact that Star of Christmas had on the wise men, the Magi. The star moved them to seek meaning outside themselves. It made them look out and [...] Read the rest of this entry »
Many are shocked to walk into daily Mass on December 26 and instead of hearing more of the “Baby Jesus” we are confronted with Martyrdom, “The Feast of Stephen” is ancient on the Church’s calendar. More ancient than the Christmas cycle and hence it was not removed to another time. Bu the martyrdom does not [...] Read the rest of this entry »
In the ancient Church, and until rather recently, we genuflected at the two references to the incarnation in the Mass: at the Creed and at the Last Gospel (John 1). Why did we do this? It was explained to me that the mystery was so deep that one could only fall in silent reverence. There [...] Read the rest of this entry »
There is a Scripture reading proclaimed at the Christmas Liturgy that usually gets overlooked. And yet it should elicit considerable reflection since it is proclaimed at the Christmas Midnight Mass, one of the Church’s most prominent Liturgies. It is from the Letter to Titus in the Second Chapter. I would like to reproduce it in [...] Read the rest of this entry »
O Holy night! Yes, a silent night! and, it came upon a midnight clear. Christmas, it would seem, is a festival of the mid night. Jesus is born when it is dark, dark midnight. We are sure of it. And why not? Even though we are not told the exact hour of his birth we [...] Read the rest of this entry »
Here on the 4th Sunday of Advent, we are but a day away, practically speaking, from the unfolding of the great mystery of the Word made flesh. It is possible for us to look right past this 4th Sunday of Advent, but we do well to pause and ponder what is taught to us today [...] Read the rest of this entry »
