Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
For many this fateful year, Christmas will be like no other. In previous years many of us would be asked, “Are you going somewhere for Christmas? Will you gather with family?” We often had many and rich answers to those questions. This year many of us will answer, “No, I am not going anywhere and …
Many of us have heard expressed the formulaic regret by someone declining to attend an event: “Though I can’t be there, I’ll be there with you in spirit!” Two reactions usually occur to us who receive such a reply: 1 That’s unfortunate. 2 Whatever the phrase “there in spirit” means, they probably won’t be present …
Continue reading “Being in Church is Essential, Governor. Virtual is Not the Same as Real.”
The readings for this Feast of Christ the King evoke three images of Christ as King. All of them are to some extent paradoxical because they emphasize things we don’t usually associate with kings. They also tell us that we have already met King Jesus even if we don’t realize it. Let’s look at these three …
Continue reading “Not Your Average King – A Homily for the Feast of Christ the King”
I have blogged before on Purgatory. Here is a link to one of those blogs: Purgatory – Biblical and Reasonable. I have also written more extensively on its biblical roots here: PDF Document on Purgatory. On this Feast of All Souls, I want to reflect on Purgatory as the necessary result of a promise. Many …
Continue reading “Purgatory is Based on a Promise of Jesus’”
There is an old saying, “Stop telling God how big your storm is and start telling the storm how big your God is.” In other words, we often need to shift our focus, building up our trust and confidence. Because we are so wired for fear, we tend to overestimate the power and shrewdness of …
Continue reading “A Word of Encouragement from Elisha the Prophet For a Difficult Week to Come”
The first reading for this Wednesday of the 27th Week of the Year, from Galatians, speaks to sins that exclude one from the Kingdom of Heaven. If one dies unrepentant from committing any of these sins, one cannot go to Heaven but rather must be excluded in Hell. It is an important reminder to pay …
On one level “human respect” seems like a good thing. After all, we ought to respect, honor and appreciate one another. What then is meant by the “sin of human respect”? It is that sin wherein we fear man more than God; we are more concerned with what people think of us than what God …
The ancient Jews had in their possession the Ark of the Covenant. It was a box of acacia wood, three cubits by two cubits (a cubit was the distance from a man’s elbow to the tip of his middle finger, or about 18 inches). In the Ark were the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, …
Continue reading “Staying Close to the Lord in a Time of Crisis”