Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
I just viewed the First Episode of Catholicism with my Bible Study Students. The series, as many of you already know, is fabulous and I cannot recommend it enough. In the First 20 minutes Fr. Barron goes right to the heart of the faith and makes it clear that Jesus is God, He is the …
Most Catholics are unaware of how our traditional church buildings are based on designs given by God himself. Designs that stretch all the way back to Mount Sinai when God set forth the design for the sanctuary in the desert and the tent of meeting. Many of the fundamental aspects of our church layouts still …
In today’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the Cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Lets consider the Gospel in three stages. I. The Pattern that is Announced – The text says, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem …
Looks like were all going to be “treated” to a new series on the Discovery Channel wherein British Physicist Stephen Hawking will ponder theological and philosophical questions. A rather strange thing for a scientist to do actually. I have no doubt that Stephen Hawking is a fine, even a brilliant scientist and theoretical physicist. But …
Earlier this week, God reminded me that he has a sense of humor. It happened as I was beginning to prepare this very homily. I was reading today’s gospel and thinking about what to preach, but nothing immediately came to mind. I began to get impatient. And that’s where the joke comes in. Because the …
At one level “human respect” seems a good thing. After all we ought to respect, honor and appreciate one another. What then is meant by the “sin of human respect?” At its core, the sin of human respect is that sin wherein we fear man more than God; where we more concerned with what people …
Continue reading “On Overcoming the Sin of Human Respect through the Fear of the Lord”
A common Evangelical protest against the Catholic practice of praying and interacting with the saints is that they “can’t hear us.” Those who disbelieve our practice often quote 1 Kings 8:39 which says, for you alone (O Lord) know the hearts of all men. Hence, according to this quote Saints, who are not God, cannot …
Continue reading “How Can the Saints Hear Us? Because God is Able!”
In recent days, the Church celebrated the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul, and the early martyrs of Rome. All of these died for the faith and show forth the cost of true discipleship: hatred by the world. Jesus had said, If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If …
Continue reading “On the Call to Martyrdom and Accepting the Increasing Cost of the Faith”