Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
In this Sunday’s Gospel there is a certain tension between legitimate freedom and truths we must insist upon. We also have a lot to learn in sorting out friends and foes. I. Foe or Friend? – The text begins, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we …
Continue reading “Of Friends and Foes: A Homily for the 26th Sunday of the Year”
At Mass for Wednesday of the 25th Week of the Year, we read this passage: Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me [only] with food that I need for today: Lest I be full, and deny you, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name …
Continue reading “A Meditation on the Poverty of Riches, as Seen in a Video”
Many Catholics have struggled to find a voice that has been nearly washed out of us by our training. We remember a time when it was unthinkable to criticize a priest; those who did were quickly rebuked, with little opportunity for explanation. Bishops and especially the Pope were not to be questioned let alone criticized. …
Over the years we have steadily been losing the vocabulary of sin. Saying “I have sinned” is often replaced by “I made a mistake,” or “I made a poor decision,” or “I’m sorry if my behavior was hurtful in some way.” Not only are we slow to say we have sinned, we are also ignorant …
Continue reading “Learning to Name Sins Is to Have More Power Over Them”
We often get anxious about rather petty notions related to our ranking relative to one another. On this topic, the Lord teaches an important lesson in the Gospel of Luke: An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and …
The Gospel for Tuesday of the 22nd Week of the Year features Jesus casting out a demon, easily dispatching it. There is another parable, however, in which a cast-out demon returns with seven others. It is puzzling that the house (soul) being “swept and clean” brings further trouble. One would think that a house in such a state …
Continue reading “How Can a Demon, Driven Out, Return with Seven More?”
The following essay is a companion essay to another post I wrote on deliverance: God is More Powerful than Satan. When thinking of deliverance and exorcism there is a tendency to imagine that they involve wresting demons from their place through the menacing use of sacramentals (e.g., crosses, holy water, relics) and a battle of …
Continue reading “Exorcism’s Ultimate Power Is the Word of God and the Prayer of the Church”
In the Gospel this Sunday, we continue with Jesus’ great treatise on the Eucharist (John 6). Although many of the Jewish listeners who hear Him speaking in the synagogue at Capernaum are grumbling and murmuring in protest at His insistence that they eat His flesh and drink His blood, Jesus does not back down. In …
Continue reading “Costly Truth – A Homily for the 20th Sunday of the Year”