Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
One of the more difficult Biblical themes to understand is the concept of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain human beings. Here are some examples where it seems he does: The LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you …
The first reading at Mass this past week (17th Sunday cycle A) focused on the kingship of Solomon. Perhaps the high point of his life when he was given the opportunity to ask anything whatsoever from God and chose not gold or glory but wisdom. On Wednesday we read about the visit of the Queen …
At Sunday Masses the past two weeks we have heard parables about seeds and sowers. In Sunday’s Gospel we pondered the mystery that God permits weeds to grow and counsels patience in too radically seeking to prevent or remove them. This demonstrates his respect for our freedom and his power to draw good even from …
Continue reading “Why Would God Sow Seed He Knows Will Bear Little or No Fruit?”
We in the West live in a place and at a time in which almost every burden of manual labor has been eliminated. Not only that, but creature comforts abound. Everything from air conditioning to hair conditioning, from fast food to high speed internet, from to indoor plumbing to outdoor grilling, from instant computer downloads …
Continue reading “Stop Yoking Around – A Homily for the 14th Sunday of the Year”
The Catholic approach to the end times is different from that in certain (but not all) Protestant circles, especially the Evangelicals, who have a strong and often vivid preoccupation with signs of the Second Coming of Christ. Many of the notions that are expressed there are either erroneous or extreme. Some of these notions are …
Continue reading “Are These the End Times? What the Catechism Says”
In Friday’s post, we reflected on some of the historical problems related to catechesis and how they have negatively impacted us in the aftermath of the cultural revolution that swept through beginning in the late 1960s. Even prior to that time, some of the strategies and pedagogical philosophies common were problematic in that they tended …
Continue reading “A Response to Past Problems in Catechesis”
St. Paul speaks of the longing of creation to be set free. He almost personifies creation: For indeed, creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope …
Continue reading “On the Longing of Creation To Be Set Free”
After Christ rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples at certain places and times, but did not seem to stay with them continuously. On the first Easter Sunday, He appeared six times in rather rapid succession: first to Mary Magdalene, then to the women at the tomb, third as the women left the …
Continue reading “Why Did Christ Not Stay Continually With His Disciples After the Resurrection?”