Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
Some years ago the theologian Fr. Jonathan Robinson wrote a commentary on the modern experience of the Sacred liturgy and entitled it, The Mass and Modernity: Walking to Heaven Backward. It is a compelling image of so much of what is wrong with the celebration of the Liturgy in many parishes today. While Fr. Robinson …
I have remarked before on this blog that what we call “balance” is really more of a range, than a fixed point. That is to say, balance is achieved not so much by staying still on a fixed point as by moving within a fixed range on that point. In the videos below the tightrope …
Continue reading “On the Balance of Virtue, as seen in two videos.”
The Gospel for today sets forth some parameters in terms of how we picture Christ. Sadly today, as in the time of Jesus many have a designer Messiah, a designer Christ that they worship. It is not the real or revealed Christ they acknowledge and worship. Rather it is a Christ of their own design …
This past week six couples in my parish joined about 850 other couples in the Archdiocese of Washington at the Basilica here for the Jubilarian Mass. Couples celebrating 25, 40, 45, 50 and 60 or more years of marriage gather each year to receive gratitude and recognition from the diocese for their witness to the …
In this post I am trying to continue our celebration of the lost “Octave” of Pentecost. Today I want to consider three gifts of the Holy Spirit. As you may recall, there are seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude and Fear of the Lord. Most Catholics cannot define them …
Continue reading “Distinguishing Knowledge from Wisdom and Understanding”
A reader alerted me to an interesting and insightful analysis by Pope Leo XIII of three trends that both alarmed him and pointed to future problems. He wrote of these three concerns in 1893 in the Encyclical on the Holy Rosary entitled Laetitiae Sanctae (Of Holy Joy). The Pope enunciates these three areas of concern …
Last week on this blog, in the aftermath of two highly covered hearings at the Supreme Court on same-sex unions, I posted on the problem of widespread sexual confusion and misbehavior in our culture, both heterosexual and homosexual. As you may know, and can certainly imagine the combox lit up. There were many comments of …
Continue reading “What does the Catholic Church offer to those with Same-sex Attraction?”
The first reading from today’s Mass is an extraordinary moral tale from the Book of Daniel. It is the story of Susanna. The full passage (which is quite lengthy) can be found here: Daniel 13:1-62. Interestingly it is missing from Protestant Bibles which use a truncated version of the Book of Daniel. As such it …
Continue reading “The Anatomy of a Sin as set forth in a lesser known Biblical passage.”