Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
On my daily commute, I pass by Holy Redeemer Catholic Church on New York Avenue in the District. One morning, from my comfortable car as I sipped my coffee, I saw in the church doorway a rough-looking homeless man who had obviously spent the night there. And to my shame, I have to confess that …
The reading today on this Feast of Christ the King evokes three images of Christ as King. All of them are to some extent paradoxical for they emphasize things about a King we don’t usually think of in relation to a king. They also tell us that we have already met King Jesus, even if …
A recent article by John Allen provided some interesting background and commentary on the much disputed statement by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. I am not planning to comment directly on the document here since others have adequately done so. I will only say here that I share the concern of others about …
A cartoon I once saw featured a boss speaking to his staff. “Honesty may be the best policy,” he said, “but it’s not our company policy.” And while it may be funny, this cartoon reflects the sad truth that lying in our society has reached epidemic proportions. For instance, newspaper headlines speak of corporate scandals, fraudulent accounting …
Continue reading “Always the Best Policy (Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time)”
Over at the very fine Accepting Abundance blog, authored by Stacy Trasancos, a rather remarkable display of hatefulness has erupted in the combox. Now just guess what the issue might be that has generated this storm of protest against a Catholic blogger on a Catholic blog. Sure enough it was the issue of homosexuality. Stacy …
I would like to a look at an excerpt of an interview I saw recently of Michele Bachmann. David Gregory is the interviewer and the Show is “Meet the Press.” What I want to examine is Mr. Gregory’s displayed attitude to the Christian Faith and how it reflects an increasingly negative assessment of what is …
St. Paul used the image of an athlete to describe the Christian life in Several places. Consider this one: Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it …
Continue reading “On the Lord’s Team! Sports as an image of the Christian Life”
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 …