When I was a Franciscan novice, there was a retired bishop, Rembert Kowalski, who lived in the novitiate community. As a young Franciscan priest, he volunteered to serve in the missions in China. He was assigned to work in Wuhang, China, in 1925. Eventually, he was selected to be bishop of Wuchang,...
O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom, come and free the prisoners of darkness!
Christmas draws nearer. Today’s O Antiphon (above) addresses Christ as the “Key of David.” The antiphon for today leads me to muse about the shape of keys in the Middle Ages. That is when the Roman...
The Jewish festival Hanukkah begins on the evening of December 8 and extends for eight days. While it is not the most important of Jewish feasts, Hanukkah recalls and celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Because it occurs in close proximity to Christmas, many Christians in the USA are at...
Today is the Feast of Christ the King, a reminder to us that this world is under the judgment of Christ. From the context of European Catholicism, it is easy to understand why earthly kings became a symbol of Jesus’ eternal reign. Even in the fourth century there are images of Christ as the all-powerful...
On Thanksgiving Day some churches have a formal reading of a presidential decree. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln made such proclamations. But Lincoln’s is always the most impressive, for it was proclaimed during the Civil War, on October 3, 1863. Lincoln set the precedent and chose the date for an...
