I was privileged to be present at the bedside of both my father and mother as they died. In both cases, I watched life pass slowly out of the body, breath by breath. Each death was a moment to confront my faith in resurrection. Of course, I was too caught up in emotions to think a lot about my faith. Faith...
At the Easter Vigil service at my parish, held the night before Easter Sunday, I stand at the door of the church, and hold the big Easter candle up high. It’s just been lit from a fire burning on the sidewalk in front of our inner-city church. We’re symbolically offering the Light of Christ to our...
Imagine you’re going on a trip, say to Italy. You happen to be doing some spring cleaning in the attic, and find some old, old guidebooks that your grandparents used when traveling to Europe 75 years ago. You’d bring them down to study, since even though the hotels and prices change, the monuments,...
We sometimes speak of a “mountaintop experience.” The reference for Christians comes from the Gospel story for the Second Sunday of Lent—the Transfiguration of Christ.
Marketer Chris Holmes with Media Producer Matt Wielgos in the St. Anthony Messenger Press booth.
For some 45,000 Catholics this...
An old cartoon shows two priests counting the meager Sunday collection, with the caption, “Well, I guess next week it’s back to the old vague generalities!” Part of the temptation for the presider at Sunday Mass is to play to the positive, and cultivate the good feelings of his audience. Good...
