Today is the feast of St. Isidore, a peasant farmer on the outskirts of Madrid. He lived from about 1070 to 1130, and Mardid was liberated from Muslim rule when he was a boy. With his saintly wife, Maria Toribia, he had one son. He was known for the miraculous Read more…
The purpose of human life is to give glory to God. Everything else should be judged by this standard. The Mass most directly helps us to achieve our purpose in life, drawing us into Christ’s perfect glorification of the Father. Catholics have some of the most profound treasures in our Read more…
Is Joe Biden just a cafeteria Catholic like most Catholics in the United States? Is he just following JFK’s political “heresy” of keeping faith private and apart from public responsibilities? Or is there something worse going on? Pope Francis often speaks of abortion as hiring a hitman. Is Biden a Read more…
The Vatican’s new document, Dignitas Infinitas, published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) begins, “Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state, or situation the person may ever encounter.” I believe Read more…
As we enter Holy Week today, my mind is drawn to the Shroud of Turin. I find the Shroud to be absolutely fascinating! It’s not that I’ve gone looking for anything I could get my hands on related to this great relic, but whenever I see something new about it, Read more…
In the traditional period of Passiontide, the last two weeks of Lent, we turn our attention directly to Jesus’s suffering and death. As disciples of Jesus, it should be sobering that all abandoned him on the night of his arrest, and only one of the twelve stood at the foot Read more…
The word “art” refers to something that has been produced, something that requires artifice. In that sense, we can judge its merits based on the product itself, rather than the subjective disposition of the producer. You can be a good painter and a bad person, for instance. We do not Read more…
Is the offertory just an interlude? A time to use the restroom? In actuality, it has profound meaning, but one easily overlooked. We have an itinerary of sorts for the Mass from the words of the Gospel: he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. Read more…
Even as we enter a penitential season, I’d like to reflect on penance in a festive season. This topic does have an application to Lent. Every Sunday celebrates the Resurrection, but Sundays still remain part of the Lenten season. Today is the First Sunday of Lent, for instance, not a Read more…
The Prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah, the great prophet who did not die, would come again before the “Day of the Lord” appeared: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to Read more…