We have beheld the shepherds coming in from their fields glorifying God and bringing all who heard them to glorify him too. Yet here is something still more marvelous and edifying: “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” And furthermore, “his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.” … Read more
My daughter first entered our parish church in my arms, to receive the sacrament of baptism. This August, again in a long white gown, she walked on the arm of her Dad to the sacrament of matrimony. There had been sacraments in between. As she came down the aisle a bride, I saw momentarily a … Read more
Imagine a world where no Christian is named for St. Joseph, where no church or religious organization bears his name. Picture St. Joseph absent from the Mass, the Breviary, the Church calendar, and the Litany of Saints. No shrines, no special devotions, no hymns, no solo images, no popular customs, no festive foods pay homage … Read more
The title, Zombie Jesus, is misleading, even if deliberately provocative: Jesus is never portrayed as a zombie in this comic. Is it Biblical? Maybe. Well, loosely. Okay, hanging by a thread, fine. Matthew 27: 51b-54 does describe some of the dead being raised from their tombs and appearing to the people in Jerusalem, causing the … Read more
Recently, I encountered an online discussion among Catholic converts and Protestants that strayed into the topic of the St. Joseph house-selling kit. It was meant to be a sort of “gotcha!” moment for Catholics defending the cult of the saints. While I have no intention of going into the arguments concerning this particular practice, I … Read more
It is primarily in John’s Gospel that we get information about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Nicodemus is described as a “ruler of the Jews,” a thoughtful Pharisee who came to Jesus by night and was struggling to understand how a mature adult like himself could be “born again.” Many of us have the same … Read more
Over at the Catholic Key Blog, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has published its plan for reforming the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Already a year old, their CCHD plan is very convincing. I began reading it with a healthy skepticism… until I came to this: Our first decision, then, was to cease funding … Read more
Here’s a recent story dug up by the Catholic New Service — and when I say “dug up,” I mean to say you really have to go out of your way to find stuff like this. The headine reads, “Union busting is a mortal sin, Catholic scholars say.” Now, if the headline had been reveresed, … Read more
Today is the feast of St. Joseph, which Margaret mentioned this morning. St. Joseph is one of my go-to saints and he doesn’t get the attention he deserves. It’s probably how he would like it, but the husband of Mary, earthly father of Jesus, deserves the highest honors. He is the patron of the universal … Read more
Australia has her first saint! Sister Mary Mackillop, co-founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will be canonized on October 17. I will be making my first trip to Australia — Sydney and Melbourne — in early March, so I’m sure to encounter some of the excitement among Catholic Aussies at … Read more