The Christmas story is a lengthy meditation on a counterintuitive but essential truth: true freedom, genuine liberation, comes through freely chosen obedience to God’s purposes.
Commentary
The well-fought fight
Alas, like many other hymns, “For All the Saints” is an endangered species today, gutted by parish music directors and pastors who commit the grave sin of not singing a hymn in its entirety — or worse, who bowdlerize the lyrics to coddle the sensibilities of the Church of Nice.
Letter to a failing heroin addict
In 40 years of working with the addicted, I have learned that these negative behaviors block the positive power of grace.
Finding patience in Advent
When we complain about another, we often take a position of judgment. Yet only God is the ultimate judge, our Christ.
Supreme joy and a divine gift
Those who possess true joy are not deterred by their problems, by distress or by deprivation – their own or that of others.
Where everybody knows your name
Yes, belonging to places is good – it feels right, we fit in. We should all belong to some place, to some group, to some church, even to someone. Where do you feel as if you belong?
The more, the merrier
As the Christmas season approaches, George Matysek shares the joys of having five children age 5 and under.
The gift of a ‘banana tree’
During this season of giving, as we thoughtfully select gifts for people we know and love – and maybe even for strangers – how wonderful to consider that a gift may bring joy not just in the moment of opening, but also for years to come.
No sales pitch required
The world may or may not believe what we say. But the world will believe what we do. Do we live in such a way as to allow the God born once in a manger to live fully in us?
My favorite gift to buy is that for a stranger
This Christmas season, as your family and mine add unnecessary “stuff” to the pile collecting in our closets, dressers, and cabinets, let us remember there are good and hardworking families in our community who are not as blessed to afford new things.
Did Judas receive Communion?/ Refusing to baptize
Father Kenneth Doyle fields questions about whether Judas received Communion and a priest refusing to baptize a baby.
‘Time for a different approach’
We have to do something – actually we have to do a lot of somethings: strengthen families, fight poverty, promote the dignity of life – so that when we get to the end of 2020, we’re not looking at 300 or more homicides in Baltimore again.