You never know what will make you remember the people you miss. Rainbows make me think of our late neighbors, John and Loretta. We shared such a beautiful rainbow with them one summer afternoon. Reaching up to close a window takes my mind to our friend Father Tom. He once told me how he felt […]
Commentary
Hard times coming, whoever wins
Given an ever-darkening international landscape and the pandering of both parties to our baser instincts, the realistic conclusion is that whoever wins the White House, hard times are coming.
Analysis: Permanent deacons are key to a ‘synodal missionary church’ — the synod needed them
Most of the world’s dioceses do not have permanent deacons as envisioned by Vatican II — in fact, the United States alone accounts for almost 21,000 of the some 50,000 permanent deacons globally in the Catholic Church today.
Changes at St. Dominic hit close to home
As the Archdiocese of Baltimore gets ready to merge parishes and eventually shutter some sites throughout Baltimore City, one change hits close to home.
100 Masses in a Year
Back in December, my husband told me about a friend who set a goal to spend 100 hours on his boat during 2023. I found myself wondering what I could do 100 times in a year. I told our oldest son that maybe I would try to go to 100 Masses. “You probably already go […]
Question Corner: What is church’s teaching on transgender issues?
The church is against any “gender ideology” that would separate the concept of psychological gender from biological sex; or which would propose that one’s sex could be changed through medical or surgical means; or which would hold that one’s bodily sex could be somehow wrong or mistaken in light of one’s self-perception of one’s gender.
Forming your conscience heading into the 2024 election
Voting after reflecting on a Catholic well-formed conscience will not be an easy matter in this election, but as we vote, we must seek God’s assistance.
A Eucharistic Word: Fruitfulness
The Eucharist truly is the gift that shapes our character into his. We pray, as St. Augustine preached, that we will ever more fully become who we receive.
Reunions in graveyards
It’s not macabre to love a graveyard. On the contrary, there’s a feeling of continuity, of belonging, of hope in resurrection. It impresses on me the shortness of this earthly journey and the gratitude I have for my loved ones.
Question Corner: If most of us go to purgatory at death, are Catholics ‘saved?’
Although purgatory is not exactly a “punishment” in the way we would tend to use the term today, traditionally purgatory has been understood to involve a degree of suffering.
Proclaim the good news in this election cycle
You don’t need to attack a candidate to explain why this policy that he has proposed, or that action that her administration has taken, doesn’t align with Catholic teaching.
Hail Mary: ‘Now, and at the hour of our death’
The “Hail Mary” reminds us that life is short. By asking the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for us not only now but when we will need her intercession most, we prayerfully place the rest of our earthly lives in her maternal hands.