Making the sign of the cross is a gesture that says, in shorthand, that a person is Catholic. It appears as an icon in popular culture, and as a gesture it is...
Glad you Asked
We’ve recently had a taste of what it’s like not to go to church. We literally couldn’t gather. Since the root word for church, ekklesia, means “assembly,” not...
Christ preached turning the other cheek, doing good to those who persecute you, and loving your enemies. At the Sermon on the Mount, he reminded us that the...
I am the father of two boys. Like all children, they sometimes cause harm without intending to do so. When they were very young, my wife and I would tell them:...
Many people are familiar with the Book of Genesis referring to humanity’s “dominion” over the earth (1:28). We often misunderstand this to mean we humans have...
Some Catholic traditions are strange. After all, our “big tent” of traditions includes relics—oftentimes the body parts of saints—apparitions, weeping statues...
Christians have fasted (gone without food) and abstained (gone without certain foods, especially meat) since the beginning. The Book of Genesis teaches that...
When I was a boy attending Catholic school, the annunciation was one of the joyful mysteries that the good sisters had me commit to memory: The angel visits...
I called my mother last night. She’s 91 and lives alone in another state. Because of the COVID-19 state of emergency, I wanted to be sure she was OK and not...
In the Ash Wednesday gospel reading Jesus directs us to clean up: “Put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may not be seen by others”...
