As we’re reminded every Advent, our Catholic Christmas customs are somewhat at odds with the secular “holiday season,” which starts before Thanksgiving and...
Glad You Asked
Glad You Asked is a column that presents informed, enlightened responses to basic questions of Catholic doctrine, history, identity, or pastoral practice.
How did we arrive at this translation of the Mass? As Catholics in the United States get accustomed to new responses and prayers at Sunday Mass, many will...
One of the great mysteries of our faith is the incarnation, our core belief that the eternal and almighty God became a human being, a man who could and did...
For three days every year Mexicans and Mexican Americans gather for Día de los Muertos. In cemeteries and homes people come together to remember their deceased...
Because of the cultural situation of the time, women wrote little and wielded power even less, so it’s hard to speak of “Church Mothers” in the same way we do...
Of the four wedding invitations currently posted on my refrigerator, only one is for a ceremony to be held in a church. The others? All will be outdoors: in a...
Both actions are very ancient and began as practical necessities, but eventually the necessities disappeared and were even forgotten. Later when Christians...
Some families and households hold hands to say grace before meals. Maybe this practice migrated to church, as the Our Father is the final “grace” that we say...
It’s in there. At Mass Catholics pray to God to “look with favor on your church’s offering and see the victim whose death has reconciled us...
“Why do I have to go through this?” The question sums up many other questions people have about annulments, the way the Catholic Church says a marriage is...
