The gasps are audible at our Easter Vigil, when adults in parishes are baptized in cleverly disguised wading pools: “Was it really necessary to ruin their...
Religion
Essays explaining our faith, including stories about church teaching, Vatican documents, canon law, liturgical theology, and other Catholic topics.
Let’s say I take out a mortgage to buy a home, most likely from a very large bank, on which I am charged interest. Or maybe I loan a friend money to start her...
“Father, you need to tell people that they can’t be Catholic and vote for a Democrat for president! And you need to tell them that from the pulpit! People need...
In many ways, the story of the church starts with Peter. With the words, “And I tell you, Peter, that on this rock I will build my church,” Jesus appoints...
How the Bible Became HolyBy Michael L. Satlow (Yale University Press, 2014) “Words create communities.” This delicious little notion has inspired...
At Jesus’ birth, shepherds came to visit him, followed soon after by the wise men, right? Actually, not quite. There are two separate versions of Jesus’ birth...
At a retreat where I referred to Sophia several times in my first presentation, a man suddenly stood up and blurted out: “Just who is this Sophia? Stop...
The word relic denotes antiquity, but in just the past couple years, this centuries-old tradition has been causing a bit of medieval-style controversy. In...
After the birth of Jesus, three wise men came to visit him carrying gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The story is more than familiar. The scene is immortalized...
In a season filled with red Santa suits and green Christmas trees, the purple and pink candles of the Advent wreath can seem incongruous with many Catholic...
