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Columns

The Catholic Church and Halloween

By Joe Kelly

The medieval Catholic Church created the feast of All Saints Nov. 1 to honor the blessed people who could not be included in the church's formal list of saints. In England, the word "hallow" was used to mean the sacred, and thus there the day was All Hallows' Day.

10/25/17
Reading Time 3 min

Making and renewing vows

By John Garvey
Last week a friend invited my wife and me to join her in celebrating the 50th anniversary of her perpetual vows. It was a simple but moving ceremony. There was a Mass with guests and members of her religious community. At the offertory she renewed her vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and hospitality.   I […]
10/25/17
Reading Time 3 min

Are you ready to be a child again?

By Sr. Constance Veit, L.s.p.
This time of year always brings me back to my childhood. With fond nostalgia, I remember the pinecone turkeys we made in Girl Scouts, the pilgrim costumes my mother painstakingly sewed and the necklaces made of painted pasta that my sisters and I managed to pull apart, scattering raw macaroni all over the back seat […]
10/25/17
Reading Time 3 min

Dual citizenship

By Fr. Stanley Krempa

The question presented to Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar was not an invite to a leisurely discussion on a summer afternoon. Instead, the issue of taxation was a very fierce and divisive issue. The fact that present were rival groups such as the Pharisees, who opposed the payment of taxes to the occupying power of Rome, and the Herodians, who supported Roman taxation, shows that this was a question designed by both sides to ambush Jesus.

10/19/17
Reading Time 2 min

When God heals the broken

By Elizabeth Foss
Recently, I have reflected on how all our relationships are broken relationships. This looks a bit dismal at first, but once we acknowledge it — and recognize the gift that friendship with Christ is — it’s a most liberating reality. Every human relationship will disappoint if we expect it to be perfectly whole. It’s doomed […]
10/19/17
Reading Time 3 min

Talking past each other

By Russell Shaw
The challenge of finding language in which believers and non-believers can communicate is unintentionally illustrated in a bestselling new book which predicts that human beings will soon reinvent themselves as gods.   The book, Homo Deus (Man God), is the work of Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian who achieved fame several years ago with […]
10/19/17
Reading Time 3 min

From Siege2Surge: Re-entry

By Soren Johnson
Before every mission, soldiers join the members of their unit and their leaders to review their mission and the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) they’ll use to accomplish the mission. Virtually everybody knows the TTP, but that doesn’t matter, because today is a new day. The unit walks through the scenarios they may encounter and […]
10/19/17
Reading Time 3 min

Leaving after Communion, changing God’s mind?

By Fr. Kenneth Doyle
Q: I am surprised by the number of people who regularly leave church immediately after receiving the Eucharist. In the diary of St. Faustina, Jesus says how sad He is that people treat Him as a dead object and busy themselves with other things. It is distracting and disruptive of my own personal prayer when […]
10/11/17
Reading Time 3 min

Declining with regrets

By Fr. Matthew H. Zuberbueler
Gospel Commentary MT 22:1-14  The big banquet halls used for wedding receptions try to offer their clients and guests an elegant and festive celebration. We can think of the fine tablecloths and good food served stylishly and with care. The guests are impressed, the host is proud. A good time is had by all, or […]
10/11/17
Reading Time 3 min

Do our prayers help?

By Mary Beth Bonacci

 I suspect many of us are feeling the same way. “Our prayers don’t seem to be helping.” But are they? Is prayer just another failed tactic? If we are asking, “Have our prayers stopped the violence?” then obviously they haven’t. It continues.        

10/10/17
Reading Time 3 min

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