By Fr. Kenneth Doyle
The church's Code of Canon Law recognizes that the obligation to attend Sunday Mass can be lifted for "grave cause" (Canon 1248.2). Illness (or the need to care for the sick) have traditionally been seen as qualifying reasons -- particularly when combined with the frailty of advanced age.
7/14/17
Reading Time
2
min
By Carolyn Woo
I would be the last person to cast administration as the polar opposite of ministry. The word "administration" embeds the concept of ministration. Few ministries can flourish without able administration.
7/14/17
Reading Time
3
min
By Fr. Jack Peterson, Ya
Jesus begins His address today, “One day a farmer went out sowing.” Our Lord uses a familiar analogy to state that God is similar to a skilled and attentive farmer who constantly tills the soil of our hearts in order that His presence and His word will take root and bear much fruit.
7/14/17
Reading Time
3
min
By Elizabeth Foss
Rest — both the vacation kind and the kind at home — is a kindness we pay to our souls. I’m resisting the overused, ironically tired, term “self-care,” and opting instead to remind myself that rest is an answer that most comes to mind if I ask myself the question I so often ask others: What can I do for you?
7/10/17
Reading Time
4
min
By Russell Shaw
Evidence for the destructive consequences of tyrannical sex abounds in wrecked relationships, wrecked families and wrecked lives. But there’s an alternative. The solution to the problem of sex run rampant lies in the cultivation and practice of chastity.
7/7/17
Reading Time
3
min
By Elizabeth Foss
It is not unusual to find a Catholic who doesn’t read the Bible personally on a regular basis. That never seemed quite right to me. I’ve always deeply believed that having a relationship with God that only exists in the physical — just showing up at Mass and consuming the Eucharist — is like being married and skipping conversation. Jesus wants to have words with us. He wants to engage in dialogue. He gave us this richness of conversation and if we never open the book, it’s like ignoring our spouses when they try to talk to us.
7/6/17
Reading Time
3
min
By Christina Capecchi
David McCullough’s bestselling new book, The American Spirit, takes up a cause he has long championed, lends it added urgency and aims it squarely at young adults. “We are raising a generation of young Americans who are by and large historically illiterate,” McCullough writes.
7/5/17
Reading Time
3
min
By Fr. Robert J. Wagner
With these words, Our Lord tenderly offers us peace and consolation to replace our struggle and suffering. We know that what Jesus promises is true, so why, when we reflect on our experience, do we find it so hard to achieve?
7/5/17
Reading Time
3
min
By Brendan Black, Centreville
I read the article in the Catholic Herald from March 16-22 regarding blessing boxes. The article was about how Annie Woody starting the blessing box project at her parish in Arkansas. I think it is a unique way of giving to the poor, and it inspired me to begin the use of blessing boxes in […]
6/29/17
Reading Time
1
min
We’d best wait
The parables of this Sunday’s Gospel speak of some characteristics of the Kingdom of God, and therefore, they speak about God Himself. The Kingdom starts small but becomes big, welcoming people from every time and place. The Kingdom is built up by the gifts and contributions of each individual. The characteristic of the Kingdom most emphasized this Sunday, though, is the fact that God is willing to be very patient with the presence of evil in the Kingdom here on earth before, finally, He exercises His righteous justice against it.