By Richard Doerflinger
Most people have heard of the slippery slope. After making what seems a limited exception to a moral principle, we may find over time that it logically becomes far broader than we had in mind.
4/29/21
Reading Time
3
min
By Joseph M. Rampino
During this holiest season of Easter, the ancient church refocused on understanding the faith’s most important mysteries, namely, our reception of Christ’s risen life through baptism and the Eucharist. Today, we tend to focus more on the moral and societal aspects of religion, which leads us to a greater emphasis on Lent, the season of purification, over the other seasons of the year. Yet the heart of the Christian life remains the same — in the mysteries before the morals. Though Easter’s sacramental emphasis might feel strange to us, it is necessary for our souls that we follow the ancients and reencounter the foundation of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
4/27/21
Reading Time
3
min
By Russell Shaw
Imagine trying to follow a game whose rules and objectives you don’t know and whose players aren’t letting on. That is approximately how things now stand where the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden and the issue of abortion are concerned. And if that sounds complicated, that’s because it is.
4/26/21
Reading Time
3
min
By Fr. Kenneth Doyle
Q. Because of what has been going on in the world lately (the pandemic, difficulty finding work, etc.), I am having trouble concentrating when I pray. Any suggestions for avoiding such distractions?
4/23/21
Reading Time
4
min
By Richard A. Miserendino
We live in a world where many claim to be shepherds. We’ve got loads of leaders both religious and not, gurus, caretakers, CEOs and visionaries, each claiming to have something good for us, to have our best interests at heart.
4/21/21
Reading Time
3
min
I recall sitting in religion class in my Catholic elementary school hearing lovely Bible stories about the beatitudes, the Ten Commandments, and the heroes of the Old and New Testaments. I remember the big events, the ones about which movies are made: Noah and the epic flood; earthquakes; flaming bushes; pestilence and plague; and locusts.
4/21/21
Reading Time
2
min
By Mary Beth Bonacci
Today is my mom’s 89th birthday. And the three-month anniversary of her death.
4/14/21
Reading Time
5
min
By Steven Oetjen
“Incredulous for joy” is the phrase that St. Luke uses to describe the disciples’ reaction when they saw the risen Lord. Could this really be happening? Could he really be back from the dead — not just a ghost, not just a figment of my imagination, but truly back from the dead, standing right before me in the flesh?
4/13/21
Reading Time
3
min
By Russell Shaw
Intellectual confusion resembling a smog of the mind has been a deadening presence in Catholicism in the years since the Second Vatican Council. But here and there amid the swirling mists of bad arguments and lame analogies, a small yet significant body of Catholic intellectuals has stood firm in defense of clear thinking and good sense.
4/13/21
Reading Time
3
min
Love is the bull’s-eye
Love is the bull’s-eye of the good news of Jesus Christ. We know that. We have heard about the centrality of love countless times. Still, it is our mission to experience, ponder and live the love of God with greater depth every day of our lives.