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For many years, Catholic students at Shenandoah University in Winchester didn’t have a priest on campus to celebrate Mass on Sundays. Some students would catch a ride across town to Sacred Heart Church or gather on campus for fellowship, reading Scripture together and sharing a meal.
I love Netflix. I love that I can watch sitcoms and movies, as well as virtually any documentary I like, at any hour of the day or night. For a kid who grew up with three channels, rabbit ears and the occasional VHS rental cassette, it’s quite an amazing advancement.
There is more Christian persecution taking place worldwide than at any other time in modern history, says former Congressman Frank Wolf.
Some years ago, Lee Edwards, a veteran conservative writer and a friend of mine, launched an organization, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, dedicated to “commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and pursuing the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.”
I went down to the basement this morning to put away some frozen food and to store some canning jars on a shelf. I flipped on the appropriate lights and navigated my way around still-unpacked moving boxes. After unloading my items and making my way upstairs, I turned off all the lights without thinking. This simple act was a milestone. The lights and switches aren’t really intuitive, and you have to truly know the place to know which ones do which thing. To do something in this house without consciously thinking through the steps felt like a victory. Maybe one day, if I can acquire enough of these little victories, I will feel at home.
The patristic scholar, Father Boniface Ramsey, remarked: “The (Church) Fathers were the first to face certain problems that Christianity was bound to encounter and continues to encounter, and they provided responses that are classic, if not canonized. The nature of God, God’s relation to the world, the humanity and divinity of Christ, the nature and structure of the church, the authority of Scripture, the moral obligations of the human person: these are among the issues that the Fathers first addressed … ” (“Beginning to Read the Fathers,” p. 15). This subject of the authority of Scripture is inseparable from its interpretation, which is simply the correct understanding and practical application of God’s Word for faith (what we believe) and for morals (how we are to act). On this topic of biblical interpretation, the Church Fathers made a lasting contribution to the Catholic faith by two main patristic “schools”: Antioch in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt. Here is a brief glance at these patristic centers of learning.
This year, religious education in the parishes will be different. Throughout the diocese, directors of religious education and their faith formation teams are ensuring that religious education classes and instruction are offered to all families in a safe and accommodating manner. Each parish has had to evaluate its resources, needs and parishioners’ concerns. Faith formation will look different from parish to parish.
In 2008, a new organ was commissioned by a New Jersey Presbyterian church for an 18th-century sanctuary that, just months after the organ was dedicated, would have to be vacated due to structural problems. Twelve years later, the once-silent organ is now installed at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Clifton, ending the parish’s yearslong search to replace its own failing instrument.
The annual diocesan Mass for Disability Awareness will be at Holy Spirit Church, 5121 Woodland Way, Annandale, Sept. 27, at 10:30 a.m.
Returning late in the day
I don’t know if you feel the same way, but for the past few weeks, the Lord, in the Gospels, has been really challenging my way of thinking. It is almost like he is grabbing me by the britches, turning me upside down and shaking loose certain preconceived, false views on life. Today’s Gospel passage is no different.