“He rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Peace. Be still. Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm. Then He asked them Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? Mark 4: 38-40 My boys loved it when I read the story of Jesus calming the sea to them when they were little. We would stand up and say “the waves went up!!” then drop to our seats and say “the waves went down!!.”... Read more
Looking at America’s Catholic bishops from far outside and with zero insider information, I can say that they appear to be split into two camps. One camp, the ascendant and apparently controlling group, are the buddies — dare I say operatives? — of extremist billionaires. You might call them the lions. The other camp, the gobsmacked, blithering, can’t-quite-figure-out-that-they-are-nose-to-nose-with-evil-incarnate group, are the bishops who still think that the 10 Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes are, well, commandments... Read more
One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. John 19: 34 I can’t provide an erudite theological understanding of the Sacred Heart. In fact, the Sacred Heart as a concept has always confused me. I know that Jesus’ heart was pierced by a soldier’s sword after He died on the Cross and a mixture of blood and water flowed out of it. I have read that this break down of blood... Read more
You don’t have to agree with Joe Biden’s politics to feel compassion for him as he faces another tragedy in his life. In this day and age, so many of us can recognize our own family in the tragedy of drug addiction which overtook his son Hunter. Many of us have known the suffering of watching someone we love get sucked down the hole of that raw evil. I have watched helplessly while someone I love destroyed their life with... Read more
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Jesus Christ Jesus gave the Apostles an explicit mission statement. Go. Make disciples of ALL nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the... Read more
Ascension Day is the day that Jesus started working from home. I saw a meme by the Episcopal Church saying that and loved it. Ascension Day really is the day that Jesus started working from home. It is also the day when the people who knew and loved Him personally lost His physical presence in their lives for the rest of their earthly existence. I’ve often thought about how empty it must have felt for them, walking home after seeing... Read more
Senator Bernie Sanders made a very stupid comment a few days ago. He said that the war in the Middle East is “Biden’s Viet Nam.” I like Bernie Sanders. I think he is a sincere and independent-thinking man who really cares about the American people and who has a fully functioning moral code that he applies to his work in the United States Senate. But in this particular instance, Bernie is just spinning yarn. The war in the Middle East... Read more
Never to pay attention to the vessel in which I send you my grace … all (your) attention should be concentrated on responding to My grace as faithfully as possible. Jesus, speaking to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska I am writing this post for people who sometimes feel alienated from the Church because of its indifference to them and their suffering. I am writing it for the victims of sexual abuse and rape, of discrimination and prejudice; for the ignored, the despised... Read more
One of the many pleasures of these years of infirmity and advancing age is the gift of time. Convalescence from cancer, heart attacks, strokes and the like is a slow process that involves doing things that are difficult and that I don’t like such as exercise, changed diet, and forbearance on the one hand, and long, fallow days of learning a new normal, and a new way to structure my life and living on the other hand. I can’t do... Read more
“I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs,” he said. “A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.” Pope Francis Last January, Pope Francis labeled surrogate pregnancy “deplorable” and called for a worldwide ban on the practice. He called it the “commercialization” of pregnancy. When I was... Read more
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