Here’s a suggestion and question about the liturgy. I was celebrating Mass on Sunday away from St Mary’s and so I did not celebrate ad orientem. I did, however, go around to the front of the altar, and facing the people, administered the Kiss of Peace. After sharing the Kiss of Peace with the altar servers, I turned East, (facing the altar) for the Agnus Dei, fraction, priest’s prayers before communion, and then turned with the chalice and host back... Read more

Another report on drunken Britain. What really tickles me about this article is that the drunken state of Britain is blamed on “stronger drinks and larger glasses”. “Oh deary me!” says the nice English chap down the pub. “I seem to have found myself in the gutter drunk again! Whatever could have happened? Why I believe it was simply the fact that that glass of beer was larger than before!” Those who live in Britain today will admit that the public... Read more

Today is the feast of SS Simon and Jude. In some of the list of the apostles they come towards the end just before Judas Iscariot. Peter is listed first, so we can assume that the lists were compiled, according to priority. If so, this confirms what history also tells us, that Simon and Jude were the least well known of the apostles. I’ve always celebrated this feast as a celebration of the millions of unknown and hidden saints. Think... Read more

My post about the the Romance of Religion and the need to be liturgical Lancelots and ceremonial Cyrano de Bergeracs attracted attention at Fr Z’s beautifully bombastic blog. One reader was not sure whether I was mocking or not. Was it mockery? Was it a masquerade? Am I puncturing pomposity with intentionally boorish buffoonery? Not at all. I am recognizing the divine comedy of Catholicism.  ‘comedy’ in the divine comedy is not a comedy like a situation comedy. The liturgy... Read more

A big burly man in his late sixties came up to me at the Knights of Columbus breakfast last month after Mass at St Mary’s. He took me to one side and said conspiratorially, “Father, listen to me.” he said with a strong Bronx accent. “Yes?” I said, fearing that he was about to divulge some inner insanity to which I would have to listen carefully. “You wore that hat today at Mass…” “The biretta?” “Yeh, the biretta.” then I... Read more

I’m off to Birmingham AL before too long to do some programs for EWTN. I’ll be recording a Living His Life Abundantly program with Johnette Benkovic on Monday November 3 and then appearing on Journeys Home with Marcus Grodi on that evening. Tune in if you can. I’ve been asked today to provide a weekly column for The Universe–the UK’s largest Catholic paper. I thought I might call the column The Bad Penny. There’s this Anglicism that Americans may not know which... Read more

One thing I have desired of the Lord,   this is what I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord  all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.  — Psalm 27:4 Read more

The ancient tradition is that St Luke knew the Blessed Virgin and used her as a source for his gospel. This painting illustrates the tradition. I like the two people on the bridge over the canal in the background. Read more

Tonight at RCIA some interesting details emerged. We were discussing the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I pointed out that the word ‘overshadowed’ in the story of the annunciation was a linguistic reference to the story of Ruth and Boaz in the Old Testament. You may remember that the young widow Ruth presented herself for marriage to her husband’s kinsman, Boaz, and that he evidenced his betrothal to Ruth by wrapping his cloak around her. The word for cloak is the... Read more

I missed Signs when it came out in the cinemas, and never got around to watching it on DVD until last night. I was very impressed. Shyamalan’s direction is stylish, tight and perfectly matching the suspenseful storyline. With creative camerawork he manages to convey the ordinaryness of the home life while infusing the whole thing with a sense of the supernatural. He clearly owes a great deal to Hitchcock and Spielberg…the wheeling flock of birds, the children’s swing set with... Read more