I wasn’t going to opine any further on altar servers, but a reader asked my opinion about what to do with altar girls if you have them. First of all, it is obviously okay to have altar girls. Rome allows it. You don’t have to have them, but you may. If I went to a parish where there was a group of boy and girl altar servers, this is what I’d do: But first the method behind the madness: the... Read more

I have had a few fingers wagged at me for being enthusiastic about the candidacy of Sarah ‘Annie Oakley’ Palin, and I have to admit that after Thursday’s debate–and losing the election– maybe I’ll have egg on my face and I’ll have to watch her skulk back North with her tail between her legs. However, it strikes me that if she is like Annie in the famous musical, Joe Biden is actually pretty much like Frank Butler. Butler, you may... Read more

From Valerie Baronkin –South Carolina Upstate Pro-Life Co-ordinator: An interracial couple stopped by the clinic with their baby yesterday to tell us their story from a few years ago.. The girl’s mother brought her to Greenville Women’s Clinic. The girl saw the people outside praying and did not want to have the abortion and refused to get out of the car. She and her boyfriend kept the baby and are now engaged. I mention they were an interracial couple because... Read more

“Therefore I will imitate the head of a household who brings out of his storehouse things both new and old…In this way permit me to explain Isaiah, showing that he was not only a prophet, but an evangelist and an apostle as well. For he says about himself and the other evangelists: “How beaautiful are the feeet of those who preach the good news…and God speaks to him as if he were an apostle, “Whom shall I send, and who... Read more

What do I miss about England? Well, when I lived on the Isle of Wight in England I would go to Mont St Michel on retreat. I’d take the night ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo and then hitchhike along the coast to the Abbey. What a fantastic place! At the time there was a small religious community living in the old monastic buildings, and if you were on retreat you would stay right up in the old Abbot’s lodgings... Read more

Someone has asked how to improve the band of servers.  I can only pass on the advice from what I have done at St Joseph’s Catholic School, and the advice from my friend and mentor, Fr Newman–pastor of St Mary’s. My own knowledge on this is supplemented by watching Fr Christopher Smith and Dn. John Heuser train our servers. First the general principles: Servers should understand why they are serving at the altar.  They do not serve at the altar... Read more

Here are three of our noble band of servers from St Mary’s. These guys (with about a dozen more) serve at the 11:00 High Mass. We have all male servers at St Mary’s, and one of the things we do in their instruction is to remind them that they are helping to lead the worship in everything they do–their body language, the way they sit in the sanctuary, the way they perform their tasks, the way the listen (or not)... Read more

I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh’s direction and vision for the film is powerful, dignified and beautiful to look at, and the cast of stars–from Derek Jacobi and Julie Christie and Kate Winslet to Jack Lemmon and Charlton Heston to cameos by Judi Dench, Gielgud and even British comic Ken Dodd is fantastic. There seem to be two weak points. First is Branagh’s insistence... Read more

When people come to confession they often have something on their conscience which makes them feel guilty, ashamed or scared. Most often this is something where they’ve lost control. Maybe it is a sin that is ‘below the belt’, something to do with food, drink or drugs, losing one’s temper, being violent etc. This sin of passion makes them feel guilty or ashamed or scared, but despite their strong feelings it may not be the most serious sin, or the... Read more

Because the fast way to hell might be through a big, nasty, dirty and shocking mortal sin (with sudden death soon to follow) but the slow way is to take the ‘broad way that leads to destruction.’ The road to hell is shoulder to shoulder with nice people who never do anything very bad, but also never do anything very good. Complacent, ordinary folks who say, “Yeh, well, I’m only human. It’s true I have some faults, but I’m working... Read more