This Sunday we read the story often called “Doubting Thomas,” even though I bet most of the others would have been just as incredulous as he was. In this story, Jesus comes to Thomas and enters into his messy life. We can often have an over-idealized vision of Jesus’ appearances after the resurrection. However, the reality is messier than most artwork. Jesus lives in our messy lives, not is some idealized state. As we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday (readings), I... Read more
This Sunday we celebrate the high point of the Christian year: Jesus’ Resurrection! Happy Easter to you! I think that for Easter we can compare joy and pleasure. Both are good but one is more valuable than the other. Easter shows us the value of joy by showing us the ultimate and true joy. This Homily for Easter Sunday where we read of Mary Magdalene at the tomb (readings) is part of my April series for Homiletic & Pastoral Review.... Read more
Leah Libresco has given us a wonderful testimony of conversion to the faith and now as a Christian she is leading us on to better live our faith. Her recent book, Building the Benedict Option (Amazon) provides a guide for building small faith communities. Different Levels On a certain level, it seems like a kind of small group guide. A kind of how-to for building small groups, which Christians of various stripes have found particularly useful in recent times of loneliness.... Read more
Continuing my series of homilies I did for Homiletic and Pastoral Review, we have a double-homily for Palm or Passion Sunday. I hope this pair of homilies for the procession and Mass help you enter into the Passion. (Readings.) Procession Homily Today we enter into the Passion. We begin now on the Mount of Olives. From there, we enter — with Jesus — into Jerusalem. We remember what he said a few chapters beforehand: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets... Read more
Some people don’t know this, but the Vatican and US bishops are very clear that autistic and other developmentally delayed children can receive Communion. Being autistic is definitely not an obstacle to the Eucharist. Below is a transcript of the video above. Introduction A few weeks that a priest-friend of mine sent me a note from the other side of the country about the struggles a family was having with one of their children who was autistic, who they wanted to... Read more
I posted an article over on the National Catholic Register about whether women could be priests: Last week, La Croix carried a story about Sr. Ruth Schönenberger wanting female priests. She explains, “It is surely only natural for women to be priests and I cannot understand the reasons given as to why not.” Further, the Benedictine Prioress says, “Here in Tutzing, we, too, have excellently qualified women theologians. The only thing they lack is ordination.” I’m sorry, Sister, but despite these theologians’ training, it... Read more
This month, I was asked to prepare the homilies for a priest’s publication, Homiletic and Pastoral Review. For my readers, I will post the model text each week. Here’s the one for this Sunday on the Gospel of the woman caught in adultery. (As a note, some parishes will read the raising of Lazarus – Year A – and that is allowed.) The Gospel is the woman caught in adultery. You can find the full readings here. The homily I propose... Read more
Today, on World Autism Awareness Day, I decided to come forward about being autistic. Below is the transcript for this video for those who would prefer to read. Introduction Hello, this is Father Matthew Schneider and I want to be open about a part of my life that I haven’t really talked much about before. I’m autistic. My whole life I felt a little different. I never really fit in and I never understood why. I was a good student,... Read more
On Sunday, Pope Francis spoke to the Christian minority in Morocco. He spoke of how we should lead others to Jesus primarily through example, through loving and encountering others. However, this was misunderstood by many inside and outside the Church as he compared this path of conversion to a negative form of proselytizing. I will analyze the text after showing the misunderstanding. Headlines Misunderstand Pope Francis Here are just a few of the headlines on this speech with miss the mark. Reuters: “Conversion... Read more
This morning, the Vatican issued new norms which tighten rules on child protection. Three separate documents came out. These documents put stricter norms on clergy and lay people who work for the Vatican in Rome, or in papal nunciatures around the world. The Documents New Laws for the Vatican City State Vatican News Reports: The new laws promulgated for Vatican City State include a definition of vulnerable persons as anyone in “a state of infirmity, of physical or mental deficiency,... Read more
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