THIRTIETH-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME GOD’S KINGDOM IS AMONG US Introduction The author of the book of Wisdom gives high praise to wisdom. She is personified, she is like a spirit that moves. She is like the breath of God that orders all things well. To the Pharisees and perhaps to the […]
November 10, Wednesday Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time The Jewish kings were God’s representatives to the people by virtue of their anointing. Now comes the author of the book of Wisdom and says that also pagan rulers have received their authority from God. They must exercise it wisely for doing good, in accordance […]
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Reflection: Luke 17: 11-19 In the time of Jesus, four categories of people were treated as dead: the poor, the leper, the blind, and the childless. The lepers could not approach the public, as they were considered impure, like the cemeteries. All diseases were considered a punishment for sins but leprosy was the symbol […]
THIRTIETH-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME GRATITUDE Introduction The Jewish kings were God’s representatives to the people by virtue of their anointing. Now comes the author of the book of Wisdom and says that also pagan rulers have received their authority from God. They must exercise it wisely for doing good, in accordance with […]
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Was the first Thanksgiving Catholic? From the very beginning, Thanksgiving was infused with a Eucharistic worldview. Few things in American life strike a deeper chord than Thanksgiving. A table covered with food. The late autumnal light slanting through bare trees. And motion. The whole country responds to the homing signal to unite with relatives and […]
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Oscar Wilde’s surprising spirituality Suffering and injustice led Oscar Wilde to campaign for others. My first encounter with Oscar Wilde was probably much the same as yours: I was assigned The Importance of Being Earnest in high school English class. I read about half of it, then filled in the gaps with the 2002 film adaptation. I […]
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3 parenting tips from St. Joseph The Year of St. Joseph inspires a parent to look closely at the earthly father of Jesus. It might sound a bit cliché to say that St. Joseph is one of my favorite saints. For a long time, it honestly kind of was. When asked that oft-repeated Catholic icebreaker […]
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The Eucharist should be political While the Eucharist should not be a partisan weapon, we must ask: What is the relationship between it and our politics? Earlier this year, a lot of (sometimes misleading) controversy swirled around the question of abortion, Catholic politicians, and communion. This isn’t a new question. There was plenty of discussion […]
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Hurricane Ida shows the unequal impact of climate change Ida offers poignant lessons as climate change makes a landfall. The damage Hurricane Ida inflicted on Louisiana was terrible—second only to Katrina 16 years to the day before Ida—but pretty much what forecasters expected. It was after Ida lumbered north through the Mid-Atlantic states that it […]
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John Paul II’s funeral Mass was a beacon of unity The solemn funeral Mass of St. Pope John Paul II was a lesson in the high art of worship—and a glimpse of unifying liturgical prayer. It’s been more than a decade and a half since Catholics around the world converged on St. Peter’s Square in […]