Catholic churches are hard on the hard of hearing. Part of the problem is architectural. Catholic churches are built for the eye, not the ear. Interior spaciousness is meant to elevate your vision, just as the priest elevates the host. The church is a sacred space that opens onto the heavens. Churches that aim toward the light, however, often end up burying the human voice. There is plenty of room for incense to waft but also for voices to disperse. Nevertheless, size alone isn’t the problem … Continue Reading»
On the calendar of American holidays, I always think of Veterans Day as correlating to All Souls Day on the liturgical calendar, whereas Memorial Day is more akin to the Church’s observance of All Saints Day. On Memorial Day we honor those who gave their lives while serving in military operations; the glorious martyrs, if you will, of our great land. They are part of the “saints” that make up our national pantheon. However, on Veterans Day, as on All Souls Day, we don’t just honor the most heroic among us—the martyrs and saints—but rather, all who ever donned the uniform of our country . . . Continue Reading»
Late last month, people from all over the globe gathered in Killarney, Ireland to honor a man who died fifty years ago, but whose legend has grown with each passing year: Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, Ireland’s heroic priest who rescued some 6500 people in and around Vatican City during the German occupation of Rome… . Continue Reading»
“Pray for us,” asked a classmate from our long-ago college days who is awaiting a signal from his gay son that his artificially inseminated twins are born in Thailand. Even though I knew Dan and his wife, Jan, were strong supporters of their gay son’s wishes, I was shocked by how far they would go to pursue them. Other acquaintances of the couple were as stunned as I was. . . . Continue Reading»
Comments on Adrienne von Speyr often rely on reading a couple of her books and von Balthasar’s partial biographies. His accounts—which are neither objective nor unbiased—are hagiographical, clearly written for a future possibility of canonization, an idea that von Speyr found laughable. Von Balthasar emphasizes her role in co-founding the lay Community of St. John and providing daily meditations for “her daughters.” But one cannot end there for any coherent understanding of von Speyr’s life. . . . Continue Reading»
The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a Christian-owned photography business couldn’t refuse to photograph a homosexual wedding. In his concurring statement, Justice Richard Bosson gives a new twist to Mill’s classic liberal distinction of between what is “private” and “public” based on harm, and instead distinguishes between what one may believe in one’s “private” life and what one must do in the market. . . . Continue Reading»
In the middle centuries of the first millennium, the Bishop of Rome celebrated the Eucharist with his people during Lent in a striking way. Each day, the pope would lead a procession of Roman clergy and laity from one church (the collecta, or gathering point) to another, the statio or “station” of that day. There, over the relics of one of the Roman Church’s martyrs, Mass was celebrated and a communal meal that broke the daylong Lenten fast followed. Over time, this annual tradition was formalized into the Roman station church pilgrimage . . . Continue Reading»
The bishops in the United States have worked very hard to make the Catholic Church the safest institution for children in the entire country. They have systematically rooted out sexual predators, suspending them from the exercise of priestly ministry. Their determination in this regard has been steadfast and their intentions should be warmly and universally applauded. . . . Continue Reading»
October was not a month of especial cooperation in the global Eastern Orthodox communion. Protesting the appointment in March of an archbishop for Qatar by the Church of Jerusalem, the Church of Antioch withdrew its participation from “all the Assemblies of Canonical Orthodox Bishops abroad.” The Antiochian Patriarchate claims sole authority over the small Gulf state though at present it has no parishes of its own there. The assemblies affected by this decision include the canonical episcopal council in North America, which counts several Antiochian bishops among its officers. . . . Continue Reading»
