One of the most famous images of Our Lord is the one where He carries the cross up to Calvary. We have all seen this very common image of the the entire cross laid on Jesus’ shoulder as He labors…
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) One of the most important thing to remember about the Beatitudes from which this line is taken, is that they are not external rewards. God does not…
On Palm Sunday, we will gather in Church to listen to the Gospel account of the Passion. In most churches, this reading will be in dialogue form, with different people reading the lines from the Gospel. Normally as part of…
A passage from JRR Tolkien has always stuck out in my mind since I remember encountering it: “The Hobbits named it the Shire, as the region of the authority of their Thain, and a district of well-ordered business; and there…
The popular devotion to St. Valentine as a day to celebrate romantic love did not come about until around a 1000 years after his death. Much of his life is lost to us. The popular legend is that St. Valentine…
I had a student say to me in class recently, “Mr. Grayson, isn’t it strange that the brain is the only organ of the body that named itself.” I thought about what he said for a moment, but then I…
The Gospel reading from this past Sunday’s mass was the story of the Wedding at Cana. It is very intersting that the very first public miracle Jesus performed was a simple favor to a bride and groom at a wedding…
I recently saw a nice little movie called Ron’s Gone Wrong, which was a parable about how technology and social media have created a deeper sense of depression and alienation in children. For those of us who were raised before…
In a few days, we will be celebrating Christmas. For many of us this holy day is centered around our families. While God is always at the center of all things, the focus on family is absolutely appropriate. Our Lord…
This week we will be celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We Catholics believe in the Dogma that the Virgin Mary was conceived without Original Sin. Some of our Protestant brothers and sisters sometimes misunderstand this dogma. They infer…