I was talking with a friend the other day, who is on the registration committee of our parish. He was telling me about some of the difficulties of registering new parishioners. It seems that some of the people who want…
Divorced and Catholic
You are being watched!
In your neighborhood, at work, in school, and on the soccer field at the movies, at the mall, and at church, curious eyes are on you. Why you? Because everyone around you craves something more significant than the joyless life…
Blessed Be the Annoying Catholics
Have you ever met an annoying Catholic? Are you one? Good. Pope Francis thinks you should be. Recently, while reading through Catholic New World, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Chicago, I came across a story from the Catholic News…
Is the Eucharist REALLY the Body of Christ?
Readings for June 2, 2013: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ The Catholic Church teaches the doctrine of transubstantiation, namely, that in the Eucharist, the communion wafer and the altar wine are transformed and really…
Celebrating the Eucharist, Again
The feast of Corpus Christi, or in more modern terms the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, was introduced into the Church calendar in the mid 1200’s to give the Eucharist special recognition outside of the solemn remembrance of…
Preaching with Words
Do you preach? You might reply, “I just live my life and people can see that I’m Catholic. That’s enough. Actions speak louder than words, you know…” Fair enough. But what about when someone’s misrepresenting the Catholic faith? Or, asking…
The “isms” of our time
A few weekends ago I went on retreat at our local retreat center. One of the talks focused on the obstacles to being Church. The priest named what he considered the three root causes: individualism, with relativism embodied in it,…
Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?
“Where do animals go when they die?” It is easy to dismiss this question as a young child’s curiosity, but not the business of serious religious thought. But I don’t think that we should be dismissive of the question. Many…
The Place of Beauty
With the spotlight on the Pope drama, once again, we see the media focusing on the workings of the Church. We have all heard the dissenters. Why doesn’t that Catholic Church sell the “fancy stuff” they have? Why do they need all…
Learning 21 Ways to Worship (& a Giveaway)
In a brief review of Vinny Flynn’s 7 Secrets of the Eucharist, I wrote that it is a “conversational and easy read that is in no way light in weight,” one that “feels like a passionate conversation… rather than a theology…