“When we say that ‘Black Lives Matter’ we are not saying that other lives don’t matter, we are just saying that black people shouldn’t be treated badly or looked at differently because of our skin color.” These words spoken by a young scholar at Borromeo Academy last week to schoolmates helped them to better understand […]
The Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century was based on protests against the establishment church, much as American protests from coast to coast this summer target the establishment government. Protests are often good and healthy to an institutional system, but sometimes they are destructive. The religious protests throughout Europe 500 years ago were well warranted. […]
As we enter the heat and heart of another general election, get ready. People will let loose with their political views and castigate others who do not agree with them. Some will be particularly offensive and critical of church officials for speaking out about the election or for not speaking out about it. Observers claim […]
Some of us probably look better with our masks on than off. Though inconvenient, they provide us some notable advantages, e.g., I don’t feel compelled to shave every day; many women save significantly on lipstick and make-up expenses; we’re not popping in breath mints quite as often… Realizing they are necessary during Covid, we ought […]
In the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, priests around the globe would bow their heads during a high point of Catholic worship and whisper: “Hoc est corpus meam.” These fontal words, “This is my body,” was a sign for all who gathered that the bread and wine were no longer bread and wine but a different […]
Missouri contains lots of former democrats who self-identify as “Truman Democrats”—some who knew the home-state president personally. Among the principles they revere are integrity, civility, hard work, dignity of life, and care for the lowly. When asked why they are no longer democrats they sometimes say: “I didn’t leave the democratic party. It left me.” […]
“He was born in the summer of his 27th year coming home to a place he’d never been before…” When I was twenty-seven years old, in June, I was ordained to the priesthood. At that time, I arrived at a new state of existence that was, I believe, predestined. As part of the ritual, I […]
Sometimes changes occur from the top down, sometimes from the bottom up, and sometimes from an outside force like the coronavirus of 2020. I suppose some practices of the Catholic Mass will be different in the future. The Sign of Peace, receiving communion-bread on one’s tongue, or drinking from a shared chalice may be gone […]
A lightning bolt hit our school during a storm last weekend. Such an energy current can cause lots of damage and jolt us from normal patterns of living. Ironically, our school’s nickname is The Chargers and our mascot is a bolt of lightning held high by The Flash. In the line of Saint Paul on […]
According to famous accounts of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, Jesus instructed him to rebuild His church. While taking hammer and nails to wood, the young future saint heard the command again and realized that Christ meant something altogether different. The church, over time, had dilapidated spiritually, and Francis was Our Lord’s chosen […]
