When young couples ask me to come to their church to officiate their wedding ceremony, I explain to them that we, priests, need to be invited in and granted permission by the pastor who has jurisdictional oversight for the parish. One of them responded, “Oh, you mean like a vampire.” Yes, I guess it is […]
Jacob, one of the most famous biblical characters in one of the most famous biblical scenes, wrestles with God (Genesis 32). It is a game-changer and a name-changer in his life. His opponent appears as a stranger in the darkness of night. The stranger, we’re initially told, is a messenger of God in human form; […]
Repressed memories are a significant topic in our modern time. My earliest memories go back to when I was four or five years old. Most people I’ve talked to about it are able to remember events earlier than that—some claim to even have memories of being in their mother’s womb. I wish it were possible […]
Everything in The Holy Bible is true but not everything contained therein is accurate. The first two chapters of Genesis give conflicting stories of creation; each is true but they can’t both be accurate. Like the thirty-six-year-old account that haunts Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, many people recall stories from teenage years from perspectives […]
This is, no doubt, an awfully difficult period in the history of Catholicism. Whether the church implodes at this time because of our scandals and sins, or limps along into the future in spite of them, one thing is immensely clear: this ecclesial institution cannot continue to operate in the future as it has in […]
Kansas City area readers have been immensely helpful to me during my two years at Saint Charles Borromeo (SCB) Parish. If any of you are available and interested in joining me and this parish community for a party to celebrate, please gather with us next Saturday, September 22, for the 4:00 Mass, followed by a […]
When Mother Teresa of Calcutta was once asked about tearing down walls, she responded by saying that it begins with you and me. Maybe the questioner had in mind the walls that the church has built to protect itself, or walls of clericalism that many Catholics hit but cannot break through, or walls listing endless […]
