3 Minute Retreat Mondays
I am honored and pleased to have been invited by Loyola Press to contribute a series of reflections based on their 3 Minute Retreats for the Mondays of Lent. My first reflection will be posted on Monday; other authors will be contributing their own reflections for each of the 40 days, beginning with an introductory reflection tomorrow by Fr. James Martin, SJ. The easiest way to access all the retreats and reflections is by submitting your email address, through the 3 Minute Retreat web site, or via their Facebook page. I will be posting my...
read moreThe priest forgives sins
During 1937, in Alicante, a young Spaniard of Nationalist sympathies had been caught while trying to board a foreign ship, and lay in prison under sentence of death. Earnestly he was praying, not for release, but to get confession and absolution before he died. On the night before his execution the cell-door opened and an old man dressed as a pedlar was thrown in. ‘Get in here,’ said the jailer. ‘Tomorrow you’ll have the cell to yourself.’ The first prisoner lay watching the new-comer take off his shoes and cloak,...
read more2012 Catholic Parish Website of the Year Award
I’m happy to be one of the judges for Catholic Tech Talk’s 2012 Parish Website of the Year award! From the announcement: Is your church effectively leveraging its website as a communication tool? Are you proud of your website? Or know of a shining example that deserves promotion? If so, this contest is for you! The contest is being sponsored by Liturgical Publications with awards going to the top 3 websites submitted. There’s no cost to submit your website and it will only take a few minutes of your time. For more information on...
read more“We need a form.”
Since worship, along with the other central mysteries of our human existence, outstrips our own spontaneous attempts at responding adequately to the event at hand, we all find the help we need in words and movements handed down to us by wise tradition. Oh, to be sure, the Father whom we invoke is, like any father, delighted with whatever halting, lisping, stammering efforts we direct to him from our hearts. He does not sit as critic when we come to his knee. But when we come to the business of regular, recurrent, public worship, then we are...
read moreBook Review: If Your Mind Wanders at Mass
Shortly before Christmas I participated in a Secret Santa exchange on my favorite book cataloging site, LibraryThing. I can only assume that the administrators of the exchange picked people due to common interests, because I was paired with a lovely young Catholic woman who picked out a copy of Thomas Howard’s If Your Mind Wanders at Mass for me. The book is deceptively short at 124 pages, but filled with wonderful reflections on liturgical participation, the parts of the Mass, and the importance of corporate worship. Dr. Howard...
read moreVLCFF Course – Introduction to Practical Morality
I’m happy to announce that registration is open for an online course I will be facilitating next month for the University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF): Introduction to Practical Morality (February 26 through March 31, 2012) – “This course is designed to provide participants with knowledge of the foundations of moral theology and conscience formation. A focal point for the course will be an understanding of the human being’s relationship with God who created us in His image and...
read moreCatechesis and the RCIA: Purification and Enlightenment
This is the fifth post in a series on the theological connections between the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and catechesis in the Catholic Church. Previous posts gave an overview of the series, explored the characteristics of the RCIA, and addressed the precatechumenate and the catechumentate. Theological Underpinnings The Period of Purification and Enlightenment is the shortest of the four periods of the RCIA, coinciding with the 40 days of Lent. During this period the elect prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery at the Easter...
read more“The witness of Christian life given by parents”
The witness of Christian life given by parents in the family comes to children with tenderness and parental respect. Children thus perceive and joyously live the closeness of God and of Jesus made manifest by their parents in such a way that this first Christian experience frequently leaves decisive traces which last throughout life. This childhood religious awakening which takes place in the family is irreplaceable. It is consolidated when, on the occasion of certain family events and festivities, “care is taken to explain in the home...
read more“Today’s pupils are accustomed to…”
In my basement where my computer is set up home office, I have a shelf filled with a number of older catechetical texts. Some of these were given to me by friends and family; some were rescued from the dustbin at work. All were published before the Second Vatican Council, and despite their age, there is still wisdom to be found in them. A few weeks ago I was flipping through the Confraternity Teacher’s Guide: A Textbook for the Training of Teachers in CCD Schools of Religion (written by the Very Rev. Joseph B. Collins, SS, in 1960) and...
read more“This is what education is all about…”
I have been told that most of you come from Catholic high schools. For this reason I would like to say something about Catholic education, to tell you why the Church considers it so important and expends so much energy in order to provide you and millions of other young people with a Catholic education. The answer can be summarized in one word, in one person, Jesus Christ. The Church wants to communicate Christ to you. This is what education is all about, this is the meaning of life: to know Christ. To know Christ as a friend: as someone who...
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