Imagine a tightrope walker maneuvering across the audience in a circus. He has his balance pole and carefully he walks one step in front of the other as he goes from the left side of the arena to the right. Everyone looks up; some crane their necks to see the man who is so daring. [...]
When we baptize a child, we begin by bringing the person out of the chaos. It is a simple movement, but I am not sure people understand how powerful it is. As a priest, I am always aware of the power of that moment. What we do is simply to make the sign of the [...]
I want you to look at the second reading and there you will notice one of the most controversial lists in US Catholicism. What you are reading there from St. Paul are some of what we now call the Charismatic gifts. These are unique realities that involve what some would call a supernatural manifestation in [...]
It is easy to live Christianity by simply attending mass on Sunday and being a nice person the rest of the week. However, true Catholicism is active and it calls people to live in such a way that we show the love of Christ in all that we do.
This does not mean that we do [...]
Several months ago, I had an argument online with a faithful Catholic. The issue was that he had lunch and then went to mass. His devotion was not planned. The priest distributed communion fifty-five minutes after the man finished his lunch and the man decided he could not receive. The Church requires an hour.
I work in several languages and it is my position that all Catholics need to be at least diglots, (speak two languages) if not polyglots (speak more than two.) Many in the United States reject that position. “This is America!” You will hear them say, “Speak English!” This is not a Catholic position but a secular US position. Indeed, as Catholics if we only speak English then we close ourselves to the way of international fellowship with those who worship as we do.