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Articles
Sacraments and the Sixth Sunday of Easter
Someone once said to me, “I don’t need a priest to forgive my sins. I go directly to God.” I shuddered, hoping that he didn’t realize the import of what he was saying, for...
Articles
A Meditation for Good Friday: How To Undo the Effects of Sin?
Cardinal Newman, now Saint John Henry Newman, was a towering figure of nineteenth-century Catholicism who is almost universally admired. I say “almost” because not everyone likes him. I knew a priest once, Arthur Caulkins,...
Articles
A Meditation for Palm Sunday: The Passion according to Mark
In Scripture, a single phrase can open the way to a profound insight into the message of the mysteries of the faith. A striking instance is found in the account of the passion from...
Articles
The Message of the Presentation
Are there passages from the Bible that frighten you, or at least make you think twice about yourself and your behaviour? Thomas Merton—a well-known religious figure of a generation ago—was made uneasy by Matthew...
Articles
The Real Holy Family
It has always been difficult for the homilist to preach on the feast of the Holy Family. In the old days, the priest would deliver a string of platitudes about loving mothers, provident fathers...
Articles
Christ the King
An Irish bull is a statement that is, strictly speaking, illogical and yet whose meaning is somehow clear. Yogi Berra, a baseball player of another generation, was famous for them, as when he said,...
Film reviews
Noah’s Ark as Spaceship
Noah (2014)
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Written by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel
Has there ever been a successful adaptation of an episode from the Bible in a film? Probably not, and for a good reason. The artistic genius...
Articles
The Paradox of Parables
You have just heard one of the parables of Jesus, quite a complicated one. It accomplishes what a parable is supposed to do: it teases the imagination. Who was that king, and how could...
