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Articles
Holy Thursday: The Institution of the Holy Eucharist
The most vital characteristic of our Catholic faith is not its external organization that has of late, thanks to Pope Francis, attracted the attention of the media. What makes us flourish, if flourish we...
Articles
Venantius and his Vexilla
Vexilla regis prodeunt;Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The banners of the king come forth;
fulget crucis mysterium,                    brightly gleams the mystery of the cross
quo carne carnis conditor                  by which the creator of...
Articles
Jane Austen’s Sensible Conscience
It’s hard to contain my pleasure or my surprise at the continuing interest in Jane Austen. The more-or-less successful adaptations of her books for film and television as well as a library of offshoot...
Articles
A True Fairy Tale
We have heard that “God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform,” a phrase that occurred to me as I listened to the account of David’s being anointed as king. Surprisingly, according to...
Articles
Blessedness and Lectio Divina
Our Church's tradition has promoted the practice of lectio divina, i.e., a meditative reading of Scripture. We would do well to follow in these footsteps by examining the Beatitudes, today’s Gospel, which open the...
Articles
Approaching Perfection with Mary
A clever writer once observed that Jesus never made the mistake of qualifying any of his statements: “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” What can that mean, for, as Jesus said,...
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Old Saints and Staying the Course
There is something attractive about the figure of Zacchaeus, isn’t there? He’s exuberant and also uninhibited. Imagine a man of his importance climbing a tree to catch a glimpse Jesus over the heads of...
Articles
The Demands of the Christian Life
The Gospel of Luke combines inexpressible tenderness with an intolerable severity. Consider the contrast between the parables of the prodigal son or the good Samaritan with the harsh words in today’s Gospel: “I do...
