The Christmas Novena of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri
On December 16, we begin the Christmas Novena. In these nine days of reflection this Novena will take us up to Christmas Eve, December...
God and the Five Senses
A priest I knew many years ago opposed to the move from Latin to English in the prayers and readings at Mass. “For,” he...
On the Jaws of Death and the Gates of Heaven
Dietrich von Hildebrand (1889-1977) was a Catholic convert, philosopher, and theologian whose deep thinking prepared him during his long life for fruitful meditations on...
Second Sunday of Lent, and Seeing Beyond Our Eyes
Are old people wise? Have they learned anything from experience? Or are they all curmudgeons, continually grumbling about the young generation and contrasting it...
Saint Mark and the Resurrection
At Easter Sunday Mass, you heard the closing verses of Saint Mark’s Gospel, or almost so. I say “almost” because our lectionary omits the...
Karl Stern on Psychiatry and Religion
“On the deepest, ontological level, it is true that where there is Neurosis there is something wrong with Faith, Hope, and Charity.” Karl Stern
Karl...
Come, Let us Adore Him
All ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces (Lk. 9:17).As we celebrate the Solemnity of...
Fourth Sunday of Lent: Siloam and Spiritual Blindness
Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light – for the fruit of the light...
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...
Long Live Buckfast Abbey
I begin this reflection from the beautiful and prayerful grounds of Buckfast Abbey, not far from the coast at Brixham, where I have been...