Easter Joy
Every year I have the privilege of being a lector at the Easter Vigil. It is the highlight of my liturgical year, to be sure, and the solemn warmth of the candlelight that slowly fills the church at the beginning…
Category Feast Day
The Feast of the Chair of St Peter: What’s so Important About a Chair?
Liturgical Chairs have been an interest of mine for several years. It may seem strange, but how we see the chair of the presider says a lot about how we see the role of the priesthood, and especially the role…
Why Abstain?
Over the past few weeks I’ve been wrestling with the realization that I no longer appreciate feasts. I became poignantly aware of this last Christmas. It was not that I wasn’t enjoying the day, but rather that it felt no…
The Compassion of Brother André
“The two aspects of a miracle are therefore God’s compassion for human suffering and faith in God’s presence in our lives. Brother André prayed the stations of the cross every day because he saw in Jesus the God who shared…
The Light at the Heart of Epiphany
When news slows down over the Christmas season, media outlets often resort to seasonal stock stories. A classic piece asks astronomers about the star that led the wise men to Bethlehem. Was it a comet? A meteor or supernova? As engaging as…
St. John of the Cross: Spirituality and Silence in the Modern World
According to St. John of the Cross, God speaks in silence. The challenge for us is to learn how to speak his language. “It is best to learn to silence the faculties and cause them to be still, so that…
Our Lady of Guadalupe: An Immigrant Church
Today Catholics across the Americas celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. While the day commemorates Saint Juan Diego’s vision of Mary in 1531, it also celebrates a deeper reality, that of the Church’s catholicity. While the Church had…