One of the joys (and chores) of a Catholic priest is to hear confessions. I say "chore" because it is tiring to sit there for hours listening to what seems the same old stuff. I realize that for the penitent it is a guilty and often shameful worry and a great relief to make one's confession [...]
The contemporary church slogan "All Are Welcome" is certainly warm but it is not only warm, it is fuzzy. On the one hand "All Are Welcome" shouldn't even need to be stated. It should be part of any church's basic self understanding. Saying "All are Welcome" always strikes me as just a little bit creepy. I'm [...]
Some time ago it hit me that I was a regular liar. It was just the little things--an excuse here, a "white" lie there, an easy way out and a tiny lie to save face. It hit me when I went to a parish meeting. I was wasting time on social media and did not allow [...]
With the latest restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass from Cardinal Roche what will be the response from those who are devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass? Allow me to reflect on something called "subversive obedience". When I was a student at a certain Protestant fundamentalist university in the 1970s we were obliged to observe a [...]
Conservative Evangelical members of the Church of England are pretty displeased with the Church of England's General Synod vote to bless same sex marriage. Their dilemma is real. How do they live in a church where they believe their opponents are heretics while their opponents believe them to be guilty of pastoral abuse for not accepting [...]
A: The Church of England is the Church of England. In other words, it is not the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It is not the Church IN England, It is not a branch of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It is not a subset or a division or a reformed arm of [...]
In a recent article for National Catholic Reporter, Jesuit NuChurch priest, Thomas Reese said he didn't believe in transubstantiation because it was an out of date concept which was impossible for anyone to understand who hadn't studied Aristotelian metaphysics. Now "Aristotelian metaphysics" is itself a nice juicy long word and one which is easily used to [...]
If you want to understand why the Catholic Church in America is in such a dire condition, here is the explanation. Thomas Reese SJ is a kind of high priest of NuChurch--that version of Catholicism which dominates the contemporary American Catholic establishment. Father Reese lays out the problem very clearly when he admits that he doesn't [...]
Sometimes on Twitter I will post: "Twitter: to educate, entertain and annoy". The social media platform is excellent for reproducing or creating thought provoking, punchy and pithy statements. Unfortunately a tweet is limited. Ambiguities proliferate. Misunderstandings abound. This is amplified by the fact that Twitter reaches a global audience. This is like flying an airplane banner [...]
I wrote yesterday here on the Church of England's debate on same sex marriage in church, and one of the strands of my post was about the use of Scripture. On pondering further it seems worthwhile to share a few thoughts on how to read Scripture. To understand how to read the Bible it is worth [...]