Today we had a tour of Mexico City--I'm afraid I pre-judged it by the junky jumble around the airport. The downtown area is much like a modern Italian or French city...a cathedral, a cathedral square (apparently the third largest after Tiananmen Square in China and Red Square in Moscow.) Little cafes, posh shops and crowds of [...]
God connects the dots and we should always listen carefully to opportunities that arise or invitations that are offered. So last Autumn I was invited to take part in a Writer's and Artist's Retreat in San Francisco to take place in June. I hesitated because, after my stroke a few years ago, I'm slowing down. I [...]
In a post on X-Twitter one of our Cardinals asked for prayers as all the bishops meet together to discuss the causes of poverty. That they need to discuss this and don't already have the answers is rather disconcerting. Kind of like a group of dentists getting together to figure out the causes of toothache. Well, [...]
In today's gospel (Mark 3: 20-35) Jesus explains the unforgivable sin. The Pharisees, having witnessed Jesus performing an exorcism, said he did it by the "Power of Beelzebub"--or Satan. Jesus challenges them with two parables--a kingdom set against itself and a thief needing to bind a strong man before he robs him. He then says the [...]
On social media I seem to get an increasing number of links to blog posts, X-Twitter posts, articles and memes that rant and rage about the failures of Christians and the failure of the church. It could be hatchet jobs on famous Christians showing how they were secret Nazis, anti-Semites, white supremacists, homo or trans phobes, [...]
I should preface this by saying that when I was in college I told the Lord I would go anywhere and do anything for him, but not Central America. I wanted to avoid hot temperature, hot tempers and hot tacos. But the Lord has a way of getting you on the return. So after spending 25 [...]
Some years ago I was flattered by the attentions of a New York literary agent who wanted to get me as one of his clients. I had floated the idea of a book on married Catholic priests, and the proposal reached his desk. He called me and flew me up to New York for lunch in [...]
One of the controversies that troubled the early church and still divides Christians today is the full understanding and acceptance of the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks who say doctrine doesn't matter and "All that really matters is how much you love Jesus" miss the obvious previous question, "Yes, but who is Jesus?" In [...]
There is a certain type of non-Catholic Christian warrior who populates X-Twitter with challenges to the Catholic doctrines and devotions with "Where is THAT in the Bible?" This challenge is understandable given the Protestant's foundational belief in sola Scriptura--the Protestant trust in the Bible alone. Given that underlying belief it is understandable that many elements of [...]
We don’t know much about St Matthias except that one of the first things Peter does in the Acts of the Apostles is to get the others together to select a successor to Judas. Thus the foundation of what we know as “apostolic succession” is established as one of the foundational acts of the Apostles in [...]