Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

A very interesting article posted from today's Angelus News email. I encourage everyone to read it.   The Prophetic Nature of the Male Celibate Priesthood The nature of our priesthood being exclusively male and celibate is one of those hot-button issues in the Church with many people, Catholic or not, weighing in with opinions. Putting aside my own personal biases for the moment, this article, as the author states, presents some arguments that are underappreciated, and worth examining. One should never take on an issue without first examining all sides. Only then can one support their case. Far too many issues today are boiled down to ideological soundbites with neither side listening to the other. And as we all should know, especially as Church, context is everything. Even our Holy Father has been preaching this message of context as the avenue toward understanding and compassion. That being said, the nature of our priesthood continues to be an issue ...

One of the beauties of Ordinary Time is the opportunity to “play the long game” when it comes understanding Jesus and his teachings.  We literally journey with Jesus and the Apostles during his mission to spread the Word, and because many of our readings pick up where we left off the previous week, we have an opportunity to learn as we go, much like the Apostles themselves. The Word for the 16 th Sunday of Ordinary Time Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 Psalm: 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16 Romans 8:26-27 Matthew 13:24-43 (OR Matthew 13:24-30) Our first reading comes from the Book of Wisdom.  This book, coming about 50 years before Christ (most likely from the Jewish Community of Alexandria) served, like most of the wisdom books, as a kind of “catechism” for the faithful.  Our passage this week reminds us that God is both mighty and benevolent.  In fact, the text goes to great lengths to say that this might comes from his benevolence.  Not only has God taught us what i...

Posted from today's Angelus News email. Elon Musk Warns Governors: Artificial Intelligence Poses an Existential Risk Wait... isn't this a page dedicated to the Catholic faith? So why all this talk of Elon Musk and Artificial Intelligence? Because it's relevant to our world! In Gaudium et Spes , the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World promulgated by the Second Vatican Council, we are taught that "we must now consider this same Church inasmuch as she exists in the world, living and acting with it." Our faith does not stand outside and se parate from the world we live in, even though we have a tendency to separate our secular lives from our religious lives. Instead we need to recognize that the Church is in and of this world. This isn't anything new. The Church has struggled with what we call "modernity" since the Renaissance (no, this was not just a 20th century issue...). So how does our Faith form us and inform u...

As Catholics we’re taught that we should read the Bible, but how many of us actually do?  The Bible, after all, is not what you would call an “easy read.”  The Bible, the collection of the Sacred Scriptures actually form an integral part of our faith tradition.  This importance was noted in the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Word of God:  Dei Verbum .  Here we are taught that both the Scriptures and our Apostolic Tradition flow “from the same divine wellspring,” and that both are needed for Church teaching.  Our readings this week remind us of the importance of the Scriptures… The Word for the 15 th Sunday of Ordinary Time Isaiah 55:10-11 Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14 Romans 8:18-23 Matthew 13:1-23 Our first reading is from the master story teller of the Hebrew scriptures… Isaiah.  In a short poetic stanza from the time near the end of the Exile (from Deutero-Isaiah), the passage paints a picture of the rain and snow giving...

Last week’s readings focused on what kind of people God wants us to be, reminded us of the blessings he bestows on those of us who extend kindness and hospitality to everyone (regardless of their affiliation).  This week our readings focus on the kind of kingdom God envisions for his people.  Not one of military might or laborious worship, but something much different from what we’ve come to expect… The Word for the 14 th Sunday of Ordinary Time Zechariah 9:9-10 Psalm 145: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14 Romans 8:9, 11-13 Matthew 11:25-30 Our first reading is from the book of the prophet Zechariah.  It is helpful to remember that Zechariah’s prophecy comes from the early post-exile era, around 520 BCE, around the same time as Ezekiel and Ezra, and is attributed to two different authors (1st Zechariah forming Chapters 1-8, 2nd Zechariah forming chapters 9-14).  Our passage for this Sunday comes from 2nd Zechariah with a vision of a restored Jerusalem with a n...

God takes care of his own.  What does that mean?  Put another way, those who love God and show love to others will not be denied their eternal reward.  Our readings this week show us not only what God expects of us as followers, but what rewards could come our way by showing our love to him and one another… The Word for the 13 th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a Psalm 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19 Romans 6:3-4, 8-11 Matthew 10:37-42 Our first reading comes from the 2nd Book of Kings.  The prophet Elisha (student of the great prophet Elijah) has been traveling, so when he enters the town of Shunem, a woman of influence urges him to dine with her.  This eventually became a regular thing, so the woman askes her husband to arrange a small room for him in which he can stay when he comes to town.  Elisha is so moved by this gesture that he feels he must do something for the woman.  Seeing that she had no children, he promises that this...