The Feast of Saint Charles Borromeo follows election day. For parishioners of the faith community that honors him by name, his blessings can serve us as a holy hangover for all that led up to it the past year. There were debates a year ago and primary contests earlier in this calendar, a spring shut-down, […]
Pope Francis recently made a statement that homosexuals, like heterosexuals and all other people, are God’s children and those in civil unions ought to have legal protections and access to health care. This has been interpreted by some as his endorsement, or even encouragement, of same sex marriages. But his comments have far more to […]
There are many Catholics bashing former Vice President Biden as election day draws near, including members of church hierarchy. Perhaps it is simply an effort to even the playing field where the left-leaning media monopoly has been bashing President Trump most days. But more likely, it is merely because Catholics want fellow-Catholics to show a […]
When I touch my lips to the altar at the beginning and ending of Masses, I am connecting our table-celebration on earth with the banquet feasts of heaven. Each Catholic altar-table contains a relic of a saint, usually cemented or encased, in stone. Thus, it becomes a touchstone from this world to the kingdom of […]
When a housefly landed on the pate of Vice President Pence during his debate with Senator Harris earlier this week, people seemed more interested in it than the exchange of ideas that was otherwise taking place on stage that evening. Attracted to hair product, it seemed content to linger as a symbol of the sad […]
In the world of weather, we sometimes get a heavy snowfall in October or a week of “Indian summer.” In the world of sports, an unlikely wildcard team like the 2014 Kansas City Royals can win the American League pennant in October and follow up as World Series champions the next season. In politics, during […]
Within hours of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, zealous right-to-lifers sent petitions to the President, asking that he nominate a judge who would strike down the 1973 Roe vs Wade decision which allows pregnant women to abort their babies. I guess they determined there is no time to mourn when there […]
“When we say that ‘Black Lives Matter’ we are not saying that other lives don’t matter, we are just saying that black people shouldn’t be treated badly or looked at differently because of our skin color.” These words spoken by a young scholar at Borromeo Academy last week to schoolmates helped them to better understand […]
The Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century was based on protests against the establishment church, much as American protests from coast to coast this summer target the establishment government. Protests are often good and healthy to an institutional system, but sometimes they are destructive. The religious protests throughout Europe 500 years ago were well warranted. […]
As we enter the heat and heart of another general election, get ready. People will let loose with their political views and castigate others who do not agree with them. Some will be particularly offensive and critical of church officials for speaking out about the election or for not speaking out about it. Observers claim […]
UPON THIS ROCK 