Ninety-eight years ago, Max Ehrmann wrote the prose poem Desiderata. It begins with the memorable and soothing line, “Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.” This pensive starter gives contrast to the noisy chaos of our hasty world in which it is so easy for us […]
A prayer that priests and other religious pray in the cycle of our daily Liturgy of the Hours (or Office/Breviary) reads: “Lord, you renew the face of the earth announcing unforetold wonders. Through a virgin, you brought forth new birth to our world; through your miracles, new power; through your suffering, new patience; in your […]
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which represents the church’s moral and political views, seems to be at an impasse with the Trump Administration regarding issues of immigration. The irreconcilable differences are rooted in The Catholic Social Teachings, specifically the dignity of personhood that calls us to look at illegal aliens and see, […]
Twentieth century clergyman and author Norman Vincent Peale made famous his Parable of the Prenatal Baby which he first told to a wealthy and powerful aging man who asked him about the mysterious afterlife. He told it not to explain an unknowable reality but to offer us enlightenment through faith, intelligence, and common sense; he […]
Within the Saint Therese Little Flower faith community, parishioners sometimes refer to common Catholics as “pips” or “people in pews.” Many pips are interested in what lies ahead for parishes, worldwide and local, since the election of Pope Leo XIV. There is much speculation based on descriptors of the new pontiff: unifier, multi-cultural, missionary-minded, Christ-centered, […]
As we approach Good Shepherd Sunday, the Catholic Church welcomes our new spiritual father, successor to Peter, and universal shepherd, Pope Leo XIV. Though his predecessor, Francis, was the first American pope and one who reached out to and established the church’s significance in the eastern hemisphere like none before him, Leo is the first […]
The French term for hospital, Hotel-Dieu, translates into English as “House of God.” Usually sponsored by religious groups and often operated by nuns or representatives of the church, hospitals served originally as places of care for the suffering, triage centers for those wounded in battle, and hospice facilities that offer solace and peace to the […]
Michaelangelo Buonarotti’s famous Pieta depicts the lifeless body of Jesus taken down from the cross and placed on his mother’s lap and in her loving arms. The horrific anguish of the scene illustrates that Christ’s rejection, condemnation, and killing by our world fulfilled the prophecy that a sword of great sorrow would pierce Mary’s heart. […]
The world became a better place because it got to know Francis. When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was introduced as the new pope in March of 2013, he reminded us of God’s merciful love and benevolent compassion for every person. As he promised his friends in Latin America, he would not forget the […]
Most of us believe that the Last Supper was a Passover Meal, or Feast of Unleavened Bread—at least that’s the way it is presented in three of the four Gospel accounts. Matthew, Mark, and Luke report it that way, but John offers a different view. In his Gospel, Jesus is crucified the day before the […]
UPON THIS ROCK 