Is Jesus really your king? A homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King…
On the feast of Christ the King, we are called to acknowledge that Jesus is in fact our King. It is one thing to say that He is our King because the song in Church says so, or the preacher says so, or the Bible says so (yes, faith does come by hearing), but it […]
Why the Catholic Church is always so behind the times…
A teenager recently asked me, “Why does the Catholic Church have ideas so behind the times?” It was a written question submitted alongside other students’ “Questions for Father.” The question reflected the young person’s doubts and I’m glad that it was asked, because after some reflection and with the help of grace I gave what […]
Banning (or allowing) religion-related groups? Not so fast!…
One of our news stories yesterday was headlined “41 countries ban religion-related groups”. The story observes that the highest percentage of countries which restrict religion in this way are in the “Middle East-North Africa” region and the “Asia and the Pacific” region. Owing to Islam and Communism, this is hardly surprising.
A deep dive into modern parish culture…
Trying to change the culture of an organization can be likened to the punishment of Sisyphus. If you remember Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a cruel and crafty king. Twice cheating death and getting the better of the gods, he was punished by Zeus to eternally roll a boulder up a mountain only to have it […]
There is a vast realm of reality that we cannot see, hear, taste, touch or smell…
The illustration for this post shows the range of light waves and the tiny proportion of which is visible. A similar chart for sound waves shows the tiny range of waves which are audible to the human ear. There is much more “out there” than we can perceive with our physical senses. The aptly named […]
Good or bad? Top cardiologist gives verdict on chocolate, coffee and wine…
Dark chocolate is a “joy” when it comes to keeping your heart healthy, coffee is likely protective, but wine is at best “neutral”, according to one of the world’s leading cardiologists.
A failed star known as “The Accident” is changing the way we look at the galaxy…
There’s a newly observed object in the sky called WISEA J153429.75-104303.3 — more affectionately known as “The Accident.” The Accident is a brown dwarf, a ball of gas that never quite grew large enough to start nuclear fusion and become a star — but it’s cold, strange, and unlike any other brown dwarf we’ve seen. […]
Can Pope Francis make lemonade from the lemons of a rough week?
Every leader has stretches he or she probably would like to forget. Mid-August, for instance, was one of those times for US President Joe Biden, as the chaos of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan sent his poll numbers into a death spiral from which he still hasn’t recovered. For Pope Francis, though not quite on […]
Exorcist says sacraments are more powerful than rite of exorcism: “The most powerful thing the Church offers to cast out demons is the confessional”…
“If there’s anyone listening to this who has not been to confession recently, you should definitely go. … The most powerful thing that the Church offers to cast out demons is the confessional. Plus Mass, of course, and the Eucharist. So, go to confession,” said Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, Ph.D., author of “Diary of an […]
Pope’s Sunday Angelus: “Christ Is Not Like Other Kings — He Is a King for Others”…
Pope Francis said on Sunday that Christ is “not like other kings, but he is a King for others.” In his Angelus address on Nov. 21, the feast of Christ the King, the pope underlined that Jesus’ kingship is “completely different” than that of worldly rulers.