Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
Praying the Rosary: A Journey Through Scripture and Art Fr. Denis McBride, CSsR Liguori Publications $19.99 Meditating on the rosary—one of our most sacred devotions—we are invited to look, to listen, and to look again. We are encouraged not simply to recite prescribed prayers but to move beyond our recitation,...
I found the cover of the March issue of Liguorian very troubling: A man is sitting on the floor of an Episcopal Church in a labyrinth. Inside the magazine, a short blurb states: “Walking the labyrinth is recognized as a form of meditation. The three common stages are purgation (releasing), illumination (receiving), and union (returning).” The logic of this statement escapes me: “releasing,” “receiving,” and “returning” what? That...
Healing the pain of abortion, one weekend at a time Editor Elizabeth Herzing interviews representatives from Rachel’s Vineyard of Colorado on their ministry and mission. Q. What is your mission? Rachel’s Vineyard of Colorado is an affiliate of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries—the world’s largest international post-abortion-healing program. The ministry has grown...
By: Richard Mark Dixon Underwear, shirts, socks, and school uniforms hung on a wire between two willows. Empty feet and legs opened and kicked with wind as if waiting for flesh and bone to fill them once again. Our church van drove past the waving toes and collars and parked...
The man was irritating, Clara thought as she put canvas bags of groceries into the cart she kept in her trunk. When she was thinking about buying a condo at this location, she had asked if it had a nice-sized pantry. “The pantry is huge, Mrs. Geraghty,” the real estate...
The Icon In 1968, while the Soviet Union gripped his part of the world, a courageous Redemptorist Ukrainian bishop named Vasyl Velychkovsky, CSsR, wrote a book titled A History of the Miraculous Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. He wrote this book for the centennial of the presentation of...
I remember watching an elementary-school principal deal with a child who was sent to the office for bad behavior. She asked the youngster, “Do you know what you did?” Tearfully, without hesitation, the child answered, “Yes, I’m bad.” The principal countered saying, “No, you’re not bad. You just did a bad...
We live in a world where science reveals wonders as distant as the far reaches of the universe and as intimate as the center of our own DNA. We prize knowledge and revere those who help us reach greater understanding of the world and ourselves. It is a good thing...
When Pope Francis announced the start of the Year of the Consecrated Life last November, he set forth three aims: To look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion, and to embrace the future with hope. While these aims were announced in the context of celebrating...
If a young adult in your life is preparing to fly the coop and soar into college life, check out the advice of this seasoned dad. OK! Sweetheart, I see you’re all packed and ready for your very first day of college. I notice I didn’t have to beg you...
When I was a student at Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH, my faith gradually came to life. Already I had a good sacramental life. I participated in the eucharistic celebration every day, experienced reconciliation weekly, and studied the Catechism. In short, I was a good Catholic. But at the university I had the opportunity to...
I’ve recently been reading Laudato Si’ (praise be to you, my Lord), Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. It’s an extraordinary document that gives us, as Catholics, some hard assignments. Encyclicals are detailed, thoughtful letters from the pope that are intended to guide addressees in making decisions. This encyclical is...
In an extraordinary reversal of centuries of anti-Semitism and intolerance, the Catholic Church officially repudiated “hatred, persecutions, [and] displays of anti-Semitism directed against Jews at any time and by anyone” in the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 declaration, Nostra Aetate, Latin for “in our time.” In October, Jews and Catholics will...
By: Andrew L. Minto, PhD Patiently?” she asked. “Yes,” I replied, “the virtue of patience is how one bears the wrongs that have been done to us.” “So if I am being patient, then what am I waiting for? What is supposed to happen when you are patient? And why...