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We Catholics believe that a cemetery is holy ground because it is where the body rests until it is reunited with the soul at resurrection.
Caring for a cemetery requires skill and grace. I learned this as a boy and even more as a pastor.
Category: Columns
Our Lady of the Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto
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Word on Fire
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In October, the Church commemorates the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a celebration that has its origin not, as it would seem, in simply a prayer, but in a battle.
On October 7, 1571, a fleet of ships assembled by the combined forces of Naples, Sardinia, Venice, the Papacy, Genoa, Savoy, and the Knights Hospitallers fought an intense battle with the fleet of the Ottoman Empire.
Be not afraid — we’re in this together
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| Sr. Constance Veit, LSP |
Each October we observe Respect Life Month in dioceses around the United States.
This year’s theme is “Be Not Afraid,” but of what, or whom, are we supposed to not be afraid?
Pondering this question, I recalled an experience I had while attending the Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando last summer.
Respect life at every stage of development
In 1972, Respect Life Month was initiated by the American Catholic bishops. It is observed yearly during October in United States Catholic dioceses and stresses the value and dignity of human life.
When is it a sin to make a referral?
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During World War II, if a contractor had been asked to construct a building knowing that it would serve as a gas chamber in Auschwitz, it goes without saying that he ought not agree to do it.
Mass begins as an encounter with Jesus
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As many Catholics know, the Second Vatican Council famously referred to the liturgy as the “source and summit of the Christian life.” And following the prompts of the great figures of the liturgical movement in the first half of the 20th century, the Council Fathers called for a fuller, more conscious, and more active participation in the liturgy on the part of Catholics.
A world awash with weapons — there’s a better way
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If someone’s house was on fire, would you pour gasoline on it? Well, the answer is obvious: Of course you wouldn’t.
Yet that is very similar to what the United States and many other more economically developed nations are doing.
U.S. leading way
Despite the tragic fact that approximately 40 current armed conflicts worldwide are causing over 150,000 deaths annually, countless serious injuries, untold destruction, and 28,300 people per day fleeing from their homes, many of the wealthiest countries continue to pour flammable weapons into these volatile conflicts. And the U.S. is leading the pack. (see: http://bit.ly/2ufpP5Y).
Mother! and the God of the Bible
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Spoiler Alert! This column reveals details of a newly released film.
Darren Aronofsky’s latest film Mother! has certainly stirred up a storm, and no wonder. It features murder, point-blank executions, incinerations, and the killing and devouring of a child. I know: pleasant evening at the movies.
Mother! will seem just deeply weird unless you see it as a fairly straightforward allegory. Once you crack the code, it will make a certain sense, though the message it is trying to convey is, at best, pretty ambiguous.
Being thankful for humbling moments
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel on the way to Urgent Care.
In the rearview mirror, I glanced constantly at my daughter, who rested her head gingerly on a pillow in the backseat.
For days, she’d complained that her head hurt off and on, but this day when I picked her up from school, her face was ashen and her eyes held a fevered look, though there was no fever.
I could tell there was something wrong, and I feared the worst.
George Weigel’s Lessons in Hope
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George Weigel’s latest book, Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II, is the third panel in a great triptych he has composed in honor of the most consequential Catholic figure of the second half of the 20th century.
While the first two books — Witness to Hope and The End and the Beginning — are marked by careful analysis and thousands of footnotes, this last volume is more personal, filled with anecdotes and stories about the author’s many encounters with John Paul over the years.