by Father Ronan Murphy
Mary is the true Star of Bethlehem or Christmas Star, because she is the one who leads us to Jesus. “Ad Jesus per Miriam’”(To Jesus through Mary).
Guest Columnists
The Well-Fought Fight
The incorporation of Anglican hymnody into English-language Catholic worship is one of the great blessings of the past 50 years. And within that noble musical patrimony, Ralph Vaughan Williams surely holds pride of place among modern composers.
Give Some Books For Christmas
Resist the twitterization of thought — give books for Christmas! The following titles will delight, instruct, edify (or all of the above).
A Last Chance for Australian Justice
My late parents loved Cardinal George Pell, whom they knew for decades. So I found it a happy coincidence that, on Nov. 12 (which would have been my parents’ 70th wedding anniversary), a two-judge panel of Australia’s High Court referred to the entire Court the cardinal’s request for “special leave” to appeal his incomprehensible conviction on charges of “historic sexual abuse,” and the even-more-incomprehensible denial of his appeal against that manifestly unsafe verdict.
The Reformed Liturgy, 50 Years Later
Fifty years ago, on Nov. 30, 1969, the Catholic Church marked the First Sunday of Advent with the universal implementation of the revised Roman Rite of the Mass, approved by Pope Paul VI in response to the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.
Why Did the Wall Fall, 30 Years Ago?
November 9 marked the 30th anniversary of the peaceful breach of the Berlin Wall — the symbolic high point of the Revolution of 1989, which would be completed seven weeks later by the fall of the Czechoslovak communist regime and Vaclav Havel’s election as Czech’s president.
As Advent Approaches, Remember Missionary Work
One of the gifts summer brings is all but finished: the diocese-wide Summer Mission Appeals made by missionaries who come from around the globe. You may remember a missionary priest, sister or layperson who spoke at your parish earlier this year. There is one more appeal left to be made — at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Ridgewood, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
Msgr. Flood, a Role Model For All 62 Years of Priesthood
by Peter J. Purpura Sr.
Ordained June 1, 1957, Msgr. William (Bill) Flood is now in his 63rd year as a priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn. His vocation can be traced back to growing up in Blessed Sacrament Parish in Jackson Heights, followed by Bishop Loughlin H.S. in Fort Greene.
The ‘Synodality’ Masquerade
During the 2001 Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who’d suffered through a lot of synodal speechifying and small-group discussions over the years, made a trenchant observation: “Jesus Christ didn’t intend his Church to be governed by a committee.” Indeed.
Our Lady and Souls In Purgatory
In November, we commemorate the Holy Souls in purgatory. The existence of purgatory — where all those souls who die in the state of sanctifying grace and yet still have to undergo a period of purgation before entering the kingdom of God, because according to Scriptures nothing sin tainted will enter heaven — is a dogma of our Catholic faith.