by Effie Caldarola
THE TALL, GOOD-looking priest had the craggy profile prompting the comment, “He had the map of Ireland written all over his face.”
Guest Columnists
Being Mistaken for a Priest Was a Sign
VERY OFTEN people will ask me why I chose to become a priest. My answer is that God chose me first (John 15:16). Let me share with you a story that helped me in my discernment.
Which Reformation? What Reform?
Despite the formulation you’ll hear before and after the October 31 quincentenary of Luther’s 95 theses, there was no single “Reformation” to which the Catholic “Counter-Reformation” was the similarly univocal response. Rather, as Yale historian Carlos Eire shows in his eminently readable and magisterial work, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450 – 1650, there were multiple, contending reformations in play in the first centuries of modernity.
Whose Bourgeois Morality
IN THE LATEST debate over “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on marriage and family, a fervent defender of the document sniffed at some critics that “the Magisterium doesn’t bow to middle-class lobbies” and cited “Humanae Vitae” as an example of papal tough-mindedness in the face of bourgeois cultural pressures. It was a clever move, rhetorically, and we may hope that it’s right about the magisterial kowtow. I fear it also misses the point – or better, several points.
What Would Be Said of Your Life’s Pilgrimage
A FEW YEARS ago I came across a paper I wrote in high school. The topic was, “If you were a pilgrim in ‘The Canterbury Tales,’ what would be said of you?”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church at 25
JOHN PAUL II called the Extraordinary Synod of 1985 to assess what had gone right and what had gone wrong in two decades of implementing the Second Vatican Council. In Vaticanese, it was styled “extraordinary” because it fell outside the normal sequence of synods. But Synod-1985 was extraordinary in the ordinary sense of the word, too.
Growing As a Family Within the Parish
by Lisa Mills
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION parish of Astoria has been a blessing to my family. As a mother of three children, I believe all children should have love, guidance and nurturing from the parents and their parish community. From birth, children learn kindness, compassion and morality through their parents. I also believe in the importance for spiritual guidance to be introduced shortly after.
Process of Discernment Demands Silence
by Father Sean Suckiel
When one hears the word “discernment”, one automatically thinks it is for those who only want to be priests or religious or, that discernment is about decision making about one’s vocation. That’s wrong.
A Challenge for Catholic Men of Good Will
by John Fitzgerald
IN 1492, a young 40-year-old mariner set sail on an uncharted course to find a new route to India. Christopher Columbus and his brave crew left Spain with three ships and an incredible amount of faith. Man plans and God changes the course. There was to be no India but the New World of America would be opened to the explorers of Europe.
An Evolving Relationship With God
by Antonina Zielinska
In the days leading up to marriage, I tried to ready myself for how my relationships would change. Who would I be now as a daughter or a professional?