by Father Thomas Catania SOME OF YOU, like me, may have been born under the sign of the “crab,” in late June through mid-July. I know this makes us “water people,” but I do not know whether it makes us crabby. I do know that summer’s heat and humidity can bring out the crab in […]
Sunday Scriptures
Silent Moments Enable Us To Hear the Clarion Call
by Father Thomas Catania I write these columns too far in advance to be able to speak to this summer’s weather; in fact, I write them far enough in advance to be only too mindful of this past winter’s weather, of which the less said in a religious journal, the better. But it seems that […]
He Answers All of Our Needs
by Father John P. Cush IN THE SEMINARY, I had a professor for homiletics named Father John Burke. Father Burke was a Dominican Friar who would come to the North American College in the month of September and run an intensive pastoral workshop for the seminarians on preaching. Not only focusing in on the stylistic […]
Are We People of Justice, Peace and Joy?
by Father John P. Cush FOR THE PAST few weeks, we have been proclaiming the Gospel from the 13th chapter of the Evangelist Matthew. Today we conclude this Gospel which has given us so much on which to reflect during these hazy days of summer. Jesus continues His use of parables to get His message […]
Let the Seed Take Root in Our Lives
by Father John P. Cush AS I WRITE this, I am congested. I must have sneezed 57 times in a row today, so afflicted am I with allergies. The great outdoors is no place for me. All I seem to do when faced with the beauty of nature is tear up: not overcome with the […]
Our Gospel Is Ever Ancient, Ever New
by Father John Cush When I was a seminarian at the North American College in Rome, one of the week’s biggest events was Tuesday night formation. The seminary program in Rome is slightly different than most major seminaries in the U.S. The academic formation was done at one of the pontifical universities. Most of us […]
How Seriously Do You Take the Call?
by Sister Patricia Berliner, C.S.J. IN THE LAST few weeks, we have been walking with the disciples through a holy boot camp. Losing their bravado softened them and made pathways for new ideas, beliefs and behaviors. Finally, it all started to come together and they began to see themselves, others, Jesus, and God the Father-figure […]
Go With God and Be a Blessing
By Sister Patricia Berliner, C.S.J. In last week’s readings, we saw the disciples faced with probably the most frightening experience of their lives. Having seen Jesus, the Messiah they were awaiting, crucified, they gathered together in the upper room, awaiting the day of Pentecost, maybe praying, maybe schmoozing, maybe eating or snoozing when, out of nowhere, the room was […]
Inspired by the Spirit, Renew the Face of the Earth
by Sister Patricia Berliner, C.S.J. COME, O HOLY Spirit, Come. The entrance antiphon for this week’s readings is: “The love of God has been poured into our hearts by God’s spirit living in us.” In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that when the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were […]
Paraclete Drives Humanity to God
By Fr. Thomas Catania HAD HE BEEN ABLE to foresee the proliferation of lawyer jokes in subsequent centuries, John the Evangelist might not have been so quick to transpose his insight into what the abiding presence of the Risen Jesus meant to believers into lawyer-ly terms. For, although it is open to a variety of […]