I was very conscious that if I said ’yes’ my life would change in a radical way, says Bishop Paul Dempsey At the age of 18, I made the decision to enter the seminary. Some might think, “God, that was a very young time to become a priest.” Of course, I wasn’t becoming a priest…
Whether our hopes for this summer have been fulfilled or not, the season is waning. Most kids have returned to school, and the full force of the fall calendar is poised to kick in. All we can do now is hope that whatever rest and recreation we managed to get will be enough to draw…
Every week my sons stand in the pew at Mass. Like stairsteps, all five in a row by age and height. Or like a motley crew, mixed together by shapes and sizes. Five boys in the midst of becoming men. They are the reason why the short line tucked within the Nicene Creed catches me…
St Bernadette gives hope to young people facing the challenge of discerning their future, says Fr Barry White Lourdes has always been a place of prayer and healing in my family, especially during times of suffering and illness. My journey with Lourdes began in childhood, inspired by books and the 1943 film The Song of…
Assuming that only atoms and forces exist, you’ll miss out on things like beauty, truth and love says Br Guy Consolmagno “What do I do if science tells me one thing, but religion tells me another thing? Which do I believe?” There’s a false assumption at the centre of that question, because neither science nor…
Kenneth Craycraft The Book of Genesis explains that God created the universe by His word alone, speaking the world into existence. As we read throughout the first chapter of Genesis, “God said, ‘Let there be … ‘” And as God reflected on the six days of creation, He looked upon his work, and “found it…
Sr Hosea Rupprecht One day, I was at the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a bright, sunny day and the ocean was sparkling. On my way home, I spotted a few empty parking spots along the side of the road and, totally on a whim, pulled into one. I rolled up that window but kept…
The activity of preaching flows from an intimate encounter with the living Word, says Fr Kevin O’Reilly OP There are certain similarities between the world in which St Dominic de Guzman lived and our own world. St Dominic founded the Order of Preachers in response to the Albigensian/Cathar heresy, a heresy that flourished not least…
The world is hyperventilating like I’ve never seen it before. Particularly for anyone who watches broadcast news (I don’t) or participates in social media platforms (sadly, I do), the world has been coming at us like one of those egregious music videos where images and scenes are fast-cut and flashing by so quickly you can…
Cardinal Timothy Dolan You’ve seen those ‘bulletin bloopers.’ I enjoy them. Here’s one: “The topic for next week’s sermon will be ‘What will hell be like? Come early and listen to the choir.’” Thank God that can’t be said about most of the choirs I’m grateful to hear at Sunday Masses here in the archdiocese.…