What kind of image do we have of the Holy Family? Do we imagine that, because they were holy, that they just drifted along free from worry and harm? Maybe we see the sinless virgin and her divine Son as…

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It has been looking like Christmas since before Halloween. I saw a store window featuring a jack-o’-lantern alongside a Santa Claus.

We might lament that retailers are in such a hurry…

When I was growing up, my family lived close to a cemetery. I have to admit, I used to enjoy taking walks around the place. It was always so peaceful, and it made me wonder about the stories behind the…

This week’s Gospel reading begins with a question posed by the Pharisees: “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” This is supposed to be a test for Jesus. There were differing schools of thought on the matter,…

I have been a huge Star Wars fan since I first saw the original movie 30 years ago. As a kid, it was not unusual to imagine a whiffle ball bat was a lightsaber and a squirt gun a laser…

Ever since the days of the early Church, the Old Testament has played a key part in preaching and worship. The epistles of Peter and Paul make that pretty clear. Read also the works of the Church Fathers (St. Ambrose’s…

Last summer, as I was preparing for the journey to World Youth Day in Australia, I remember checking my suitcase over and over again to make sure I had everything I needed for the two-week trip. It made for a…

There is a sign on the sacristy wall of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Basilica in Emmitsburg, Md., which reads, “Priest of God, celebrate this Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, your only Mass.” It is…

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul passes on a little catechetical formula, which he himself received from the early Church: “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins…

The tag line for the 1970s film Love Story reads, “Being in love means never having to say you are sorry.” With all due respect, whoever wrote that was obviously never in love a day in his life.

No matter…