Articles

Prayer and Social Transformation

We are now in 2025, the Jubilee year, with the theme of “Pilgrims of hope.” For the whole of the preceding year, our prayer has been preparing us all for this moment. In 2024, we have lived “a privileged time in which to rediscover the value … [Read more...]

Meeting at the Well

Relational Pro-Life Ministry in the Post-Roe Era

It has already been about two and a half years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a stunning political victory for the pro-life movement. At the time of this r … [Read more...]

“Rejoicing in Hope” with Mary

Marian Devotion as Remedy to Secularist Hopelessness

A shortcut to hope For a priest it is always heartening when a woman shares the news that she is expecting a baby, and asks for prayers for her and her new child at Mass. Motherhood is always a source of hope. An expectant mother embodies … [Read more...]

Perseverance in Ministry: Lessons from Saint Peter Faber for Discouraging Times

The Catholic Church in Germany was a total mess. Prelates were more interested in secular affairs and maintaining their own comfort than actually worshipping Jesus or sharing his teachings. When they did preach and engage in “spiritual” or “ … [Read more...]

Priests Who Cry Wolf

History shows that, when preaching about the end of the world, zealous and holy priests have not always been prudent priests. Take, for example, the preaching of Saint Gregory the Great. He lived in an era that many of his contemporaries … [Read more...]

The Flavor of God: On Cooking and Christian Materialism

“Our Lord moves amidst the pots and pans,” St. Teresa of Avila once said, and indeed, I often find God in a busy kitchen. I love cooking, once described to me as the art of redistributing water, which is simply a very clever way of saying th … [Read more...]

Liturgical Leadership According to Pope Francis’ Desiderio Desideravi

The purpose of this article is to present a vision of liturgical leadership that can be found on the pages of Pope Francis’ apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi (2022) (henceforth DD, available on the Vatican website). The context of t … [Read more...]

The Eucharist and the Call to Witness

A Biblical Reflection on the Sacraments of Initiation

Every year the Biblical readings that are proclaimed in the Church’s liturgy throughout the Lenten and Easter seasons recount the dramatic transformation that takes place in the lives of Christ’s first disciples and followers as they wit … [Read more...]

Assenting to Fiducia Supplicans

At some point in my spiritual pilgrimage to the full communion of the Catholic Church from an Evangelical Protestant upbringing, it became apparent to me that the only way that I could infallibly believe the deposit of divinely revealed … [Read more...]

On the Need to Focus on a Catholic Theologate

At the Catholic World Report in May and June of 2023, there was an exciting exchange between Drs. Larry Chapp, Matthew Minerd, and Richard DeClue.[1. See, in order of publication, Larry Chapp, “The Progressive Revolution’s Continued Control … [Read more...]

The Absolute Moral Norms Are Dogmas of Faith

Reviewing the teaching of Veritatis Splendor, Francis Sullivan asks “whether one might . . . interpret the encyclical to mean that all traditional Catholic moral doctrine is, in the final analysis, the Church’s interpretation of the Ten Com … [Read more...]

Sisters in the Same Spirit

The Cathedral of Mary our Queen and the Second Vatican Council

The following was originally given as part of a lecture series on the history and theology of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, Maryland to the Cathedral parish. It has been slightly modified by the author for … [Read more...]

Dignitas Migrantis: On the Morality of Deportation

As we approach federal government elections, it is commonplace to address the issues surrounding the growing phenomena of large-scale immigration and its peripheral subjects, such as deportation. It is significant to note that among various … [Read more...]

Notes on a Catholic Ecumenical Perspective of the Sacramental Life of the Church

Paper presented at a bi-annual meeting of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, of which I am a member, June 5, 2023, Colorado Springs. If anyone says that these seven sacraments are so equal to one another that one is not in any way of … [Read more...]