Ecclesial Exegesis: A Synthesis of Ancient and Modern Approaches to Scripture. By Gregory Vall. Reviewed by D. Malachi Walker. (skip to review) God’s Call is Everywhere: A Global Analysis of Contemporary Religious Vocations for Women. By … [Read more...]
The Ineffability of the Mystical Body of Christ
November 24, 2023 by Carolyn Humphreys, OCDS
The Church was established by Christ as an extension and continuation of his incarnation and his mission. Just as a natural body is formed of different organs and systems, each with their own function, so is the Church bound together by a … [Read more...]
Rethinking Vocational Discernment
June 23, 2023 by S. E. Greydanus
Nearly everyone reading this has probably heard something on the subject of vocational discernment. For those accustomed to Catholic terminology, these words may evoke images of a retreat for young people praying to find their path in life, … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
April 28, 2018 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Question: What is the origin of female altar servers? Answer: Female altar servers are a fact of life in the Church since 1992. The ability of girls to serve at Mass is established by papal authority, so one must accept their possibility … [Read more...]
Spring Book Reviews
April 28, 2018 by Book Reviews
Saint Mary Magdalene: Prophetess of Eucharistic Love by Fr. Sean Davidson (Ignatius Press, 2017). Reviewed by Rev. John P. Cush, STD. And Mary’s ‘Yes’ Continues. By the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, under the direc … [Read more...]
“Do-it-Yourself” or Vocation: Coincidence or Providence
"Window dressing” or the Complementarity of the Sacraments of Marriage and the Eucharist?
October 26, 2015 by Francis Etheredge
Is marriage independent of sexual identity, an optional role or an unjust institution; or, alternatively, is there a deeper answer to the question of a man marrying a woman? We live in a time, then, when the foundations of marriage in the … [Read more...]
The Sacrament of Matrimony: A Conversation with Millennials
August 30, 2015 by Father Philip-Michael F. Tangorra, STL
Abbreviations LG: Lumen Gentium, Second Vatican Council Dogmatic Constitution on the Church MR: Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) (2010) SC: Sacrosanctum Concilium, Second Vatican Council Constitution on the Sacred … [Read more...]
A “Categorical Silence” in the Preparatory Questionnaire for the 2015 Synod
July 27, 2015 by Fr. Mark A. Pilon
“Make no mistake, my brothers: those who corrupt families will not inherit the kingdom of God.” —Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians In his 2007 autobiography, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired Archbishop of Bologna, recalled his surpr … [Read more...]
Further Thoughts on the Synod
July 12, 2015 by Msgr. Cormac Burke
There was rejoicing at the first calling of the Synod because the family is in a bad way almost everywhere in the world. If there has been so much dissatisfaction with last year's—preliminary—Synod it is because the reports given, and the im … [Read more...]
The Holy Land
January 29, 2015 by David Vincent Meconi
Spending the Christmas season in the Holy Land has made me much more sensitive to how communities are “ringing in” the New Year. As the date turned from 2014 to 2015, two very different calls for solidarity made the news. On the one hand, J … [Read more...]
A Holy Priesthood for a Holy People
December 27, 2014 by R. Thomas Richard, PhD
A groaning in the heart, of one seeking and waiting for God, is appropriate for Advent. A thirsting in the heart for his living water, in this world of dryness, is proper. In this waiting for the holy season of The Incarnation, however, a … [Read more...]
Homosexuality and Vocational Discernment and Choice
A Call for Evidence-Based, Astute Priestly Discernment in a Framework of Overall Moral Character Development
August 11, 2014 by Fr. Paul Anthony McGavin
A seminary that is on-going in the cultivation and the learning of the skills of virtue as an expression of life-in-Christ, and as lived testimony to the Gospel, will be a seminary that is prepared to discern, and to equip, young men for a … [Read more...]
Combating the Contraceptive Understanding of Celibacy
August 22, 2013 by Dr. Eric M. Johnston, PhD
On the one hand, we must appreciate how sex is holy. It might be good to say “holy” instead of “good.” Ironically, the idea that celibacy is a sacrifice treats sex as a good in the same way that a candy bar is a good. But this view belongs t … [Read more...]
Chosen from Among Men
In Processu
January 1, 2012 by Msgr. Michael A. Osborn
When a bride makes thoughtful consideration of the necessary qualities to be found in her bridegroom, it surprises no one that she would look for a certain depth of heart in the relationship, an ability to properly perceive the difficulties … [Read more...]
The ingredient for priestly vocations
In order to fulfill their ideals and challenges, young people are in desperate need of priestly inspiration.
May 1, 2009 by Fr. Jacek Stefanski
It is truly uplifting to read about the great number of people who are received into full communion in the Roman Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in so many parishes across the United States. This gives the Church a reason to rejoice and … [Read more...]
Recent Comments