Exploring Our Apostolic Mission
Msgr. Gregory Smith Comments Off on Exploring Our Apostolic Mission
The Smiths were the last family on the block to get color TV. That wasn’t all bad. By the time the color set arrived, I’d seen the “Wizard of Oz” half a dozen times, so the moment when Dorothy opened the door in Technicolor was doubly wondrous. The Archdiocese of Vancouver wasn’t the last place Read More
Loving the Liturgy of the Hours
Deacon Stephen Fahrig Comments Off on Loving the Liturgy of the Hours
In June 1997 I fell in love … with the Liturgy of the Hours. Yes, that’s right — I fell in love with the official prayer of the Catholic Church, and I have loved it ever since. A month or two prior to my introduction to the breviary, I had begun to see a spiritual Read More
A Light in the Darkness
Father Deacon Basil Ryan Balke Comments Off on A Light in the Darkness
One of the largest differences between the Byzantine and Roman rites is how personal and communal prayer is done. In the Roman rite, private prayer is often the Rosary or a chaplet; however, in the Byzantine rite, these prayers are quite different. The most often privately prayed liturgy is called an Akathist. An Akathist is Read More
Contemplative Ministry
Deacon Robert T. Yerhot Comments Off on Contemplative Ministry
We live with anxious hearts. Fundamental questions arise from within us. Who are we? What are we to do? We give answers often filtered through several shallow layers of protective responses. To answer deeply requires a freedom yet to be obtained. Our wounds bind us too tightly. We often identify with our wounds. We are Read More
Writing the Homily for the Ear, Not the Eye
Deacon Steve Kramer Comments Off on Writing the Homily for the Ear, Not the Eye
If you read a book or listen to a podcast, speech or homily, you begin to notice that there are distinct differences between writing and public speaking and preaching. In “Preaching in the Sunday Assembly: A Pastoral Commentary on Fulfilled in Your Hearing” (Liturgical Press, $34.95), it is noted that “the etymology of the word Read More
Trusting in God’s Providence
Susan Kehoe Comments Off on Trusting in God’s Providence
“Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith” (Mk 4:40). That verse from the Gospel came to mind as I waited and prayed in the hospital emergency room, in fear, to find out if my husband was having a cerebral hemorrhage. Jesus seemed to be admonishing me, just as he reproached the apostles Read More
To Be Grounded in the Supernatural
Deacon James Keating Comments Off on To Be Grounded in the Supernatural
“God is … at work, he acts … he has not lost his own function in a world where everything would function autonomously without him,” according to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in “The God of Jesus Christ: Meditation on the Triune God” (Ignatius Press, $17.95). Since God is spirit, he is easy to ignore. It can Read More
Clergy as Catalysts, Agents of Change
Deacon Michael J. Oles Comments Off on Clergy as Catalysts, Agents of Change
A tearful mom hugs volunteers who furnished her home and made beds for her family. She can now be reunited with her three children who have been in foster care. A young couple and their infant are astonished when volunteers furnish their apartment after hardships endured living in a cardboard box in the woods. A Read More