We are not orphans

September 14, 2023

"We are not orphans, we have Mothers: Mother Mary. But the Church is Mother and the Mother Church is anointed when it takes the same path of Jesus and Mary: the path of obedience, the path of suffering, and when she has that attitude of continually learning the path of the Lord. These two women — Mary and the Church — carry on the hope that is Christ, they give us Christ, they bring forth Christ in us. Without Mary, there would be no Jesus Christ; without the Church, we cannot go forward". – Pope Francis

Reflection: Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. What is your typical response to pain or extended times of difficulties? How do the two women – Mary and the Church – offer you hope in the midst of suffering?

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The reality of sin and forgiveness

By Catherine Cavadini • September 15, 2023
A boggy marsh: This is how Dante imagines the reality of anger in his “Inferno.” Greed looks like the eternal weight of a heavy stone pressing against one’s chest. Our readings for this Sunday present these sins in contrast to the blissful happiness of forgiveness .

September 15, 2023

September 14, 2023
Jn 19:25-27

Big “T” traditions

September 10, 2023
Traditions are important to families. Singing the family birthday song, making grandma’s banana bread, praying in a special way at holiday meals — traditions are the foundation on which strong families are built. Likewise, the Church was built upon the rituals and traditions of the apostles and the early Christian communities. This body of ritual and teaching is called Tradition (with a capital T), and it serves as a unifying force in the Church today. This Tradition is so important that the teaching office of the Church, called the magisterium, safeguards it.

The Good News leads to seeing with eyes of faith

September 10, 2023
What really matters? Most of us have had an experience that causes us to ask this question. Our lives are filled with activity, much of it necessary, some of it surely not. On most days many of us feel we have little time for anything beyond a quick prayer, a fast-food meal, and then total collapse at the end of the day (yet statistics indicate we seem to find endless hours to watch television). And then something happens: a death or diagnosis of serious illness; a natural disaster that takes with it human life and property; unemployment or underemployment affecting physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. That “something” may happen to us, to someone near us, or to someone around the world, but in that moment, as circumstances suddenly change, our perspective is changed as well, and we may ask, “What really matters, after all?”