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What are they thinking?By: Susan Timoney On Easter Sunday I had the privilege of serving as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at the 9:00 am Mass.  By the time Mass began it was standing room only in the church. This was not a surprise. I bet it was the same at your parish. When it came time to distribute Communion, another person and I were asked to go to a station at the rear of the church. A line formed among those standing. At a certain point, I wondered why the line did not seem to get shorter...

The Resurrection Appearances Chronologically ArrangedBy: Msgr. Charles Pope This blog post is a follow-up from yesterday’s blog. You can read yesterday’s post by clicking HEREWhen we encounter the resurrection accounts in the New Testament we face a challenge in putting all the pieces together in a way that the sequence of the events flow in logical order. This is due to the fact that no one Gospel presents all, or even most of the data. Some of the data also seems to conflict. I tried to show in yesterday’s blog that these apparent conflicts are not, usually, true conflicts....

April 10, 2012   Tuesday within the Octave of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 2:36-41 On the day of Pentecost, Peter said to the Jewish people,"Let the whole house of Israel know for certainthat God has made him both Lord and Christ,this Jesus whom you crucified." Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,and they asked Peter and the other Apostles,"What are we to do, my brothers?"Peter said to them,"Repent and be baptized, every one of you,in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins;and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.For...

Happiness: Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness PETER KREEFTChrist's fourth beatitude, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," cuts to the rotten flesh at the heart of the modern world. It shows a striking difference between our culture and all others, especially our own culture's past. As Solzhenitsyn said in his great and shocking 1978 Harvard commencement address, nothing more conspicuously distinguishes us than our lack of courage, our lack of passion. You see this strikingly when you live in another culture, or even when you read the writings of another culture, like the Middle Ages...

A day before Easter, the head of New York's Roman Catholic archdiocese faced a challenge to his stance on gay rights: the resignation of a church charity board member who says he's "had enough" of the cardinal's attitude. Joseph Amodeo told The Associated Press on Saturday that he quit the junior board of the city's Catholic Charities after Cardinal Timothy Dolan failed to respond to a "call for help" for homeless youths who are not heterosexual. "As someone who believes in the message of love enshrined in the teachings of Christ, I find it disheartening that a man of God...

Featured Term (selected at random):PLAIN CHANT Sometimes inaccurately called Gregorian chant, but plain chant is a modification of the Gregorian, introduced among the Franks in the ninth century. It is unisonous and free-rhythmed and composed on a scale of four lines. The modes or scales of plain chant are limited to the natural intervals of the human voice and the melodies likewise confined to a person's natural range. Features of this chant are that the "leading note" is commonly avoided; also two choirs may be used while alternately singing the same melody. The beauty of plain chant derives from its...

There are 39 paid catechists and 1500 volunteer catechists. Evangelization a pastoral priority for Card. Tong. The story of Janet, who will be baptized tonight, along with her younger brother.Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - This Easter, 3,500adult catechumens in the Hong Kong diocese will receive the Sacrament of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion) at various parishes at the Holy Saturday Vigil today, April 7. In his Easter Pastoral Letter 2012, Cardinal John Tong of Hong Kong specially thanks priests, deacons, sisters and laypeople to offer their time and energy in teaching catechism. The catechists "not only carry out the...

April 9, 2012   Monday within the Octave of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 2:14, 22-33 On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven,raised his voice, and proclaimed:"You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. "You who are children of Israel, hear these words.Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by Godwith mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,you killed, using lawless...

Easter Changes Everything Columnists George WeigelApril 5th, 2012 George Weigel Christmas occupies such a large part of the Christian imagination that the absolute supremacy of Easter as the greatest of Christian feasts may get obscured at times. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, an Italian biblical scholar, suggests that we might begin to appreciate how Easter changed everything—and gave the birth of Jesus at Christmas its significance—by reflecting on the story of Jesus purifying the Jerusalem Temple, at the beginning of John’s Gospel.In this prophetic and symbolic act, Ravasi writes, Jesus draws a sharp contrast between a religion of superficiality and self-absorption and...

For Americans who don't share Christian beliefs, Easter -- Christianity's holiest day -- may mean little more than a family brunch and childhood memories of colored eggs hidden in all the usual places. To many of us, it's merely another Sunday. But could it be that Easter holds powerful lessons for believers and unbelievers alike? The day seems to offer a fitting occasion to reflect on our nation's enormous debt to Christianity. In some respects, these fruits are obvious. For example, our great civil-rights revolution was led by Christian pastors like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev....

ROC will call for a war against "aggressive liberalism" The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a circular, calling on believers to fight the "anti-clerical forces" and "false values ​​of aggressive liberalism." According to the April 7 blog post on the website of radio station "Ekho Moskvy" religious scholar and journalist Valery Retired, the document will be read from the pulpits of orthodox churches on April 8, the feast of Palm Sunday. Next Retired leads the full text of the circular. According to the report, the ROC believes that in Russia there are "anti-clerical forces" who do not...

April 8, 2012 The Resurrection of the LordThe Mass of Easter Sunday  Reading 1 Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Peter proceeded to speak and said:"You know what has happened all over Judea,beginning in Galilee after the baptismthat John preached,how God anointed Jesus of Nazarethwith the Holy Spirit and power.He went about doing goodand healing all those oppressed by the devil,for God was with him.We are witnesses of all that he didboth in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be...

 Divorce and Remarriageby Sebastian R. FamaIt is a sad fact of life that divorce has become an all-too-common occurrence. Many marriages that began with joy and hope end in bitter separation. Unfortunately, the Church is not immune to this problem. As with marriage, many view the Church’s position on divorce and remarriage as archaic and unrealistic. But the Church’s position is nothing more than the direct teaching of Christ. In Luke 16:18 we hear Jesus saying: "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."Paul says essentially...

The buzz on the new "Exultet": here come the bees! Mar 15th, 2011 by Deacon Greg Kandra With Easter rapidly approaching, deacons everywhere will be clearing their throats and getting ready to give voice to the great hymn of the Paschal Proclamation — also known as “The Exultet,” a seven-minute a capaella chant that fittingly, as the lyric proclaims, “humbles earthly pride.”    It is the Mother of All Chants, an epic best approached with a strong heart and steeled nerves.(For those interested, there’s an excellent downloadable version here that I’ve used for the last three years.)My pal Elizabeth...

Follow Me… Apr 1st, 2012by Gary Zimak.  As Jesus passed on from there,He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. (Matthew 9:9)As we head into the final 2 weeks our Spiritual Exercises retreat, I just wanted to reach out and share a few thoughts. Today, with the celebration of Palm Sunday, we enter into the holiest week of the year. Over the next five days, on my nightly radio show, we’ll meditate on Our Lord’s Passion and death. As we do this, we’ll recognize...

  The Fifteen Promises Granted to those who Recite the Rosary The Fifteen Promises of Mary Granted to those who Recite the RosaryThe Glory of St DominicGuido Reni 1613 A.D. FrescoSan Domenico, Bologna The Blessed Virgin Mary promised to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that "Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted." She left for all Christians Fifteen Promises to those who recite the Holy Rosary. Imparted to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. I promise my special protection and the greatest...

Meditating on Good Friday with St. Francis de Sales But could God not have provided the world with a remedy other than that of His Son's death? Certainly, He could have done so, and by a thousand other means. Could He not have pardoned human nature with absolute power and pure mercy, not invoking justice or the intervention of any creature? Doubtless He could, and who would have dared to question or criticize Him? No one, for He is Sovereign Master and can do all He wills. Besides, if He had wanted some creature to undertake our redemption, could He...

April 7, 2012   Holy Saturday - Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter   Reading 1 Gn 1:1; 2:2 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said,"Let there be light," and there was light.God saw how good the light was.God then separated the light from the darkness.God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."Thus evening came, and morning followed-the first day. Then God said,"Let there be a dome in the middle of the...

The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy The Divine Mercy Novena of Chaplets A novena is typically nine days of prayer in preparation of a celebration of a feast day. At the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy Novena is recited perpetually at the Hour of Great Mercy — the three o'clock hour. The Chaplet can be said anytime, but the Lord specifically asked that it be recited as a novena. He promised, "By this Novena (of Chaplets), I will grant every possible grace to souls." Intentions For each of the nine days, our Lord...

No Greater Love… Apr 6th, 2012by Gary Zimak.   Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)On this day, approximately 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ suffered and died on a cross so that you and I can one day live in the eternal happiness of His kingdom. He gave everything, holding nothing back. As we look over our lives, what have we done to express our gratitude? Speaking for myself, I have to admit that the answer is “not much”. As a matter of fact, not only haven’t I...