|
Columnists and contributors
Father Richard Erikson
A new Pentecost
Posted: 5/9/2008
Today I concluded my annual retreat. During the retreat I was led to meditate on the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our Church. I am still reflecting on Pope Benedict’s homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, particularly in light of our celebration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit at the feast of Pentecost this weekend. I was privileged to be participating in the Mass when the pope said “…let us implore from God the grace of a new Pentecost for the Church in America. May tongues of fire, combining burning love of God and neighbor with zeal for the spread of Christ’s Kingdom, descend on all present!”
Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk
Fire in the clinic!
Posted: 5/9/2008
One argument that is often made to justify destroying human embryos begins like this:
Suppose there is a fire in a fertility clinic. You are the only adult present, and there is a newborn baby and a tank of liquid nitrogen with 5,000 frozen embryos in the clinic. You can save only one of them before the place burns down -- which would you choose?
Donato Infante III
Heeding the call
Posted: 5/9/2008
Praised be Jesus Christ! It was a great blessing to attend the youth rally at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers and the Mass celebrated at Yankee Stadium. This was my first time seeing a pope in person. The rally at the seminary was particularly moving. As a former professor, our Holy Father is used to addressing youth, and he took the opportunity to impart some important lessons on those present. It was clear that, even though he was probably exhausted, his love for God and for us is so strong, and his joy to be with us was apparent.
Clark Booth
Greater and lesser frauds in sport
Posted: 5/9/2008
Somewhere the late, great Willie McDonough, the long-time last word of the Globe, is howling with glee. It was Willie who branded Roger Clemens as “the Texas con-man.” Early on, he decided that the Rocket was a fraud and he never budged from that viewpoint.
Dale O’Leary
Benedict’s visit
Posted: 5/2/2008
As I followed the pastoral visit of the Holy Father on television, switching between EWTN and FoxNews, I could not help but contemplate how far we have come. I remember the coverage of the visits to the United States of John Paul the Great in 1979 and 1987. Then the coverage focused on dissenters. The commentators wanted to know when the Church would change its teachings of life, sexuality, marriage and women. When would the Church come into the modern age and cease to cling to ideas that everyone knew were outdated? To the media it was clear, the Church was not attracting new vocations to the priesthood and religious life; it was not engaging the younger generation and if the Church didn’t come around quickly it would soon sink into irrelevance. The dissenters assured us change would come; it was only a matter of time.
Dwight G. Duncan
Blessed by Benedict
Posted: 5/2/2008
I had the good fortune to be in Washington and New York to see Pope Benedict XVI this past week. I feel blessed. The name Benedict in Latin means “blessed.” I kept thinking of the gospel passage which echoes the psalm, “Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini,” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Lk 13:35). And blessed are we!
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe
Making an entrance
Posted: 5/2/2008
Weekends around our house are usually filled with activity. There’s the baseline dance class, martial arts, teen work schedules, parish service, and of course, Mass. Often, however, at least one or two extras seem to creep into the calendar. Sometimes, the who’s-going-where-at-what-time gets to a dizzying level of complexity.
Michael Pakaluk
‘Unless the Lord builds the house...’
Posted: 5/2/2008
Here are five pointers for how a Christian family should live. They pertain to the very structure of family life. They serve to set the Christian family apart as a distinct “community of life and love.” Ideally these practices would be adopted from the very beginning of a family, that is, from the time that husband and wife each say “I will” at the marriage ceremony.
Father Daniel F. Hennessey
Heeding the call
Posted: 5/2/2008
On Sunday April 20, over 50,000 people joined together to participate in the celebration of Mass with Pope Benedict XVI at Yankee Stadium in New York. It was an absolutely beautiful event that will forever be etched in my memory. During the procession following the Mass, many of us priests were able to be very close to the Holy Father and kiss his papal ring. For me, this was a highlight of the day, as it was a sign of unity with the Successor of Peter and therefore with all other Christians throughout the world who are in union with him. To kiss the Ring of the Fisherman made me feel the communion that exists between all Christians and filled me with hope for the Archdiocese of Boston.
Patrick Madrid
Does “Word of God” Mean “The Bible?”
Posted: 5/2/2008
It never fails. In conversations about biblical authority with Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestants, this argument always comes up. The mistake here is in imagining that every time the phrase “Word of God” appears in Scripture, it refers to the Bible. The fact is, when attention is paid to the context of the passage, we see that most of the time the phrase “Word of God” does not refer to Scripture but to something else, such as Christ, the law, God’s creative utterances, and apostolic and prophetic preaching. Here are some verses that prove this:
Daniel Avila
Happiness is around the bend
Posted: 4/25/2008
My daughter pointed it out first. Next to the highway, a large yellow sign advertised a breakfast drink by picturing a furry cartoon character sipping on a huge bent straw, the kind with the elbow joint, and emblazoned at the top was the caption “Happiness Is Around the Bend.”
Kevin and Marilyn Ryan
What does the pope want? Part II
Posted: 4/18/2008
We should not let Pope Benedict XVI’s visit be just another event sandwiched in between March Madness and the arrival of New England spring. Observers tell us that the United States is very important to Rome. By the standards of the rest of the globe, we are rich, powerful and the world’s dominant cultural force. Well over a fifth of the country is Catholic and growing.
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley
‘Thou art Peter’
Posted: 4/11/2008
Dearly Beloved in Christ,
Throughout the history of salvation, God has raised up individuals to lead his people. Christ assigned a special role of leadership to St. Peter. After Christ’s name, it is Peter’s name that appears with the greatest frequency in the New Testament.
Bishop John A. Dooher
‘ARISE: Together in Christ’
Posted: 4/11/2008
Happy Anniversary to all!
These are special days for the Church in Boston. This past Tuesday, April 8, 2008, marked the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Boston by Pope Pius VII. In such an event, there is a remembering and retelling of history but there is also the challenge of reaching out to the future. Cardinal Seán has called us to look back in thanksgiving and look forward with renewed faith, hope and love as we move through the “ARISE: Together in Christ” program.
Scot Landry
After 200 Years, what is our central legacy?
Posted: 4/11/2008
On April 8, 1808 Pope Pius VII established the Diocese of Boston. Though its territory covered all the New England states, the total Catholic population of the fledgling diocese numbered only about 1,000. Over the past 200 years, our diocese has been elevated to an archdiocese and has spawned 10 other New England dioceses. Within the 144 cities and towns of Eastern Massachusetts that now comprise the archdiocese, we minister to 2 million Catholics.
Father Thomas J. Regan, SJ
Embracing our charism and serving the Church
Posted: 4/11/2008
Very few Jesuits have actually enjoyed the humbling experience of participating in the Society of Jesus’ highest governing body known as a general congregation. In fact, only 35 such meetings have occurred since St. Ignatius of Loyola and his companions founded the Jesuits in 1540. From Jan. 7 until March 6, it was my privilege to be one of the 225 delegates to attend such a gathering in Rome. Collectively, the delegates represented the approximately 20,000 Jesuits who serve the Church in 112 countries throughout the world.
Father George Emerson
Bicentennial memories and moments: The example of others
Posted: 4/4/2008
What brought you to St. John’s Seminary?” “Why did you decide to become a priest?” Over 50 years ago, I was thinking about how I should answer these questions if someone at the seminary asked. It was not a flash of lightning or a voice from the clouds. None of these spiritual thoughts came to mind. These thoughts, however, did get me thinking; how did I get here? The answer: it was the love, the kindness, and the good example of so many people. (As an aside, no one ever asked me these lofty questions.)
Frank Mazzaglia
Sisters of St. Joseph respond to missionary call
Posted: 3/28/2008
Boston’s missionary efforts in Latin America are often identified with the St. James Society. However, that work has been admirably supported with assistance from other religious communities. One of these is the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Boston. This is just part of their mission story.
Eric Bennett and David Bearse
Experiencing the St. James Society mission
Posted: 3/28/2008
An 11 day trip to Peru with six other seminarians and two of our priest faculty members during this past Christmas break was a great opportunity for us to gain appreciation for the work of the Missionary Society of St. James. It was made possible in large part through generous donations from many priests and parishes. The trip took place a few weeks before the silver anniversary of the Society of St. James. The Society of St. James was begun by Cardinal Richard Cushing. It provided the opportunity for diocesan priests to spend time working in the missions, in order to share the Gospel message as well as to bring the fruits of their experiences back to work with immigrant populations in their home dioceses.
Patrick Madrid
The Divinity of Christ
Posted: 3/28/2008
Of all the doctrines of the Catholic Faith, the divinity of Jesus Christ is at the very heart of everything. Our belief that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became a man, Jesus Christ of Galilee, some 2,000 years ago, lived among us, died on the cross for our salvation, and rose from the dead three days later, is known as the Incarnation.
Edward Saunders
Gambling expansion proposals, ‘not good government’
Posted: 3/21/2008
The following testimony was presented March 18 by Ed Saunders, director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, before the Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies on several proposals to expand gambling in Massachusetts.
By Patrick Madrid
Why do Catholics have crucifixes?
Posted: 3/14/2008
Many non-Catholics have an aversion to crucifixes. While they have no problem [with] an “empty cross,” some Protestants, for example, object to the crucifix because it depicts Christ dying on the cross. “Christ isn’t on the cross anymore,” they say. “He’s reigning gloriously in heaven. So why emphasize his death?” This is a reasonable question that deserves a reasonable answer.
Msgr. Thomas J. McDonnell
Lent’s call: Contemplating the face of Christ
Posted: 3/14/2008
As we linger before the cross, certain other dimensions of Jesus’ struggle come to the fore. Obviously there must have been a bit of confusion in his mind. He had internalized the sacred texts. And certainly, he was aware of the words of the prophet Jeremiah (29, 11-13): “I know the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not misfortune, plans that will grant you a future full of hope.” As he was hanging on the cross, Christ must have wondered how such a verse would apply to himself. Where was his future full of hope? The intensity of his pain would have blotted out all future considerations.
Father John O’Donnell
Bicentennial memories and moments: The archdiocese and the priests’ senate
Posted: 3/14/2008
The historical event of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) has been associated with the numerous movements that preceded it and flowed from it. The international liturgical movement can be cited as a primary example of the former. Liturgical renewal helped to form many of the seminarians who later became the bishops and their counselors who were present at the Vatican Council. Movements on behalf of social action, family life and spiritual development are further illustrations of the energy and vision emerging within the Catholic Church prior to the convening of the council by Pope John XXIII.
|
|
|
|
