Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the apparitions of Fatima. All such apparitions are judged the way we judge any private revelation, namely, by whether they are in accord with the Faith revealed once and for all to the saints and handed down to us in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. One of the most consoling […]
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Readings: John 12: 24-26 | Phil 3: 8-14 There was a morbid custom in parts of the American prison system before the 1960s: as a man condemned to die was led to the place of execution, a guard would call out, “Dead man walking! Dead man walking!” When I was a student brother, I’d say […]
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I am always fascinated by flying. It is remarkable how many people and systems have to work together in order to allow travelers to go from one part of the globe to another. And there is the flying itself—rising from the ground and seeing the landscape get smaller and smaller is always a strange sight. […]
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When I was growing up, my family kept a garden. There would be a certain day in the mid-spring, a warm and dry day, when we’d start the work of planting. The first thing to do was to prepare the ground, and so we uprooted the weeds that had grown in the autumn and died […]
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There is no doubt that the Coronavirus pandemic is a global tragedy. It has been heartbreaking to hear news of many dying weekly. However, I realized that the Lord has providentially afforded me an opportunity to prepare for my upcoming presbyteral ordination in a unique way. First of all, the pandemic gives me a realistic […]
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This has certainly been a strange and disturbing few weeks we have lived through, with practically our entire world going into shelter-in-place mode in the face of COVID-19. Most shocking of all, at least from my perspective as a friar, is the cancellation of public Masses. Here at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in Benicia, CA, […]
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With many facing limited or no access to the Eucharist, the practice of making a Spiritual Communion is becoming increasingly known. But what is it, what are it’s theological underpinnings, and can it be fulfilling? Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn, O.P., son of the Western Dominican Province, and aggregate professor of theology at the Pontifical University of […]
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A few people have told me that it’s easier for them to pray in the dark than in the light. So why is that? C.S. Lewis inquires, “Why must holy places be dark places?” Perhaps there is more than one answer to this question. But one answer seems to be that darkness comes with uncertainty. […]
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Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (A) Readings: Matt 21:1-11 | Isa 50:4-7 | Phil 2:6-11 | Matt 26:14–27:66 Dear Jesus Our hearts are broken and our minds are reeling; trying to prepare for this Holiest of weeks with the very rhythms of our lives askew … O Jesus, what sadness that this Holy Week, […]
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Throughout the world people are on lockdown, confined to their homes, with their lives put on hold until the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Along with the physical malady which has occasioned this unprecedented lockdown, people are also susceptible to different spiritual maladies occasioned by the experience of isolation. One of the spiritual maladies that can afflict […]
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