Every single person is called to love. If we do not experience love, life remains incomprehensible to us. But if we do experience love, then all of life becomes charged with meaning and joy. But how are we called to love? We are called to love…like God loves. While meditating on this truth one evening […]
Read More
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). We Christians are no strangers to this saying of Jesus. Just as the branches separated from the vine will wither away […]
Read More
That the twelve-year-old Jesus clearly knew the Law and the Prophets is evident in the fact that the learned men even bothered listening to the child. However, it is unlikely that they would have spent three whole days putting up with any child – no matter how cute – if all he could do was […]
Read More
It seems an unusual requirement that Mary and Joseph should consecrate God’s own Son back to Himself. And yet, in obedience to the Law of Moses, Mary and Joseph do just that, obeying the requirement that “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord” (Luke 2:24). This law hearkens back […]
Read More
Since the earliest days of St. Dominic, the Order of Preachers has been a fiercely democratic institution, embodying the principles of collegiality, subsidiarity, representation and accountability. Thus, the Order values the wisdom, experience and ideas of a wide spectrum of friars in providing for the good of our mission: preaching the truth. The Order of […]
Read More
“Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He.” (Isaiah 41:4) Secrets are attractive, especially deep and life-changing ones. When we hear that a mystery is going to be revealed, we immediately perk up our ears and pay close attention. […]
Read More
The near universal celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, or Christmas, on December 25th dates to the early 4th century. Now, we have all heard the allegation: the date, December 25th, was settled on by the early Catholic Church to counter (or rather eclipse) the birthday celebration of the pagan “Invincible Sun” god, or […]
Read More
As we continue through the season of Advent, almost everyone anticipates the joy of opening presents on Christmas morning. For most people, it is annoying to open their new gadget or toy, only to find a “some assembly required” label on the box. This is especially true for young children who have a difficult time […]
Read More
“We are a ‘touchy’ people, Father… we like to touch.” Dear friends of St. Jude, I was invited for this past St. Jude feast by the devotees of St. Jude in Tucumán, Argentina, to come and give a novena with some of our relics of St. Jude, while Fr. James Moore, OP, my predecessor, was […]
Read More
In my senior year of high school, I took over leading an optional lunchtime Rosary on Fridays in the school chapel. The usual attendees included a handful of students and one or two teachers who would join if they were not doing lunch-hour supervision. After one Rosary, as we left the school chapel, one of […]
Read More