C.S. Lewis once wisely observed: “When everyone is rushing headlong towards the precipice, anyone going in the opposite direction would appear to be mad.”

In July of 1968, the world at large thought Pope Paul VI had lost his mind. For…

Why do Catholics say that Mary was always a virgin?

Actually, it's not just Catholics who believe Mary was a virgin throughout her life. So does the Orthodox Church. And the Protestant reformers Luther and Calvin held the same belief. To…

"I quit!" The fact that the parish maintenance man quit without giving me two weeks notice had me upset. Until I could hire someone else, I needed a short-term replacement. So I called Mr. Troy, who operated the cleaning firm…

The last week of January marks Catholic Schools Week. I wish to take this opportunity to commend two groups in particular: first, our dedicated teachers for willingly accepting salaries lower than their public-school counterparts; and second, the parents of our…

Next month many of our congregations will be promoting Parish Stewardship Sunday. To prepare for that weekend I'd like to offer some reflections on the importance of stewardship in the life of a Christian.

First, stewardship is not a program…

Marriage is in trouble. When we must enshrine into law the definition of an institution as essential to our lives as marriage, it is in serious trouble. On June 7, the US Senate rejected a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as…

The movie version of Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code is due to be released on May 19. I want to cover some features of the novel.

Suppose that an author writes an historical novel set during the period of our…

Dear Friends in the Lord,

Two months after his election, Pope John XXIII paid a surprise visit to Rome's Regina Coeli prison. During his encounter with the inmates, he informed them that he could relate to their plight, as he…

"Mommy, look at that man! Why is he so different?" Children often ask their parents questions like that when they encounter a person with disabilities. In St. John's gospel, the disciples asked Jesus an even harsher question, when they came…

Many tributes were paid to Pope John Paul II on the occasion of his death. One of the most striking was the editorial published in The New York Times on April 2, 2005. In the midst of stressing the pope's impact…