According to the Church’s ancient tradition, the sacraments are not celebrated today. Instead the sacred liturgy proposes a three part celebration to commemorate the Lord’s Passion. In the first part, the Liturgy of the word, we read the holy scripture detailing the events and theology of Christ’s sacrifice. The Liturgy of the word however concludes [...]

A friend has asked, what are we supposed to do during Lent? How is one to Fast? What is Ash Wednesday about and What particular things can one do for Lent? On matters of fasting and abstinence Ash Wednesday and Good Friday of the Easter Triduum are days of fasting and abstinence. Fasting consists of [...]

A new page has been added to the list of available pages in our right-hand sidebar: it contains a set of audio files derived from a talk I gave on the sacrament of confession some time ago. I hope it will be useful!

Doesn’t being A Christian mean somehow that we have met the risen Christ, that we live now not just for him, but with Him? Every Easter season we read the passage of Luke’s Gospel about two disciples on their way to Emmaus, a town outside Jerusalem. This Gospel account is about a journey that often [...]

The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology is a non-profit research and educational institute that promotes life-transforming Scripture study in the Catholic tradition. The Center serves clergy and laity, students and scholars, with research and study tools — from books and publications to multimedia and on-line programming. Salvationhistory.org is a highly recommended website featuring selected [...]

You may have read some of the books by Paul Vitz, an American psychiatrist who has written a number of fascinating books on the relationship between psychology and religion.   One of his most recent books is called Faith of the Fatherless, in which he gives an account of the relationship between fatherlessness and atheism.  He goes through many [...]

I preached a recollection recently, on the subject of the Eucharist in the life and ministry of a deacon. It came in two parts: The deacon within the moment of the Eucharist The Eucharist and the life of charity I have also added these files to a static page that also contains the diaconal reflections [...]

I have been preaching a mission at Holy Family parish, following the same pattern I used for the faith enrichment evenings at Saint Mary’s. The fourth evening, though, was a bit different, because the fourth evening covers something I call the “Four spiritual food groups” and I had already done a mission once before on [...]

The sidebar on the right contains links to certain static pages on this website, one of which is called Catholic funeral information. This page has just been updated with additional resources at the bottom: Easter funeral readings Funeral readings outside the Easter season Our Catholic funeral rites (pamphlet)

Very often, when we approach the Lord for a healing what we are really looking for is a cure. If that is our desire, we may find ourselves disappointed and even in despair. But there is no sacrament, for example, that can stave off death inevitably. The only way the disease of death will ever [...]