Venerable antiquity

More than likely most Catholics in the United States consider the Catholic Church to be the Roman Catholic Church and think that what makes it ‘Catholic’ is the universality manifested in its presence throughout the world. This is a limited understanding. A fuller understanding of…

Who versus What

The liturgical year will end in a few weeks with the feast of Christ the King. In the modern world the religious imagery of a kingdom, as in ‘Thy kingdom come,” may seem odd since it refers to a system of social organization long since…

Interdependence with the poor

It would be a safe bet that readers of this column, regardless of their “positions” on religion, will agree that the advance of our Lord’s Kingdom in some way depends on our interaction with the world’s poor.( Poverty here refers, of course, not just to…

Pax Romana

… to the full extent of its strength and competence Given globalization and the world’s instantaneous communication capabilities anyone interested in the cultivation of the faith might understandably wonder why two millennia after Christianity’s founding this “universal” religion isn’t universally embraced.

Steerage on Peter’s Barque

Since its founding, Christianity has employed imagery to capture the reality of the Church. Consider St. Paul’s reference to the Body of Christ, or subsequent references to the Bride of Christ, the Lord’s flock, or the People of God. One particularly poetic image which can…

This could be my daughter

Daniel Torchia, the communications director at the Toronto based Salt + Light Television Network – www.saltandlighttv.org (see Advancing the Kingdom article dated 2/29/10 entitled ‘With Salt and Light’) brings to our attention a documentary S + L is preparing for release this fall about Bethlehem…

The Power of Beauty

A few years ago a childhood Catholic friend who had abandoned religion soon after college when he moved overseas returned to the States to attend his mother’s funeral.

Build Jake's Place

In the New Testament, Jesus teaches us that we should have a welcoming attitude towards children because “the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt. 19:14). And, the life of Jesus, as recounted in the Gospel stories, also teaches us that good can…