Category: Advancing the Kingdom

The white smoke has arisen. A new pope has been elected. Around the world hope is reinforced. One would be hard pressed to gainsay the need for it in the native land of Pope Leo XIV. Conventional wisdom has it that the USA is ‘post-Christian’.…

“Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out”.  This was once a popular aphorism. Even so, while its popularity today is lost, its significance isn’t.  What brings this fact to mind is the rise of what is called ‘non-denominational Christianity’. What is non-denominational…

Lately, the sudden preoccupation with pronouns has received much media coverage. Unfortunately, this attention has not been aroused by concern over that annoyingly ubiquitous grammatical violation ‘between you and I’, but rather it is due to the conflation of the words ‘sex’ and ‘gender’.  Perhaps…

A cross and a crucifix, Easter Sunday and Good Friday, pastors and priests: the parallel distinctions in each of these three dyads is worthy of reflection on this Holy Thursday, especially as they relate to the sacrament of Holy Orders. A cross is a crucifix…

Is the fact that this once popular phrase has fallen into disuse significant? The expression means stubbornly or recklessly determined, and its implication is a course of action destined for disastrous failure.  One might ask: “Are we hell-bent?” If so, it is sobering to be…

Readers may recognize ‘saecula saeculorum’ as the final words in the Latin version of the prayer ‘Glory be to the Father’. The English translation of this phrase is ‘world without end’, a reference to eternity. Ironically, ‘saecula saeculorum’ shares its etymological root with our modern…

Today thousands around our nation will receive the sign of the cross traced in ashes on their foreheads and hear some equivalent to that ancient Ash Wednesday admonition: “Remember, man, that thou are dust and unto dust thou shalt return”. In our increasingly secularized society,…

Are Catholics Christian? This question has often been posed by those poorly informed about the history of the Church. Such ignorance has not been uncommon in the past. Suffice it to say that since the followers of Christ were first called ‘Christians’ in Antioch two…

Since the mysticism of Jerusalem, the philosophy of Athens, and the governance of Rome joined forces two millennia ago western civilization as we know it has developed and continues to do so throughout the world. Though with occasional setbacks and reversals, its progress has been…

Yesterday, throughout the hours marking the inauguration of our forty-seventh president, the blessings of the Almighty were extensively and repeatedly invoked. Those attending the ceremonies, indeed the viewership around the globe, were undoubtedly – at least momentarily –  struck by the manifestation of the religious…