stceceliastgabriel

God is Beautiful

There is an old cherry tree that grows on the northwest corner of the Parish Office building on the campus of St. Cecilia. Every year, around this time, I look forward to seeing the beautiful pink flowers that adorn its twisted brown branches. The blossoms make me think of the conversion story of a priestContinue reading “God is Beautiful “

Why Read Scripture?

“The Christian story is amazing,” says English historian Tom Holland in a recent conversation with Bishop Robert Barron. Holland’s latest book, Dominion, examines the impact Christianity has had on human civilization, which he argues is so complete that even Christianity’s harshest secular critics often unwittingly base their critiques on ideas that he says are fundamentallyContinue reading “Why Read Scripture? “

A Little Bit of Latin

The opportunity to study as a seminarian in Rome was a life-changing experience for me. One of the things that most impressed me was being in a huge lecture hall with Catholic men and women from all over the world. All of us were together, studying our shared Catholic faith, and it opened my eyesContinue reading “A Little Bit of Latin “

Newness of God

In his first Easter as the Bishop of Rome in 2013, Pope Francis preached to the congregation gathered at St. Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the great Solemnity of Our Lord’s Resurrection, saying: “Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be closed to the newness that God wants to bring into our lives! Are we oftenContinue reading “Newness of God “

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Palmolive

In the year 1898, the B.J. Johnson Corporation unveiled its latest product – a light-green, floating bar of soap called Palmolive. By the turn of the century, it was the world’s best-selling bath soap. Made from an alleged mixture of palm, olive, and coconut oils cultivated in southern Spain, it was marketed as the luxuriousContinue reading “Palmolive “

Bells

In 1940, Walt Disney released the film Fantasia, which consisted of eight sequences of animation set to pieces of classical music. It is generally considered a masterpiece. The most famous scene from the movie, of course, is “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” which features Mickey Mouse as a novice magician who tries to wield magic to helpContinue reading “Bells “

Gift of Life

The late comedian Norm MacDonald, who hosted the “Weekend Update” segment on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s, made the following observation during one of his parody news reports: “Dr. Jack Kavorkian was responsible for another death this week. This time it was a 58-year-old woman. She’s the twenty-sixth of Kavorkian’s patients to die sinceContinue reading “Gift of Life “

Being Last for Lent

This weekend marks 18 days since the start of Lent, almost halfway to Easter, and a good time to consider how well the disciplines we’ve chosen for ourselves are helping us prepare. Recently, I read an article by J.D. Flynn, a Catholic journalist and one of the founders of The Pillar, who wrote about howContinue reading “Being Last for Lent “