“Come, let us sing to the Lord, and shout with joy to the rock who saves us./ Let us approach Him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord./ The Lord is God, the mighty God, the great king above all the gods./ He holds in His hands the depths of the earth and the highest mountains as well./ He madeContinue reading “Psalm 95”
Category Archives: Other
Vaccines
Last November, the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca announced that they had developed vaccines that effectively prevent infection by the COVID-19 virus. Not long after the announcement, however, questions were raised by many as to the morality of receiving these vaccines. The issue stems from the use of a morally compromised cell line in various phases of the design & development, production, and testing of these new vaccines. This cell line wasContinue reading “Vaccines”
Christ is Master
In the gospel for today (Mk6:45-52) we find the Apostles on the Sea of Galilee in their boat. Jesus had stayed behind on the shore, going up the mountain alone to pray. As evening falls, the weather gets bad, and the Apostles have a hard time rowing to their destination. From His position on the mountain, JesusContinue reading “Christ is Master”
End and Beginning
In ancient Roman mythology, Janus was the god of beginnings and transitions. He was depicted as having two faces, one looking ahead to the future and one looking behind to the past. The month January is named after him because it is the time of transition into a new year from the old. As we comeContinue reading “End and Beginning”
Liturgy, Part 5
Pope (emeritus) Benedict XVI is widely considered to be one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the past 100 years. One of his most famous books is entitled The Spirit of the Liturgy, which he published in the year 2000 as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, five years prior to his election to the papacy. Among the topics that Ratzinger examines in that book is the relationship of the liturgy to timeContinue reading “Liturgy, Part 5”
Liturgy, part 4
When we think of the word “sacrifice,” we might think of it as a form of delayed gratification, where we deprive ourselves of something we want now for the sake of enjoying a better thing later on. We might also think of the sacrifices that parents make for their children, or that members of the military make for the protection of our country. ButContinue reading “Liturgy, part 4”
Advent
A priest friend of mine recently shared with me an excerpt of a meditation on Advent by Br. Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourette, who is a Benedictine monk living in a monastery near Millbrook, NY. Br. Victor-Antoine works on the monastery’s farm and is in charge of cooking for the community, which fosters in him a deep reverence for the differentContinue reading “Advent”
The Gift of Gratitude
Thanksgiving reminds me of my grandmother, Elizabeth. When we were little, our family used to make the trek down from Trumbull to Staten Island where she lived, braving both the BQE and the Verrazano Bridge – which is not for the faint of heart even on the best of days. My grandmother was one of seven children born to the Fallon family in County Longford,Continue reading “The Gift of Gratitude”
Giving Thanks in 2020
Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with tradition. Besides 5k Turkey Trots and football games, the most important tradition is to sit at a table with family and friends and share with each other a meal, at which everyone speaks about what they’re grateful for. This year, many are likely to say they’re grateful that it’s almost 2021. The “annus horribilis”Continue reading “Giving Thanks in 2020”
Tough Love
The Book of Revelation is filled with dramatic images of great battles between angels and demons, the Lamb of God and the terrible dragon that vainly tries to destroy the Woman who appears in the sky, “clothed with the sun.” Usually identified with an account of the end of the world, the Book of Revelation is really more than that. It unveilsContinue reading “Tough Love”
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 