This morning we received this announcement from the New York Province of the Society of Jesus This is to inform you that Avery Cardinal Dulles died this morning at about 6 30 at Murray-Weigel Hall nbsp Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly May he rest in peace nbsp Murray-Weigel H

Jesus has blasphemed according to the Sanhedrin thus he is destined for death He is guilty of no capital crime so as to move the Romans to kill him but the charge that merits that penalty will soon come But first Mark as a good writer brings to completion what he had begun at the Last Supp

I am the Lord your God Who grasp your right hand It is I who say to you Fear not I will help you The afflicted and needy seek water in vain their tongues are parched with thirst I the Lord will answer them I their God will not forsake them

The Lord is the eternal God Creator of the ends of the earth He does not faint nor grow weary and His knowledge is beyond our full grasp He gives strength to the fainting He makes the weak vigorous They who hope in the Lord will renew their strength they will soar as with eagles wings the

Three years ago December 10th 2005 Sosoliso Flight 1145 crashed attempting to land in Port Harcourt Nigeria On board were over 100 passengers including 61 from Loyola Jesuit College Abuja Nigeria 60 died one of our students survived and is still receiving medical attention I was Presid

Just a reminder that we are posting weekly Advent reflections over at The Good Word and on our YouTube page nbsp Here is Associate Editor Matt Malone S J on a song that always reminds him of the Advent season

All the readings anticipate something present but not tangibly so--even something powerfully active though not sensed in the ordinary ways The Isaiah voice Mary in the canticle response Paul in the second reading and John the Baptist in the Gospel all address hearers their original partners and

Why do so many Catholics still distrust Thomas Merton Forty years ago today Thomas Merton a Trappist monk and perhaps the most popular American Catholic writer in history stepped out of a bathroom shower during a visit to Bangkok Slipping on the wet floor he grabbed a poorly wired fan for supp

President-elect Obama should nationalize Amtrak rsquo s rail lines and build high-speed rail lines connecting major cities throughout the East Coast and Industrial Midwest Amtrak already receives a federal subsidy because it can rsquo t make a profit There are two major reasons it can rsquo t make

Comfort give comfort and speak tenderly to My people says our God Go and cry out fearlessly at the top of your voice Here is your God Here comes with power the Lord God Who rules by His strong arm like a shepherd He feeds His flock in His arms He gathers the lambs carrying them in His bosom

The agony of Jesus is finished as is his exhortation to watch and pray Now Mark asks his reader to contemplate the second part of the garden incident Jesus arrest The ones doing the arresting are not soldiers of the Roman army they are the Jewish public custodians of order in the Temple a

In our third Advent video reflection Fr Jim Martin considers the virtues of of St Joseph

Cardinal George Pell the archbishop of Sydney Australia about to celebrate the Tridentine Mass in Rome on Dec 8 H T to orbiscatholicus blogspot and Robert Mickens James Martin SJ

Over the next few days we will throw out some policy ideas for the new Obama administration Readers should send in their own proposals by posting a comment While the financial crisis permits Obama to spend almost unlimited amounts of money in his first year trying to jump start the economy he st

They will see Jesus the glory of the Lord the splendor of our God Strengthen the hands that are feeble make firm the knees that are weak say to those whose hearts are frightened Be strong fear not Here is your God He comes to save you sorrow and mourning will flee

This feast always makes me think of St Bernadette Soubirous nbsp As you ll remember the Virgin Mary appeared to her in one of the last apparitions at Lourdes and said in the local patois I am the Immaculate Conception nbsp This was in 1858 four years after Pope Pius IX had proclaimed

Last night I finished reading Paul Mariani s astonishing new biography Gerard Manley Hopkins A Life which we reviewed in a Bookings section of our magazine a few weeks ago nbsp It is simply extraordinary nbsp For many years the standard biography of Hopkins has been Gerard Manley Hopki

The Rev Jeremiah Wright was back in the pulpit yesterday suffering again from a bad case of a collapsed eschaton Jesus said upon this rock I will build mdash listen to the promise mdash my church he said according to the Chicago Tribune And the gates of hell mdash listen to the promise mdas

Take off your robe of mourning and misery put on the splendor of glory from God forever For God is leading us in joy by the light of His glory Jesus with his mercy and justice for company Baruch 5