The Good Word

Last week I was diagnosed with pneumonia I had been tired for a few weeks but had not suspected why I had been so lethargic not to mention moribund and feverish I am going to bow out of writing for the Good Word for the summer though not from reading the blog or the Word itself as one means

Trinity Sunday gives us a wonderful moment to reflect on how mysterious God is how little we can say no matter how vast our desire It also prompts us to recall that cardinal Bible sin idolatry false claims about God often overbalanced toward certainty and projection i e making God too much l

If you have ever lived overseas for a period of time or travelled overseas you might have experienced the strange phenomenon of picking up whatever pop song was popular at the time and having it stand as your musical memory of a country though its impact might have been fleeting even in the count

We are happy to feature this guest blog post from Francis A Quinn the archbishop emeritus of Sacramento Calif One of the most memorable moments of my life was when I conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on 20 youths in San Francisco s Children s Hospital The children were from 4 to 16 years

The First Readings for the Thursday and Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter continue with Acts 15 7-31 The issue of whether all Christians including Gentiles should follow the Mosaic Law was raised in Acts 15 1-6 Only ldquo after there had been much nbsp debate 15 7 rdquo did Peter state t

Today rsquo s first reading details a moment in the early days of the young church in a way both vivid and stylized Those reading the daily lectionary will have an even sharper sense of the unfolding of events from Acts of the Apostles The material is action-packed easy to appreciate Among its f

I raised the issue of institutional change in the Church in a recent post The major problem with respect to change is the tensions it raises at the level of Church teaching – is this an issue where change can be envisioned or is this a part of the sacred deposit of faith a revealed truth a doctri

The readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter wake us up once again to the perennial truth and current application of Scripture nbsp Acts 14 21-27 takes place just after Paul and Barnabas had left Lystra and Derbe if ldquo left rdquo is the proper description of how Paul was escorted out of Ly

There is an important article by Joseph Bottum at The Weekly Standard com on the recent ldquo odd hysteria rdquo that is the media rsquo s response and role in the recent and revived claims regarding sexual abuse by priests and cover-ups of this abuse by some in the Church rsquo s leadership Th

Last week I posted excerpts of Father Robert Beloin s homily on the sexual abuse crisis in hopes that the resources of Scripture could be a fruitful resource for reflecting on the church s problems today This week we offer another homily for your reflection this one from Father Michael Ryan of th