The Word

People often wonder What does it mean to be a good Catholic A cacophony of voices shouts answers go to Mass every Sunday obey the teaching of the pope be concerned about the poor and about injustice in the world experience the gifts of God rsquo s Spirit In an age of hyper-communication Catho

The Gospel concludes the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem that was inaugurated by the healing of a blind man 8 22-26 which symbolizes the journey of discipleship for followers of Jesus It also provides a contrast to the failure of the disciples throughout the journey and presents a mini-drama of th

Marriage is increasingly described as a fragile institution in our society Divorce rates hover around 40 per cent with the divorce rate among Catholics at roughly 20 percent The readings for this Sunday provide a biblical countervision The Gospel begins with the Pharisees testing Jesus by asking

In today rsquo s Gospel the sweet Jesus of much Christian piety seems to be having a bad day He rebuffs a disciple and his sayings echo with images of intentional drowning self-mutilation and permanent residence in Gehenna with unquenchable fire These sayings which once may have been independen

Christians today tend to think of the age of martyrs in terms of the early centuries of the church with vivid pictures of lions about to devour those who would not deny Christ Yet Karl Rahner once noted that today we should speak not only of martyrs of the faith but also of martyrs of justice Th

Having completed a long tour through John 6 the Lectionary returns to Mark with a dispute between Jesus the Pharisees and some scribes experts in the law over rules to assure purity when eating The readings present something of a paradox The first reading the beginning of the prayer that Jew