Dating from the Middle Ages this feast seems to duplicate the liturgy of Holy Thursday but also looks forward to the weekly eucharistic celebrations of ordinary time It is often celebrated with a festive procession which can symbolize our need for the Eucharist in our own pilgrimage Three themes

Beginning in January 1977 the nation was captivated by the moving drama ldquo Roots rdquo which told of the origin and earliest days of an African-American family It enabled people to see their African-American brothers and sisters in a new light as a people with a noble heritage who had underg

For almost four years Tuesdays With Morrie has appeared on the best-seller list of The New York Times It is a moving account by Mitch Albom of conversations with his dying mentor Morrie Schwartz who had earlier taught a course on ldquo The Meaning of Life rdquo and now unfolded even deeper mean

During the Easter season the readings celebrate the joy of the resurrection which culminates at Pentecost with the enduring gift of the Holy Spirit The readings from Acts recount the Spirit-directed spread of the Gospel and the almost idyllic life of the early church even amid suffering and perse

Only Luke recounts the story of Christ rsquo s ascension and it often seems a puzzling feast A number of years ago I attended a children rsquo s liturgy in a vibrant parish The priest told the children that he had bought a special gift to celebrate Ascension Thursday and asked them to guess what

Vatican City Jan 25 2059 mdash The recently elected pope Victor IV the former archbishop of Lusaka Charles Tilyenji who took the name of the first pope from Africa St Victor 189-98 celebrated the traditional Mass for the Curia in St Paul rsquo s Outside the Walls It also marked the cen

A papal conclave is among the most solemn events in the Catholic Church replete with ancient rituals and contemporary media feeding frenzy Today rsquo s Gospel presents a unique conclave Jesus and his disciples at a fish fry by the Sea of Tiberias that unfolds in two acts In the first the risen

On this Sunday traditionally called Good Shepherd Sunday the Gospel for each Lectionary cycle is an excerpt from Jn 10 1-30 Proclamation and prayer require reflection on the complex of motifs found throughout This year the Gospel also provides a fine linkage with last week rsquo s shepherding m

For those who have made the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius the stress on what Ignatius calls repetitions initially seems tedious Ignatius exhorts the retreatant to repeat and spend days or more on the same meditation asking whether he or she feels consolation or desolation or arrives at some

The annual Easter proclamation reminds us of St Augustine rsquo s hymn to beauty God ever ancient ever new At the door of the tomb the realm of death the women hear an affirmation of life He is not here but he has been raised Echoing through the centuries this is the foundation of Christ