A few years ago I had the privilege of standing in the sacristy of a Ukrainian church watching a priest friend of mine prepare for Mass. The wonderful liturgies of the Church’s eastern rites (the Byzantine, Maronite, Ukrainian and others) express a richness and complexity of worship that contrasts with the simplicity of the [...]
Do angels intervene in sacraments? We know from our earliest instructions in the faith that angels exist and are concerned about our welfare. Anyone who has learned the traditional Guardian Angel Prayer (“Angel of God”) knows that they are sent “to light, to guard, to rule and guide” us throughout life. (See the text [...]
The 19th century poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) gave the world a great gift in her masterful poem about the birth of Christ, “In the Bleak Midwinter”. Certain verses of the poem are immediately familiar to most Christians through its celebrated musical setting by Gustav Holst (1874-1934). Both poet and composer were English-born despite their [...]
The life story of the German Franciscan priest, Fr. Gereon Goldmann, is one for the ages. Some of his tales of miraculous escapes from certain death, victory in the face of overwhelming odds, and the power of faith and prayer are so extraordinary that one must see them in the perspective of a whole [...]
During the Advent season, we bring you an inspirational piece of Renaissance music that is based on a quote from St. John’s gospel. Nearly five hundred years old, this hymn has a timeless beauty that will be a gift to our world for as long as there are voices to sing it. But first [...]
Have you ever found yourself so transfixed by the beauty of something that you become totally absorbed in it, or found yourself listening to a single piece of music over and over because it speaks so deeply to your heart and soul? That is what happens to me each time I listen to the [...]
If you were to ask a “bible only” preacher if he owns a hand-written copy of the bible in Greek dating back to the fourth century AD, he may be quite confused. A bible…uh…in Greek? Even sincere “bible only” believers may never have thought about where the bible actually came from. Your question may [...]
Roman Catholics venerate the extraordinary 4th century poet and writer known as Ephrem the Syrian together with the Syriac Orthodox Church. St. Ephrem is a canonized saint in both traditions and was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. Ephrem served as a deacon in his homeland of Nisbis [...]
Sometimes…it isn’t worry that causes us to focus on the future, but the hope of something better or happier…. We may spend our whole lives waiting to live. Thus we risk not fully accepting the reality of our present lives. Yet, what guarantee is there that we won’t be disappointed when the long-awaited time [...]
Some years ago, I had an employee who was not pulling his weight, and that was unfortunate because his position was critical to the organization. As I kept warning him about his failure to perform his job, our working relationship became strained and began to decline. Things were getting bad and I had to [...]