I’m not a huge poetry guy, but I’ve always been struck by this one: “Seven Stanzas at Easter”, by John Updike. I made use of it last night as I was giving a talk about the liturgical seasons of Lent and Easter. Updike’s poem emphasizes the bodily, corporeal reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. […]
Today’s Gospel reading at Mass raises a very common question posed to Catholics: Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they […]
This past Saturday, I was the speaker at the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto for a Lenten Day of Recollection. The topic was “Conversion”. Here I am (2nd from L, rockin’ the new goatee, no less!) with Josh Canning (far L) from the Newman Centre staff, Fr Kenneth LeBlanc (2nd from R, and […]
Today’s First Reading at Mass was taken from Genesis. It features what Pope John Paul II would call the key to understanding what came to be known as the “Theology of the Body”, John Paul’s legendary catechesis on human sexuality and embodiment. This key is the phrase, “The man and his wife were both naked, […]
Call it an Anglican communion confusion. Charles Lewis, writing in today’s National Post cover story, tells us that “Canadian Anglicans will hold discussions this spring about whether baptism is necessary for taking part in communion – questioning a requirement of Christianity that has existed for 2,000 years.” The reason? Numbers are down! The Anglican communion […]
The old joke is still funny: Why did Peter deny Jesus? Peter was still mad that Jesus healed his mother-in-law. All kidding aside, many non-Catholics look at the indisputable fact that Peter had a mother-in-law (who was indeed healed by Jesus in Mark 1:30-31), and therefore must have had a wife, and consider the Catholic […]
Tonight’s Oscars will feature plenty of worrying about clothing, as celebrities walk the red carpet and hope their wardrobe doesn’t – uh, malfunction – in the eyes of the critics and fashionistas watching worldwide. A far cry from the attitude the Lord espouses in today’s Gospel: Jesus said to his disciples: “No one can serve […]
I cringed inside when I saw the YouTube video. A friend of mine was getting baptized – for a second time. Why would he do that, you ask? He would explain during the video. The clip was from a testimony he gave just before getting rebaptized in a non-Catholic congregation. He spoke of how his […]
Today is the feast of the Chair of Peter, celebrating the enduring office of the Papacy that Jesus entrusted to the Church in Matthew 16, John 21, and elsewhere. Non-Catholics often question the Church’s interpretation of these Scriptures, but there’s no denying the reality of papal primacy in how the early Church actually operated in […]
Today’s Old Testament Mass reading from Genesis features the famous building of the tower of Babel in an attempt to reach heaven by human power. God stops them by confusing their language, scattering them to the ends of the earth (Genesis 11:8-9). Scholars have long noted that the account of Pentecost in Acts 2 is […]