Religious Education - Children
Catechist BlogA Eucharistic Church
part of an on-going series on the Holy Eucharist by Cardinal Avery Dulles Karol Wojtyla has always had a deep eucharistic piety. In 2003 he released his most recent encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, emphasizing the bonds between the Eucharist and the church. Last...
The Pep Talk
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives a “pep talk” to the twelve disciples He is sending out on mission. It has to be the worst pep talk ever - realistic, but grim. 16 “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as...
Good Out of Evil: God is in Control
We often hear of tragedies with innocent victims suffering. The times we were and are still living with the Pandemic has not been an exception. The usual reaction is to question why God allows these things to happen. And the acceptable explanation is that His ways are...
Knowing the Mission
I have two thoughts for you today. The first concerns “the twelve” while the second involves Jesus’ instructions: “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The...
Wrestling with God
You are sympathetic to a charity and would like to help, but money is tight right now (which actually it isn’t). Should I write a check or not? You can make a case that you were not responsible, but in your gut, you know that it was indeed your fault, and you should...
Jesus the Healer
Jesus was both a teacher and healer who showed by His words and actions that God is with us in times of joy but especially when our burdens are heavy. In today’s Gospel we have two healing stories, the healing of a woman with a flow of blood and the raising of an...
Why the Eucharist is confusing for many Catholics (and survey researchers)
In The Habit of Being: The Letters of Flannery O’Connor, a letter from O’Connor to a recipient identified only as “A” recounts the story of a dinner party O’Connor attended in 1955: Well, toward morning the conversation had turned on the Eucharist, which I, being the...
The Art of Following
Today’s passage for Matthew provides useful material for reflection upon the nature of ministry of Jesus and of the church as well. Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him, yet Jesus follows Matthew and the sinners to the table. So, it should be with the ministry of the...
Temptations and Trials
“God put Abraham to the test.” Would a loving and merciful God really put someone to the test by asking them to sacrifice their beloved child and then tell them, “Only testing”? What about poor Job whom God gives over to Satan to test him by destroying his family...
Go or Stay
Following along in Matthew’s gospel, we recall the previous narrative was about the calming of the storm that beset the apostles while they and Jesus were crossing the lake. They arrive at their destination, a place known as the Gadarenes - among the Decapolis - 10...