From the monthly archives: September 2010
In a previous post, I wrote about the Christian concept of God as the eternal source of all being, and later I wrote about our Christian idea of God as a creator who loves His creatures and who enters into relationship with us. It might be a little startling to think of God [...]
A recession shows the difference between apparent wealth and real wealth. The Gospel goes deeper, revealing that all wealth is passing away. Then what is truly lasting? At a football game there is a lot more going on than the numbers on the scoreboard. The only thing that truly lasts is the kind of people we are becoming. Every choice we make shapes who we are as people. Small acts add up to habits and character and create who you are as a person. What really matters is not where you live or what you own or do, but what kind of person you are becoming. [click post for audio content]
Ordinary Time, 25th Sunday. Oprah can give away vacations to Australia. I can only give a few little gifts. Our Gospel features a dishonest steward who learns that some things are more important than money. How do we learn this lesson? By being generous. Even more than others need our generosity, we ourselves need to be generous. Dostoevsky’s Parable of the Onion shows how much it matters. We can be generous with our money, our time, our prayer, even our love. Most of us can’t give away Aussie vacations, but we can all give something far more valuable – ourselves. [click post of audio content]
Question: “The United Kingdom, like many other Western countries, is considered to be a secular State. There is a strong culturally-motivated atheist movement. Nonetheless, there are also signs that religious faith – particularly faith in Jesus Christ – remains alive at a personal level. What does this mean for Catholics and Anglicans? Can anything be [...]
The song “The First Time” by U2 captures what the prodigal son is feeling – “I left by the back door, and I threw away the key.” What does the prodigal son learn after all his misadventures? He learns that the best thing he ever had was his father’s love for him. Only God would leave 99 sheep to search for 1 lost one, turn his house upside down looking for a penny, forgive the Israelites time and time again, sacrifice his Son for us, and turn Paul the persecutor of Christians into Paul the Apostle of Christ. Often, we who sit in the pews are like the older son; we spend years serving the Church without ever realizing what the Father’s love really means. It’s time to discover Him. [click article for audio content]
I have heard many Catholics tell me they are concerned that the Catholic Church is not accepting the gifts of women because it reserves the priesthood to men. I have seen, however, that women have a huge role to play in the Church, and that both religious and lay women exercise a moral leadership that [...]
Twelve Lessons on the Catholic Faith – by Fr. Benjamin Sember
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