From the Back of the Church

Official Vatican Photo of Pope Francis Released

2013-03-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

The Vatican News Service released this official photo of the new Holy Father with his signature. It's dated the day of his election. According to the news service: "In the crucifix is the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, carrying the sheep on his shoulders, with the flock following him." I think it's a great photo. Does it look like a Polaroid? Check out the signature, it doesn't

Simony or Scam- Need a Rosary Blessed by the Pope?

2013-03-20T21:43:00.000-04:00

Have you looked on eBay since the papal election? If you haven't, go ahead and type "Pope Francis" into the search bar. When I did it, there were 2,433 related things for sale. You'll find all sorts of papal memorabilia, ranging from commemorative t-shirts to a large clock featuring the Holy Father's head. Sadly, the first listing that came up for me was a little surprising: 50 rosaries

Some Thoughts On The New Pope

2013-03-13T23:07:00.000-04:00

Before talking about our new pope, can I point out how fascinated I am with the Church and modern technology? Never before have billions of people been able to watch the chimney at the Sistine Chapel yet never step foot in St Peter's Square. Probably with only a few exceptions, the entire world found out about the new bishop of Rome within moments thanks to the news media and internet.

Did the Pope Really Resign???

2013-02-11T23:07:00.000-05:00

When the news broke out, I didn't believe it at first. History was made today. The world's one billion Catholics learned that Pope Benedict XVI will resign from the papacy effective February 28, 2013 at 8pm (Rome time). Only a handful of the 265 successors to St Peter have done this, the last being Gregory XII in 1415. Once the news settled, it actually didn't surprise me that the Holy

Enough Is Enough, Cardinal Mahony!

2013-02-01T23:51:00.001-05:00

I'm not one to publicly criticize bishops. In fact, I usually detest it and encourage others to not do so. Usually...but not this time; although it helps that Roger Cardinal Mahony is retired. In case you're not familiar with what I'm eluding to, Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles has publicly announced that his predecessor Cardinal Mahony will "no longer have any administrative or public

Going High Tech for Holy Mass

2013-01-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

The term "hands free" will never enter your mind if you've got two small toddlers with you in church. If I'm not holding the squirmy one, I'm holding the other who's restless and ready to fall asleep. Because of this, being able to use a hymnal or a misalette during the liturgy can be a rare occurrence for me. This became especially evident when the changes in the Mass were introduced. I even

The Epiphany Proclamation and Date of Easter

2013-01-05T18:28:00.000-05:00

One of the neatest things about being Catholic is that there's always something new to experience, especially with internet access and social media making things so readily accessible. Thanks to technology, you can pretty much know what the pope is up to. If you have a Twitter account, His Holiness could also know what's going on with you!Thanks to television coverage of the Papal Mass on the

Christmas Begins TODAY!

2012-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Depending on where you live (or more precisely where you shop), it's been Christmas since October. As soon as the trick-or-treating is over, the Halloween decorations come down and the Christmas stuff goes up. If you're slow, you might wait until Thanksgiving. I suppose this isn't all bad. All things considered, the world could use a little bit of the Christmas spirit throughout the year. I

The Ordo, Secret to the Liturgical Calendar

2012-11-18T22:41:00.001-05:00

So how does the priest know what prayers to say at Mass, or which readings to use? This can seem like a little liturgical secret if you've never heard of it before. I'm talking about a little book called the Ordo, a short name for The Order of Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours and the Celebration of the Eucharist. So what's an ordo? An ordo is a calendar that provides direction for the

We Need TRUTH, Not Hype!

2012-11-03T15:19:00.000-04:00

Three days ago, a Chicago Tribune reporter wrote an article: Bishop orders priests to read anti-Obama letter at Sunday sermons. The article starts by saying: "Joining the chorus of Roman Catholic clergy in Illinois criticizing President Barack Obama before next week's election..." Within minutes of it's online publishing, there were hundreds of comments. Plenty of them supported Bishop Jenky

What's a Titular Church?

2012-10-21T23:16:00.000-04:00

I have to warn you, this article is more on the informative side than usual. Okay. To the be honest, my wife thought it was downright boring. But keep reading, maybe it'll be interesting!Earlier this month, New York's Timothy Cardinal Dolan wrote in his blog about taking possession of his titular church in Rome. Well if you're not familiar with that, you might want to ask: What's a titular

Don't Miss Out on the Year of Faith

2012-10-07T23:07:00.001-04:00

If you haven't heard, with his apostolic letter Porta Fidei, Pope Benedict XVI has declared a "Year of Faith" from October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013. October 11 commemorates two anniversaries within the recent history of the Church: the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council by Blessed Pope John XXVIII (in 1962) and the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the

Concerns with Organ Donation

2012-09-15T21:57:00.000-04:00

What do you think about organ donation? As a devout Catholic, what I have to say might surprise you.Here's what the Church teaches: Organ transplants are in conformity with the moral law if the physical and psychological dangers and risks to the donor are proportionate to the good sought for the recipient. Organ donation after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as a

Does God Care What We Wear to Church?

2012-08-19T22:00:00.002-04:00

"God doesn't care what we wear to church, He's just happy we're there." Who ever believes this might be a little naive, maybe even fooling themselves. It sounds good at first, reminding us to be thankful that people are coming to church. But it also implies that people can't do any better, that we should just settle for the pews being occupied, and that's not true at all. I

The Right Way to Receive Holy Communion

2012-08-08T17:29:00.000-04:00

Perhaps this might seem rudimentary for some, but I can tell you it's something we need to talk about. I don't think it matters where you live, the problem is there- some Catholics simply don't know the right way to receive the Eucharist. To be clear, the Church desires that everyone to receive Holy Communion. (Wait, don't call me a heretic yet.) However, the Church wants everyone to

Women in the Church

2012-07-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

After writing about priests and vocations, many readers have told me that I can't blog about the (male) priesthood, and not talk about women in the Church. So for the sake of world peace, here it is! (Just kidding about the world peace part.) A male dominated, hierarchical institution. Does that describe the Catholic Church? Yes, it does. Is the statement true? Yes, it is. It's true that

What's Your Favorite Part of the Mass?

2012-07-15T19:02:00.000-04:00

Have you ever thought about this? I have to admit, I have. (I realize this makes me look like a total nerd when it comes to going to church.) Having a "favorite part" of the Mass is a good thing. After all, so many go to church because they feel they have to, not because they want to. When you start having a favorite part of the Mass, then you're probably there because you want to be there. You

Supporting Priestly Vocations

2012-06-29T23:19:00.000-04:00

The Church in the United States has a vocations problem. (This may seem obvious to most, but there's still a few people that don't realize this.) When people hear vocations, they usually think priesthood and religious life, although these are actually two distinct vocations among the others. (I'm actually a big fan of not grouping priests and religious together- a priest is not a nun with a

A Path to Holiness

2012-05-31T22:50:00.000-04:00

When I started writing this, I intended to write a blog article about supporting and promoting vocations. I then realized I should first tell you a part of my own vocation story, since it has shaped many posts written on this blog. It didn't lead to me priesthood (no matter how much I wanted it to), but it's still my path to holiness. (I hope you don't find it too boring.) So

Ascension Sunday?

2012-05-19T10:30:00.001-04:00

Did you go to Mass on Ascension Thursday? Wait, was the Ascension even celebrated on Thursday? If you missed it, I wouldn't panic. It's probably because the Ascension was transferred to the following Sunday in your area. In the United States, the Ascension was transferred to Sunday, except in the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia

Forgetting About the Eucharist at First Communion

2012-04-17T22:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter! The Easter season is easily referred to as "the Sacramental Season" because of the large number of sacraments that are received during these 50 days. During the 2012 Easter Vigil celebrations alone, there were 120,000 people received into the Church in the United States, some 43,000 of those were baptized. In the weeks after, bishops are busy traveling to various parishes for

Who Covered Up All The Statues?

2012-04-02T23:04:00.002-04:00

I've been asked this question a lot lately since more places started doing this before Holy Week. To answer the question directly- I have no idea who. I think the question people really want to know is- Why are the statues covered? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, it is probably the custom of your parish or worship site to do this only on Good Friday (which has been the liturgical

Our Sacred Duty and the HHS Mandate

2012-03-27T17:12:00.000-04:00

Since the Supreme Court starting hearing arguments for/against Obamacare yesterday, I thought it fitting to post this now. Immediately after writing Why I Hate the HHS Mandate, I got thrown into a lot of heating discussions. Most of it on Facebook, but also by e-mail and individual discussion. As I participated in these exchanges, I had some additional thoughts and observations which I've

Why I Hate the HHS Mandate

2012-03-10T22:51:00.001-05:00

Growing up, I never liked to be told what do to. Now as adult, there's times where I'm still like that, and I think that's okay. In fact, that's what makes me hate the new HHS mandate and the Affordable Care Act.I have purposely been silent on this issue for a number of reasons. Every US bishop has spoken on this, so at first I thought it was an over-discussed topic. I had also thought that

When the Church Is Hit with Disaster

2012-03-09T22:30:00.000-05:00

When I refer to the Church, I'm not just talking about the building. I'm referring to the people of God, and in this case, the people of southern Indiana that were hit with a tornado on Friday evening. The following are e-mails from the parish priest in Henryville, Fr Steve Schaftlein, to Bishop Christopher Coyne, the Apostolic Administrator of the Indianapolis Archdiocese. Bp Coyne made these