Between the years 1642 and 1649 eight members of the Society of Jesus were killed in North America after brutal torture. These Jesuits had worked diligently to bring the native Americans of the region of what is now Upper New York and Canada to the...
Gregory the Great here discusses the Lord's exhortation to pray for preachers of the gospel who are true laborers since the harvest is great but the serious laborers are few. It is fittingly read on the St. Luke the Evangelist on October 18....
Good Friday is the day of the Crucifixion, Passion, and Death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross was a terrorist weapon. In embracing it, was Jesus accepting defeat or pursuing a brilliant victory?...
St. Francis of Assisi is beloved by people of all faiths for his gentleness and love for all creation. But painting him as the patron saint of "the environment" overlooks a very important distinction. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']Y[/dropcaps]ou often see a garden statue of...
The gospel story of the Widow's Mite and the Old Testament visit of the prophet Elijah to the Widow of Zarephath are well known bible tales. Two simple but heroic women -- who call us to heroic virtue in the midst of everyday life. [dropcaps type='normal'...
The Apocalypse -- What does the Bible really teach about the End of the World, Armageddon, the second coming of Jesus Christ and the final battle against the Antichrist? The gospels and the book of Revelation raise many apocalyptic questions for Christians. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='65' color=''...
The story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who met Jesus on the road to Jericho, is a dramatic event from the Gospel of Mark that illustrates something very important about the true nature of Christian faith....
The Call of Matthew, tax-collector and notorious sinner, rattled the pious Pharisees and caused them to reject Jesus. This calls us to reflect on the true nature of holiness and how it differs from that pompous religiosity and empty piety that has always been the...
Robert Bellarmine, reflecting on Jesus' statement in Matthew 11:30 that "my yoke is easy, my burden light," explains it in terms of love of God and the joy and happiness that it produces, in this life, and eternally. For September 17, his feast day....
Augustine on the duty of pastors to strengthen weak Christians. The weak are those who want to live a good life but are unable to endure the sufferings that inevitably threaten. Some are so ill that they are like the paralytic who needed to be...