Wednesday, July 17, 2019024For any flower to blossom fully, its roots must be nourished continuously and grounded in good soil. This simple fact of nature highlights, by analogy, the spiritual necessity of drawing constant inspiration from the first days and heroes of the early Church.
Tuesday, May 28, 20190257In the heart of Rome stands Piazza Venezia, a chaotic traffic circle in front of the gaudy Vittorio Emanuele monument, home to Italy’s tomb of the unknown soldier and dubbed “the wedding cake” by American tourists for its dazzling white marble. To the east of this monument stands a drab brown building, Palazzo San Marco, originally...
Friday, April 26, 20190112I stumbled upon a question during Holy Week, one that moved quite gracefully from a thought-experiment to prayer: how would Job respond to the suffering of Christ on the cross?
Thursday, April 11, 20190166What does it mean to forgive? Is forgiveness essentially a negative and cancelling force, that is, something that ignores an injury? Or is it a positive and creative force, that is, something that adds to life? I think it’s probably both, but my sense is that we typically think only of the negative side. For example, it is popular to...
Friday, March 29, 20190122I recall playing with my nephew Lucas, who was roughly 2 years old at the time. I held up a mirror to him, and asked him whose picture he saw in the mirror. He shouted, “That’s Lucas!” I responded, “But who is Lucas?” With a happy giggle, he squealed, “Me!”
How many words, songs and rhymes are stored in your memory? If I say, “Take me out to the…” or “Oops I…” you could probably finish the two lines (“Take me out to the ballgame” and “Oops I did it again”). We have an immense world of words filling our interior lives, and many of them we made little effort to memorize....
Friday, March 1, 20190302
By Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
My first years as a priest and spiritual director have taught me that many people do not love themselves as they should. This is hardly a matter of selfish egoism – we must, after all, begin with a healthy love of self if we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus...
Thursday, December 27, 20180154An elderly priest recounted to me a conversation he once had with a devout Muslim. The primary topic of their friendly dialogue was the identity of Jesus. When the priest had finished explaining the mystery of the Incarnation (that is, of God becoming fully human in Christ) as best he could, the Muslim snapped in response, “Why would...
Friday, December 14, 2018027
By Father John Bayer
Special to The Texas Catholic
In the span of about two weeks I received 15 cards encouraging me as a priest. One person, who signed herself as “Your spiritual mother,” wrote, “May you be strong against temptations. Take heart as we face the current scandals in the priesthood.” Another wrote, “To...
Wednesday, October 31, 2018070By Father John Bayer
Special to The Texas Catholic
I enjoy seeing religious wisdom vindicated by modern science. Let me tell you a brief story about myself.
A few years ago, I was basically crippled by food allergies and chronic pain in my feet, the latter apparently the result of an injury I sustained while exercising. Ever since...
