Tuesday, October 25, 2016030Do I have a choice in this election? Many Catholics are asking themselves this question. It is important to let it challenge us. We are in a difficult situation, and it is healthy to admit it. Otherwise, we risk becoming close-minded, divided and politically ineffective.
Conscience is a popular topic today. It seems to me that during my grandparents’ generation (I am 32), Catholics did not speak much about conscience. People then were probably more sensitive to the importance of being guided in their judgment by God, whose word is made known in the church. Judging by the stories people tell me, at its...
Monday, September 26, 2016069The biblical faith expressed in both Old and New Testaments does not lend authoritative support to those who draw a personal map to a God of their own devising.
Monday, July 25, 2016055By Father John Bayer
Special to The Texas Catholic
Debate is a part of every healthy society. When we refuse to create space for charitable and spirited discussion, violence or indifference is sure to follow. Debate is good, both in our country and in the church. But it is disturbing to see the character of our political debates...
Thursday, May 12, 2016045With the Solemnity of Pentecost, the long journey through Lent, Holy Week and Easter is over – a liturgical marathon stretching from February 10th to May 15th this year. You might think we can now relax our festive spirits and settle into the “ordinary” time of the liturgical year. Not so fast! For the first Sunday after Pentecost...
Wednesday, March 23, 20160273Someone you know, whether your spouse, a pouty child, or a friend, will soon complain about the interminably long liturgies they will be subjected to this coming Holy Week. Instead of the usual icy glare or a fed-up “because I’m your parent and God expects you there” approach, you might ask them to ponder why it is that the church...
Friday, February 5, 20160320I once had the privilege of accompanying a woman as she peacefully passed away in the arms and words of her husband, children and grandchildren. It is impossible to measure these things, but I am tempted to say this was so far the deepest and most precious experience of my priestly ministry, if not my life. The total release of life into...
On Jan. 25 of each year, the church celebrates perhaps the greatest conversion in her history: that of Saint Paul. His dramatic encounter with the risen Jesus, narrated three times by Luke in Acts of the Apostles (chapters 9, 22, and 26), marks a pivotal turn in the young Church’s life. Paul reveals in several of his letters that he...
