Wednesday, April 11, 20180226One of the great titles bestowed by the church upon Mary Magdalene is “the apostle to the apostles.” According to the Gospel of John, Mary, still sorrowful on “the first day of the week” (John 20:1), is the privileged recipient of the first Easter message that Jesus’ body no longer rests in the tomb. After racing to Simon Peter...
Saturday, March 31, 2018075Lent is almost over, and many of us are already evaluating our Lenten resolutions. How did you do? Did you keep your resolutions? Let me suggest a few things to keep in mind as we reflect on our resolutions.
Friday, March 16, 20180213From the cross, Jesus gives his followers a final instruction on how to read both the Scriptures and his own sacrificial death. Only the Roman soldiers crucifying him and the small ensemble of his followers, St. John and his mother among them, hear his anguished cry moments before he expires: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken...
Tuesday, February 20, 2018053A rising pastoral topic in the Church these days is the proper way to respond to those who say they are transgender. As Catholics, a good place from which to orient ourselves is Amoris laetitia by Pope Francis.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017022On January 8, 2018, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus “in the Jordan by John” (Mk 1:9-11). The evangelist Mark tells us that the baptism John preached was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mk 1:4). But if it is for the forgiveness of sins, why does Jesus, the all holy Son of God, accept to be baptized?
Monday, November 27, 20170160Christ commands us to love with “all” our heart, soul and mind (Mt 22:34-40). But what does that look like? To speak about “all” a heart is to speak about a “pure” heart: a simple, whole and straightforward heart, free from anything extraneous. When we love purely, we are unified by a single love.
Friday, November 3, 20170110St. Thomas Aquinas and Dante are the most famous among the many theologians who have speculated about the nature of Heaven. While they certainly could not speak from personal experience while standing on this side of death, they rightly emphasized that our perpetual vision of God must be based on our capacity to receive that infinite...
Thursday, October 5, 2017079A story. Some time ago I had lunch with a black friend in a major city. I asked him what it was like when he first met the couple that informally adopted him by mentoring him after he aged out of foster care. He said something like, “During the first six months I was suspicious, because I had been burned many times before, but then I...
Thursday, October 5, 20170121
By Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
October is the month of the Rosary in the Roman Catholic tradition. Dedication to this devotion, and in particular its faithful recitation in October, is due largely to the victory of the Catholic Western powers over the Ottoman Empire at the naval battle of Lepanto on Oct....
Wednesday, July 26, 20170164
By Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
My noble efforts at maintaining a tranquil, stoic temperament fail miserably whenever I hear one particular response to the topic of reading the Bible. It comes in several variations, but they all seize on a common theme—or excuse. “Reading the Bible? C’mon, dude. I...
