In these United States our Religious systemhas undergone a revolution, if possible,more extraordinary than our political one. —John Carroll, 1783 John Carroll and his fellow priests did not go so far as to declare independence in the religious sphere as the American patriots did in the political realm. Doing so would have obliterated their identity as […]
This morning’s Gospel reading is Luke 24:35–48: The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled […]
The extreme improbability of the “very perfectly precise” conditions needed for a sustainable universe capable of sustaining life within it was calculated by Oxford mathematician-physicist Roger Penrose in 1989. The number that Penrose calculated with respect to the conditions necessary for sustaining life is astronomical. At the beginning of his book, Science at the Doorstep […]
The angry thunderclaps that crashed in the darkness above Whitemarsh Plantation in Prince Georges County, Maryland, robbed Father John Carroll of any sleep his agitated mind might have allowed him on this May night of 1789. Before dawn of the next day, Carroll, bleary-eyed and still weary, rose from his bed, said his morning prayers, […]
Note: I am currently on vacation, but please enjoy my reflection from 2018 on the same readings. This morning’s Gospel reading is John 20:19–31: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst […]
Five years ago, when I was in Europe leading a pilgrimage tour to England with Joseph Pearce, I learned that the Shroud of Turin was to be on display for veneration in Turin. After the pilgrimage in England I made my way to Italy where I was joined by a friend. After a few days […]
Love must not be, but take a body tooAir and Angels —John Donne The primal metaphor has been transposedas sleep an affiance with death eludesfor death defective is but sleep. Alludesto resurrection now: a dawning rosedin bloody-red genesis, predisposedto whited hues dazzling out in amplitudes.Thus pagan beauties to beatitudesand logos to Logos metamorphosed.The body too […]
There was a time, not so long ago, when science was perceived to be the enemy of religion or, to put the matter the other way round, that religion was perceived to be the enemy of science. The popular perception was that a choice had to be made. Those who “followed the science” must refuse […]
Many in our society consider religion merely an instrument of power, and they believe that the “correction” of inherited beliefs and practices can be forced upon the unwilling. But there’s an enormous difference between people who choose the real common good and people forced to submit to a state ideology. When I went into the […]
Tonight’s Gospel reading is Mark 16:1-7: When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, […]
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