October 2016
A Trumpian Examination of Conscience
Renee Roden uses some of Donald Trump's more salacious comments during the election season as an opportunity to examine her own conscience.
A Man Died Here, and He Is My Brother
In 1937, Abel Meeropol, a teacher in New York City, wrote a poem and a song that echoed through the country: Southern trees bear a strange fruit: Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze, St...
Stories of Grace: Episode 4
"As I thought more about that prison pudding cup, I began to realize something important. Me, sobbing in front of that vending machine? That isn’t the whole story." EDITORIAL…
The Word Made Beautiful: The Saint John's Bible
A few years ago the McGrath Institute for Church Life welcomed Donald Jackson, the visionary calligrapher commissioned by St. John’s University in Collegeville to create a hand-written illuminated Bible using techniques that date b...
10 Books for Adult Faith Formation: Part 4
Continuing our five-part follow-up to the essay "Forming Adults in Faith Through Fiction," here are the next ten recommended books for use in adult faith formation. 31) C. S. Lewis, The…
Three Views on 'Having a Vocation'
When I was in grade school, the whole idea of having a vocation seemed rather clear to me: I learned that I had a vocation either to the priesthood or to marriage, and that was it. Anyone not choosing to be a priest (or brother) or a nun...
Erasmus and the Second Vatican Council
John Courtney Murray referred to the development of doctrine as the “issue under the issues” at Vatican II.[1] Whether the Council Fathers considered changing the practice of liturgy, the teaching on religious freedom, or the...
10 Books for Adult Faith Formation: Part 3
Continuing our five-part follow-up to the essay "Forming Adults in Faith Through Fiction," here are the next ten recommended books for use in adult faith formation. 21) Patricia Hample, Virgin…
Catechetical Spirituality: Sharing the Fruit of Contemplation
The catechist's ministry is one that extends beyond the weekly session; it must flow from a life rooted in prayer, study, community, and preaching.
Motherhood as a Path to Sainthood
Saints throughout the ages have lived lives of heroic virtue in every imaginable context, as martyrs, missionaries, and mystics; doctors, lawyers, and teachers; workers, cloistered contemplatives, and itinerant beggars. There are also pl...
10 Books for Adult Faith Formation: Part 2
Continuing our five-part follow-up to the essay "Forming Adults in Faith Through Fiction," here are the next ten recommended books for use in adult faith formation. 11) Dorothy…
How to Pray the Rosary with Middle Schoolers
Sammi Kretz describes introducing the Rosary to her middle school students and reflects on the importance of Marian devotion and traditional prayers.
Henri de Lubac and the Mystical Body of Christ
The Church on earth is the visible manifestation of Christ’s love that is enfleshed between each of her members. St. Jerome described this incarnation of love in his famous phrase Corpus Christi ecclesia est, quae vinculo stringitu...
The Mystery of Fatherhood
As an adopting father, I have a unique relationship with my child. While many babies bond with their mother through late night breastfeeding, as adopting parents, my wife and I split this nightly vigil. From his earliest days in the...
Stories of Grace: Episode 3
"I started to think about how often I had told others I would pray for them. I used it as a meaningless phrase to convey that they were in my mind. But had I ever really prayed for them? Really prayed?"…
Speaking to the Heart
Ellen Voegele describes the ministry of COR at East 220, an organization that welcomes adults interested in exploring Catholicism or growing in faith.