Priesthood
Counting Collars
Thursday, February 17th, 2011Between the recent CARA study on newly professed women religious and data from the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, there seems to be strong indications of positive growth of vocations in the universal Church. Zenit reports a steady increase in priestly vocations over the past decade, with a 4% increase of diocesan priests and the number of religious [...]
Champions in Black and White
Friday, January 8th, 2010The Diocese of Pittsburgh has put together a pretty snazzy vocations Web site, pghpriest.com. They definitely know their audience. Case in point: Knowing that most Pittsburghers are die-hard Steelers fans, the tagline at the bottom of the home page reads, “In a city that bleeds black and gold, we need champions to wear the black [...]
Year for Priests…a few more resources to get started
Friday, June 19th, 2009And a few more resources as we begin this Year for Priests: A letter from Pope Benedict XVI proclaiming the Year for Priests A special section of the Vatican Web site dedicated to the year A special section of the USCCB Web site dedicated to the year
Pope John XXIII on St. John Mary Vianney
Friday, June 19th, 2009In 1959, for the 100th anniversary of St. John Mary Vianney’s death, Pope John XXIII gave the Church this encyclical, Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia. It is addressed to priests, but it provides all the faithful both insights on St. John Vianney’s life and wisdom for the spiritual life. Pope John XXIII describes how St. John Vianney [...]
Starting the Year for Priests Right…
Friday, June 19th, 2009…with a prayer for priests: Jesus, I pray to You for Your faithful and fervent priests; for the unfaithful and tepid; for those laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for tempted priests; for the lonely and desolate; for young priests; for the aged, sick, and dying; for the souls of Your priests [...]
Sheep and Goats
Thursday, March 20th, 2008In recent years I’ve spilled perhaps an inordinate amount of ink on the Holy Thursday foot-washing rite, which surely has been the cause of some controversy in recent years. At the same time, though, the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper has never ceased to be one of my favorite liturgies of the year, [...]
Liturgical Upgrades
Monday, March 10th, 2008For many years I have listened to the concerns of lay people who have been dissatisfied with the way Mass has been celebrated in their parish. Of course these concerns cover the broadest range of issues, from serious liturgical abuses to matters of mere personal preference. The more serious concerns were addressed by the Vatican’s liturgy office a [...]
A True Shepherd
Thursday, November 15th, 2007We all too often hear about lapses and failures of our bishops in the United States, especially in the areas of leadership and catechesis. Today I was heartened and inspired as I read a letter written by Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis to the faithful under his care. The subject is the so-called ordination [...]
Bishop Bruskewitz is not the problem
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007Yesterday at www.cuf.org , I received this question from a deacon in Southern California: “I notice that the Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska is on your advisory board. As I understand it, he has declined to cooperate with the audit concerning the steps being taken to protect our children. Could you explain his refusal and why [...]