Columnists
Why only four Gospels?
Q: There are only four Gospels in the New Testament, but others were written. Why don’t we have the other gospels in the New Testament? (Hilton Head, SC) A: I’d like to answer your question […]
Columnists
Columnists
When faith and its practice look promising
We look around our neighborhoods on Sunday mornings and see few signs of church-going. Then we read the reports about all the “nones,” those with no religious preference. The Atlantic reports that nearly a third […]
Columnists
Selling blessed objects
Q: I always thought that blessed items could not be sold. I was recently in a Catholic store in Rome and was told that everything in the store was blessed by the pope. Is that […]
Columnists
Why on Earth do we have anti-Semitism?
Consider a series of names: Benjamin Disraeli and Golda Meir, Albert Einstein and Gerty Cori, Marc Chagall and Judy Chicago, Anne Frank and Chaim Potok, Beverly Sills and Itzhak Perlman. These are, respectively, noted political […]
Columnists
What is the role of deacons?
Q: How do we really know there is such a place as purgatory? It doesn’t make sense to me. How do we know it’s true? (Hilton Head, SC) A: With all aspects of the afterlife, […]
Columnists
Making America great
We have been hearing a great deal about making America first, making America great again. On a recent afternoon on Main Street in our state capital, I realized that it already is — in some […]
Columnists
Why so angry?
Just about every day drivers get cut off by lane-jumpers and see people making angry gestures. The networks bring up-to-the-minute reports of violence and the shouts of mobs. On weekends some fans behave like spoiled […]
Columnists
Saints in the Old Testament?
Q: Why are there no saints from the Old Testament? Doesn’t even Moses qualify? (Hilton Head, SC) A: This is a question that provides a much-needed clarification. We know that before the saving work of […]
Columnists
Handling cremation
Q: I wish to be cremated. How is this handled? Since I won’t have a casket to be blessed, do you bring the urn with the ashes to Mass? (Summerville, SC) A: The Mass of […]
Columnists
What about suicide?
During my years in Michigan, the notorious Dr. Jack Kevorkian actively promoted assisted suicide. He periodically delivered bodies to a hospital in Pontiac, minutes away from the campus where I lived. The local press wavered […]