There have been some very good books written in the past few years centered on helping parishes to become mission-focused. One of the best of these is a ninety-page book published by the University of Mary, From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age . Monsignor James Shea, in his preface to the book, describes a fundamental cultural shift of recent decades that is dramatically accelerating. We are living in an era of transition away from the relatively comfortable confines of a Christendom-oriented relationship with culture to a new and much more challenging environment. A Catholic (or... Read more
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Articles Under: Evangelization
To learn more about the Steubenville Adult Conferences, go to https://steubenvilleconferences.com/ Registration will open at the end of January 2022.Read more
In 2020, the Shepherds of the Church gave us a treasure in the new Directory for Catechesis . Dr. Farey was a member of the working party for the bishops on the new Directory and continues additional reflections on its practical implications from the last issue and will finish in the next issue. It is an unswerving Catholic conviction that “The Christian community is the origin , locus and goal of catechesis” (DC 133, my emphasis). This phrasing is taken directly from the catechetical directory of 1997 (GDC 254). Other Christians would not claim this so explicitly. They are more... Read more
It’s strange to say it, but I love how we Catholics celebrate funerals. Even atheists walk away from our Masses of Christian Burial in awe. If only they (and likewise our own faithful people) could appreciate with greater fullness the rich spiritual heritage that surrounds Christian death! More often than not, the emotionally charged time of final decline, passing, and grieving does not lend itself to a close attentiveness to these prayers and rituals, which are some of our most primordial yet most exquisite. There is great benefit in meditating with their aid in advance of the inevitable. After all,... Read more
Some people approve of “baby-worship;” others don’t. I’m one of the worshippers. Baptizing babies—the younger the better—is one of the greatest joys of my priesthood. I love to see and hear babies at Mass. They preach a far better sermon than I could ever do. By raising their voices in praise of God, they tell us that a mother has had a baby, and that her faith is so fundamental to her life that she wants to bring the child to Mass with her. Thank God for mothers and fathers and babies! On Christmas Day Our Lady and St. Joseph,... Read more
The following is a true conversation that took place in my classroom with a group of seventh graders. I was pregnant with my daughter, Annie, at the time: Student: Mrs. Deighan, when Annie is in middle school, are you going to let her have a Tik Tok? Me: Absolutely not. Besides, fourteen years from now, Tik Tok probably won’t be popular anymore. Student: But it’s Tik Tok! Me: Let me ask you something: have you ever heard of Myspace ? Another student: What’s that? Me: My point exactly. This conversation was certainly not a stand-alone one. There have been many... Read more
On March 9, 2015, protests erupted among students of the University of Cape Town, South Africa under the slogan #RhodesMustFall. They demanded that the statue of British colonial-era politician and diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes be removed from a prominent place on their campus. The protest was given further impetus internationally by movements such as Black Lives Matter as well as reactions to widespread accusations of institutional racism. In addition to inspiring demands for other statues to be torn down or relocated—from Edward Colson in Bristol, England, to Hannah Duston in New Hampshire—the broader demands of the protest gave birth to... Read more
On May 10, 2021, Pope Francis formally instituted the ministry of catechist with the apostolic letter Antiquum Ministerium , which he issued motu proprio , or on his own initiative and under his personal signature. An initial reaction to the formal institution of the role of catechist might be to wonder, “So what’s new?” The role of catechist has been understood as a ministry of the Church since the first century. In the first sentence of this apostolic letter, Pope Francis refers to catechesis as an ancient ministry. [1] Indeed, twice in the Gospel of Luke, twice in his Acts... Read more
When John Everett Millais’ Christ in the House of His Parents was first displayed at the Royal Academy, the public response was near-universal revulsion. At that time it bore no title but Zechariah 13:6: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then shall he answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” The intense and earthy detail of Millais’ depiction of the Holy Family scandalized press and public alike. One critic decried its “painful display of anatomical knowledge, and studious vulgarity of portraying the youthful Savior as a red-headed... Read more
Beneath the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is the place where tradition tells us the Angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary. An altar stands in this grotto, inscribed with these words: “verbum caro hic factum est” (the Word became flesh here ). The Incarnation of God’s Son into human flesh is not a myth or fairy tale. It is an historical event that happened in a specific year, in an actual village we can locate on a map, within a particular home and family. Numerous consequences flow from this wondrous fact of God’s Son taking upon himself our... Read more