Each day a retired priest of the diocese offers Mass for the elderly sisters and senior residents of Mount Saint Rita Health Center in Cumberland. As the celebrant sits for the reading of Scripture and the psalm response, his chair faces a stained glass window dedicated to St. Catherine of Genoa, one of two dozen windows dedicated to a great variety of saints. Readers might be aware of St. Catherine of Siena, the third order Dominican who successfully prodded the medieval popes to abandon Avignon and return to Rome. And a few readers might even recall St. Catherine of Alexandria, an early martyr spitefully put to death stretched out on a wheel that now bears her name. But St. Catherine of Genoa might be as obscure to most readers as she was to the present writer. more

The first Sunday of Lent last week highlighted the man Jesus Christ sorely tempted by Satan but mightily triumphant by heeding God’s Biblical word. The second Sunday of Lent now draws the … more

The canonization of St. Joan of Arc was delayed more than 500 years because, get this, she wore men’s clothing. Arrayed in battle garb, the French heroine famously led her nation to victory over … more

Strange as it might seem, the word “Church” appears only twice in the Gospel accounts. Both instances are found in St. Matthew’s Gospel narrative. The word Church occurs first when … more

Pope Francis has stated on more than one occasion that the Catholic Church should not be intent on proselytizing the five-and-a-half billion persons who have not yet heard the Gospel message in its … more

It was not the front page or the editorial page or the letters to the editor in the Providence Journal a couple of weeks ago that caught my attention, but rather the real estate section. more

The ancient Jews really cannot be blamed for their standoffish attitude toward their pagan neighbors. The Old Testament records century after century of plunder, pillage, and persecution of the Jews by their pagan neighbors. more

The gentle sound of a Salvation Army volunteer’s bell at the market door, the stack of non-perishable food items left each Sunday morning in a church vestibule, the collation after a funeral Mass … more

Tip O’Neill was speaker of the US House of Representatives and Democrat congressman from Massachusetts for much of the latter half of the last century. Mr. O’Neill was also a very generous … more

The Gospel according to St. John has no parables in great contrast to the Gospel accounts of Saints Matthew, Mark and Luke, which literally teem with parabolic lessons. This lack of parables does not mean that St. John offers no vivid images, no colorful sketches. In fact, St. John’s narrative employs not only graphic illustrations like the Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd, but more importantly, the fourth evangelist proposes a series of imaginative miracle accounts that rely greatly on lively dialogue, vivid symbols, touching humanity and, most significantly, sincere professions of faith on the part of each one of Jesus’ beneficiaries. more

Catholic education has been part of the Church’s ministry since Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after his resurrection. “Go, therefore, and teach all nations,” Jesus instructs his … more

The question occasionally arises among Roman Catholics as to whether they should receive Communion when attending Episcopal Church services. After all, some argue, their Mass looks just the same as ours, and indeed it does. more

Pope Benedict XVI’s elder brother, Father George Ratzinger, has collaborated in authoring a book on the family life that the two Ratzinger sons, George and Joseph, shared with their parents and with each other during most of the decades of the last century. more

Pope Francis recently gave a lengthy interview to an Italian newspaper which has happily been published as a small book entitled “The Name of God is Mercy.” At least three-quarters of this brief … more

A parishioner handed me a slim book entitled “Church History 101.” As the title implies, the brief treatise outlined Catholicism’s 2,000 years in summary fashion: the ancient church, the medieval church, the reformation church, the modern church. more

The Jews endured seventy years of exile in Babylon about five hundred years before the birth of Christ. The first reading at Mass this Sunday celebrates the release of these Jews from this exile by the noble king Cyrus. A number of Scripture scholars have understood that this alien existence of the Jewish people actually led to the origin of the synagogue system and to the formulation of the Bible. Since the Jews had no temple in which to worship, it makes sense that they would gather in their alien neighborhoods to pray, reflect and sing the praises of God. Such neighborhood gatherings would have led to the synagogue system known today throughout the world. Also while in exile, it is plausible that the Jews might choose to write down the prophecies and note the prodigies that had marked their history. These reminiscences of course would be the beginning of the Bible. Certainly these events could have all happened. more

The disastrous summertime rains in Kentucky not only affected that state’s coal mining region, they also had calamitous results of Biblical proportions in another area. The celebrated … more

An ancient mausoleum lies within the heart of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Although only a flight of stairs away from the enshrined tip of Mount Calvary, the age-old tomb is … more

The annual liturgical season of Advent, observed during the four weeks preceding the Solemnity of Christmas, has long suffered in the shadow of the older and longer liturgical season, Lent. Advent … more

Although I am well into my retirement years, I am still known among the family as “Johnny Boy.” My grandfather was “John;” my uncle was “Jack;” so my parents settled on “Johnny Boy” … more