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

Worshippers around the Catholic world will be greeted by rows of tulips, banks of daffodils, clusters of hydrangeas and a garden of lilies as they gather for Mass this Easter holy day. more

The world’s Christian communities begin Holy Week by joyously waving majestic palm branches in solemn procession around their altars and down their aisles in commemoration of Christ’s final entry into his beloved Jerusalem. more

The Stadium Theatre at Monument Square in Woonsocket has been gloriously refurbished to its 1920’s grandeur. The scene of many “double features” from my youth is now the venue for organ concerts, community college plays, and touring musical comedies. more

The Gospel according to St. John is a sequence of conversion stories. more

One of Pope Benedict’s favorite themes in his preaching, his publications and his official pronouncements is the natural law. more

A Rhode Island judge understands government neutrality regarding religion to be the perennial and the best policy that a civic administration should maintain toward a nation’s faith life. more

Imagine the joy of the blind man who could see after his encounter with Christ. Consider the elation of the lame man who could leap to his feet after his dialogue with Jesus. more

The agony of the leper in the ancient world was not limited to the physical pain one endured as the body became more decrepit. more

A venerable Protestant church along Boston’s fashionable Newbury Street was announcing its 150th anniversary as a church community. The attractive poster on the church door featured a head and shoulders photograph of the local minister (actually ministeress) robed in alb, stole and chasuble with an especially welcoming and hospitable smile on her healthy face. more

The promise of Advent, the joy of Christmas and the enthusiasm of Epiphany have yielded to what the church’s liturgy labels rather blandly Ordinary Time or, in some other languages, Numbered Time. 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

Readings: Jonah 3:1-5,10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; and Mark 1:14-20 more

Jesus Christ was undeniably a man of the people, in fact, a man of the common people. His common touch stood in great contrast to the more fashionable ministry of his cousin St. John the Baptist. more

The solemnity of the Epiphany celebrates three events in the early life of Jesus Christ. Shortly after Christ’s birth, as St. Matthew notes, the wise men from the East arrived to offer the newborn King of the Jews their threefold gifts. more

American Christmas cards and English Christmas carols will more often than not proclaim, “Peace on earth; good will toward men.” more

The Trappistine Sisters in Wrentham, MA. have happily inaugurated a newly enlarged chocolate factory whose delightful products help sustain their monastic life. The new building also boasts an improved gift shop and, more important, an expanded and selective religious book store – La Sallette and Tally’s watch out! more

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a celebration of the mystery of divine election. From all eternity God has elected and selected certain souls on whom he has showered definite blessings and whom he has challenged with specific adversities. more

A public television channel recently featured a presentation on the Woodstock Folk Festival, undoubtedly the iconic event of the late 1960s. more

Sometime ago mention was made in this column of the second Confiteor recited by the altar boy just before the communicants approached the altar to receive the Body of Christ. more