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Throughout my priestly ministry, I have always heavily preached the importance of frequent confession. In my homiletics, I stress the spiritual goods of the sacrament and their effects on our souls. Regrettably, many of the faithful dismiss the invitation and settle for the oftentimes tragic minimum of once a year. Every once in a while, however, someone will be stirred by the Holy Spirit and will start going to regular confession.On one such occasion, a middle-aged woman (not from my current pa …

CHALLENGE: Matthew and Luke contradict each other. Matthew says that the field of blood got its name because it was bought with blood money (Matt. 27:6-7), but Luke says it was called this because people knew Judas died a gruesome death there (Acts 1:18-19).DEFENSE: Names can have more than one significance, and the two explanations are compatible.The fact that Matthew and Luke record different expressions of the tradition regarding Judas’s fate indicate that both were in circulation.Some people …

Several years ago, there was a death, and a family wished to meet and talk with the priest who would be celebrating the funeral Mass. I was helping at the parish, and the pastor asked if I could take the funeral and assist with the pastoral needs of the grieving family. I was happy to assist and looked forward to seeing how I could help.When the time came, the family and I sat down and began to discuss their loved one’s life and accomplishments. I took a few notes. Then we moved into the selecti …

The fullest unhinged example of religion as a commodity is the rather fashionable, modern teaching known as the Prosperity Gospel, as well as the megachurch phenomenon that it seems to create. Although a predominantly Protestant expression, such a view of life has found its way into the hearts and parishes of Catholics.The Prosperity Gospel exaggerates the temporal blessings of “health and wealth” and gives bloated versions of biblical promises to its adherents. The basic idea is that God wants …

We tend to think of the relationship between a parent and a child as fundamentally a biological reality, a consequence of the way animals propagate life. But since the revelation of Jesus Christ, the revelation that God is a Father who from all eternity has begotten a Son, we now know that in God’s plan the relationship between a parent and a child is fundamentally a theological reality. That is, God’s fundamental purpose in creating the world so that there would be parents and children in it wa …