SND BLOGS

Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Sea of Galilee at Sunrise

Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Afterlife in Purgatory: The Poor Souls

When I was writing a textbook series, one day a Jewish employee of the publisher called with an odd question. He asked, “How do you spell Poor Souls? Is it pour, poor, or pore?” Purgatory is pretty much a Catholic belief. In the Creed, we pray that we believe in the Communion of Saints. This […]

Easter Special

Happy Easter! May we all experience new life. Here is a moving rendition of a version of the popular “Hallelujah” for your enjoyment and refection. I especially like it because the lyrics appear with the hymn. The singers are sisters.

Easter and Eternal Life

Time seems to go faster every year. Someone pointed out that on June 21, daylight begins decreasing again! Easter season is already drawing to a close. Here are some parting words for it that may encourage people, in particular anyone who is undergoing a hardship now or suffering the loss of a loved one. Life […]

Precious Gift of Your Life

Today I came across this short talk on my computer. I forgot where I gave it. May you will find it inspiring: You’ve probably seen photos from the Hubble telescope that show the galaxy Andromeda, the one closest to us. It makes you dizzy. There are billions of stars in it. Beyond that there are […]

Easter: Jesus Is Pro-Life

This week a white oak tree in Lakewood, Ohio, that was about two hundred years old was cut down because it was decaying. However, efforts are being made to keep it alive by grafting parts of it. We are all in favor of keeping things alive. When one of our plants is withering, we feed […]

The Dying Words of Saints

My newest book is out: “I Am Going . . . : Reflections on the Last Words of the Saints” (89 of them!) published by ACTA Publications.  It has lovely full-page portraits of 14 of these saints. I thought you might enjoy reading the introduction . . . and be interested enough to purchase the […]

Who Is Jesus in the Gospel of John?

I’ve just completed a week-long retreat on the Gospel of St. John packed with insights about this “maverick” account of the life of Jesus. I thought I’d share some of what I gleaned from the conferences. As background, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were composed rather early. John’s Gospel took shape much later […]

What Is After Death? Heaven? Hell? Oblivion?

Currently I’m working on a chapter about the afterlife. We people engrossed in the demands of this present life don’t tend to think about this topic until we come to a landmark birthday, someone we know dies, or a movie like The Mummy is released.  Then we wonder, Is this all there is? We Catholics […]

Easter Eggs, Easter Candle, and Easter Joy

A few weeks before Easter, my mom melted beeswax in a coffee can lid. Then she dipped a straight pin inserted in a wooden matchstick into the wax and quickly made strokes on eggs the way her Polish mother taught her. The eggs sat in coffee cups overnight, soaking in vivid colors of Chick Chick […]

Dying to Rise: Reflections

My weekly post straddles Holy Week and Easter Week, so I pondered whether to focus on the passion and death of Jesus or his resurrection. Then it occurred to me that I should cover both. After all, these paschal mysteries are intimately related. It was only by suffering and dying that Jesus was able to […]