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

Advent: Jesus Coming in Mystery Now, Today!

Advent readings at Mass focus us on the coming of Jesus in Majesty at the end of time, while Christmas decorations recall his coming in History in Bethlehem, but his third coming that we commemorate during Advent is his coming in Mystery. This coming gets pushed aside. Let’s think about it, for it is the […]

I Thank Means I Think

For a graduate school course I wrote a paper on “thank you.” To my surprise the word “thank” is derived from the word “think.” To thank someone means we are thinking of them and their kind act for us. When a person has done something thoughtful for us, the least we can do is to […]

How Well Do You Know the Eucharist?

In honor of the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (or Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ) celebrated this Sunday, here is a Eucharist IQ Quiz that I use in my workshops on the liturgy. You simply have to tell whether each statement is true or false. The answers are at […]

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 […]

Do Catholics Really Eat God?

Since we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) on Sunday, let’s think about the Eucharist. What ever gave Jesus the idea of having bread become him so that we could consume him? Talk about crazy love. Although many faith traditions consider Jesus’ words, “This is my body” a figure of speech, we […]

Bread and Wine of the Eucharist

I’m in Arabia at a conference for catechists. My keynote address is on the Eucharist. It includes this delightful and thought-provoking story by Richard T. Szafransk published in Emmanuel, used with permission, and adapted by me. I was a grape once. Now I’m a raisin. I’m stuck in this box with a bunch of other […]

The Importance of Meals

On the last two Sundays in September my community holds a chicken barbeque at our provincial center. A few years ago, we considered stopping these events. There are fewer SNDs, and the BBQs are a lot of work! However, the deciding factor was that at the BBQs friends, relatives, and coworkers come together for a […]

Blessings upon Blessings

Recent changes in the Mass have woken us up to the words said. What caught my attention is that twice we proclaim, “Blessed be God forever!” We do what we were created to do: We recognize God’s greatness and praise him with all the angels and saints. Bless is a two-way word. We bless God […]

Jesus Is the Center

Blaise Pascal wrote, “Jesus is the center of everything and the object of everything.” In my research for talks on evangelization, I learned that most people who trade the Catholic Church for a Pentecostal or Evangelical church claim that it is because they are looking for a personal relationship with Jesus. This is mind-boggling because […]