A Guide to Visio Divina Invite the Holy Spirit to enlighten your experience as you gaze at the painting. Notice what thoughts and emotions enter your heart and mind. Be still. Pray with the image as you are led. BACKGROUND From the seat opposite me in the confessional, the priest …

June is the month of the Sacred Heart, when we celebrate the passionate Heart of Jesus bleeding in a deep desire to be united with each of us in those moments of struggle, those moments where we experience a particular passion in our lives. It is in these moments that …

You’ll never regret acting in humility. A friend shared this advice years ago, and I’ve never forgotten it. It applies in every circumstance you’ll encounter, particularly to relationships. Your boss gives you feedback you don’t agree with. Act with humility. A friend says something that lands wrong and probably wasn’t …

As most readers of this column are aware, my primary job is Professor of Moral Theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology. Some of you might know that I am also an attorney, licensed in Ohio and many federal courts. But for the past five months or …

The title “father” as applied to priests in the Catholic Church has both historical and theological significance. It reflects the role of priests as spiritual leaders and caretakers of their communities, analogous to a biological father’s role in a family. The use of this title, however, also raises questions about …

I remember the first time I did something that made me realize I had become just like my father. Many of us have had similar experiences. We reach a certain age and the DNA that has been passed down from generation to generation becomes undeniable. A wife may say something …

By Andrew J. Sodergren, M.T.S., Psy.D. Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body (TOB).” We have been exploring Pope St. John Paul II’s meditations on Ephesians 5 in Theology of the Body. In that famous biblical passage, St. …

As the Church celebrates the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Jenny Kraska offers her thoughts on the day’s liturgical readings, reflecting on the theme, “From Messina with Love: When shepherds meet the Good Shepherd”. By Jenny Kraska In John’s Gospel this Good Shepherd Sunday, Jesus speaks with clarity and authority: He …

My eldest daughter received her First Communion alongside three friends this weekend at the Oratory of St. John Vianney in Madisonville. In the weeks leading up to the sacrament, my daughter anxiously waited, wavering between excitement and nerves. On the eve of the big day she sat on the edge …

INTO YOUR HANDS | Archbishop Robert G. Casey After a difficult winter and a late-arriving spring, we now tend to the ground that has remained fallow through cold days and months of patient waiting for sunlight. As we break ground in our fields and gardens, we soon discover that the …