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It is often pleasant to wish ourselves to a magical world where all is good. It's our "happy place" and I'm sure we all have one. Mine used to include music and I would anticipate "music's biggest night" as a high point in the year. At one time the Grammys was about music. But like MTV, it is not about music anymore, but rather theatrics and agenda. There is a controversy over this year's broadcast about whether it was offensive to Christians. Not that anyone in the Academy of Recording Arts or the industry cares about offending anyone. Christians were...

From a sermon by John the Serene, bishop The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? How great was that servant who knew how he was given light, whence it came, and what sort of man he was when he was favoured by that light. The light he saw was not that which fades at dusk, but the light which no eye has seen. Souls brightened by this light do not fall into sin or stumble on vice. Our Lord said: Walk while you have the light in you. What other light did he mean but...

“OMG! Call Sam and Dean Winchester!”, was the comment on a YouTube video about the Illuminati and the music business. I thought this was funny! I watch the CW show “Supernatural”, where the Winchester brothers fight evil monsters and demons with the help of sometimes flawed angels. But we all know that demons (and the Illuminati) are not real, don't we? Many news services are beginning to rethink that. A story is circulating through the news outlets about a haunting and possession in Gary Indiana. The report tells of an single mother and two of her children who have been...

From a sermon on the Song of Songs by Saint Bernard, abbot Where can the weak find a place of firm security and peace, except in the wounds of the Saviour? Indeed, the more secure is my place there, the more he can do to help me. The world rages, the flesh is heavy, and the devil lays his snares, but I do not fall, for my feet are planted on firm rock. I may have sinned gravely. My conscience would be distressed, but it would not be in turmoil, for I would recall the wounds of the Lord: he...

From a conference by Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act. It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes...

From The Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales, bishop When God the Creator made all things, he commanded the plants to bring forth fruit each according to its own kind; he has likewise commanded Christians, who are the living plants of his Church, to bring forth the fruits of devotion, each one in accord with his character, his station and his calling. I say that devotion must be practised in different ways by the nobleman and by the working man, by the servant and by the prince, by the widow, by the unmarried girl and by...

From the Tractates on the first letter of John by Saint Augustine, bishop We have been promised that we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. By these words, the tongue has done its best; now we must apply the meditation of the heart. Although they are the words of Saint John, what are they in comparison with the divine reality? Continue reading on Examiner.com The Divine Office: Our hearts long for God - Norfolk Catholic | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/catholic-in-norfolk/the-divine-office-our-hearts-long-for-god#ixzz1melSAROs

Reading From a homily by Saint Gregory Nazianzen We are soon going to share in the Passover We are soon going to share in the Passover, and although we still do so only in a symbolic way, the symbolism already has more clarity than it possessed in former times because, under the law, the Passover was, if I may dare to say so, only a symbol of a symbol. Before long, however, when the Word drinks the new wine with us in the kingdom of his Father, we shall be keeping the Passover in a yet more perfect way, and...

From a treatise On Virgins by Saint Ambrose, bishop Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve. The cruelty that did not spare her youth shows all the more clearly the power of faith in finding one so young to bear it witness. There was little or no room in that small body for a wound. Though she could scarcely receive the blow, she...

By an utterly free and mysterious decree of his own wisdom and goodness, the eternal Father created the whole world. His plan was to dignify men with a participation in his own divine life. When in Adam men had fallen, he did not abandon them, but ceaselessly offered them help to salvation, in anticipation of Christ the Redeemer, ‘who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature’. All the elect, before time began, the Father ‘foreknew and predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he should be the firstborn among many brethren’.

Q: We have a permanent deacon at our parish. Some of us are wondering if the pastor sometimes allows him to do things that he’s not supposed to do… for example, occasionally the deacon preaches a homily at Sunday Mass instead of the priest. Is that permissible? What are the limits of what a deacon can do? —Jay A: It’s a good question! Lay Catholics generally understand that because a deacon is not a priest, there are some sacramental/liturgical actions which he cannot perform. But occasionally the laity are taken aback when they see a deacon engaged in some sort...

Q: My sister stopped practicing her faith, and married a Greek Orthodox man in his church in Greece. Now their marriage has ended, and she has returned to the Church. She might want to remarry…. We both assumed that she could easily get an annulment, because she wasn’t married in a Catholic ceremony, and so her first marriage wasn’t valid. But her parish priest is insisting that it was! He says if she wants an annulment, she has to “find other grounds.” What is the best way to resolve this, should she join a different parish, or try to reach...

Q: My wife, preschool son and I regularly attend Sunday Mass at the Shrine of –. My wife and I also go to confession there regularly. Our son will be starting school next year… we discovered that there is no CCD of any kind being provided. The priest told my wife that instead, we have to take our son to St. – Church for Sunday School and First Confession/Communion preparation. We were flabbergasted! There aren’t many children who regularly attend Mass at the Shrine, it’s true. But aren’t they still required to provide religious instruction for the ones who do,...

Q1: I’m going to be a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding… she and her fiancé met with the pastor to discuss the wedding preparations, and he insisted they have to pay the parish a hefty sum in order to get married there. They were horrified, because it feels like the priest is blackmailing them, if they don’t pay it, they can’t get married! Can a priest actually charge fees for marrying people? –Caitlin Q2: My elderly mother mailed a check to [some missionary priests] and asked them to celebrate a Mass for my late father. They returned the check and...

Q: A friend is going to marry a man whose previous marriage was annulled… he says he was able to get an annulment because his wife was against having children and took contraceptives. Does that mean every Catholic marriage is invalid if the couple is contracepting? –Marisa A: No. It’s impossible to determine the exact grounds for the annulment of the marriage which Marisa describes, based solely on the information provided here. Nevertheless, we can examine the reasons why contraception might have been a pivotal factor in proving the nullity of this marriage.

Q: Could you please explain what "ratum sed non consummatum" means with respect to marriage? I always thought that this was an antiquated term that no longer had any relevance, but recently I encountered it [in a current context]… Why would it matter to the Church whether a marriage has been consummated or not? –Fiona A: The Latin phrase ratum sed non consummatum is translated literally as “ratified but not consummated,” and it has been used by theologians and canonists in regard to matrimony for many centuries. These four Latin words actually contain a wealth of information about the way...

Q: My neighbors are Catholics who didn’t practice the faith for years, but now they are returning to the Church. Their children were never baptized, so they went to the parish priest to arrange for their baptism. But he refused, because he said the children are too old! He claims the children are mature enough to decide for themselves if they want to be Catholic or not…. The whole thing sounds bizarre. The parents truly want to raise their children as Catholics. Is it possible the priest doubts their sincerity? What can they do? –Rachel A: It’s impossible to be...

  Look for wisdom while it can still be found. Call for it while it is near. Do you want to know how near it is? The word is near you, in your heart and on your lips, provided that you seek it honestly. Insofar as you find wisdom in your heart, prudence will flow from your lips, but be careful that it flows from and not away from them, or that you do not vomit it up. If you have found wisdom, you have found honey. But do not eat so much that you become too full and bring it...

From a letter of Conrad of Marburg, Saint Elizabeth's spiritual director From this time onward Elizabeth’s goodness greatly increased. She was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castles should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband’s empire. She spent all her own revenue from her husband’s four principalities, and finally she sold her luxurious’ possessions...

The treatise of St John Eudes on the kingdom of Jesus We must strive to follow and fulfil in ourselves the various stages of Christ’s plan as well as his mysteries, and frequently beg him to bring them to completion in us and in the whole Church. For the mysteries of Jesus are not yet completely perfected and fulfilled. They are complete, indeed, in the person of Jesus, but not in us, who are his members, nor in the Church, which is his mystical body. The Son of God wills to give us a share in his mysteries and somehow...