Free Republic

Every three years as the Church is reading the Gospel of Mark, during the dog days of summer it stops for five weeks and turns instead to the Gospel of John for instruction on the Eucharist. We began this process July 26 with the account of the sign of the multiplication of the loaves, and will continue it August 2 and 9 as we make our way through Jesus’ “Bread of Life” discourse.Earlier this year, I wrote an article in these pages about the ongoing abuse of extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, a phenomenon that become de facto established...

In my Parish I work with the men of the Holy Name Society and also the women of the Sodality to ensure that the numerous sick in our parish are visited regularly. I try to visit the sick at least quarterly on a rolling basis to ensure they have had confession and anointing of the Sick. But, since I am without an assistant priest, as a general rule, I depend on them to bring communion regularly.We met as a group this past week and had an interesting discussion about a concern that a number of them expressed, that of reverence....

If you've ever looked toward the front of St. Thomas of Villanova Church during Sunday Mass - left side, near the altar - you may have wondered why a select group of people there were laughing. It is because they know something you do not know. They are liturgical ministers. They are laughing at all the things that go wrong during Mass. To the untrained eye, everything appears to be going smoothly. But to the group that runs around behind the scenes, no Mass is ever without a slip-up. Rule number one in Liturgical Ministry: always pretend you know what...