Spirituality
With Holy Spirit’s inspiration, go out to the world, pope says
Tuck the Gospel in your pocket and put on your walking shoes to share Christ's love, peace and joy with the world, Pope Francis said. The faithful, he said, must "not be indifferent to or removed from the fate of our brothers and sisters."
Why the church does not ordain women
Father Ken Doyle explains the church's teaching for a reader wanting to respond to a friend. Ordaining women, he writes, is not the church's call to make. It's our Founder's decision.
Pope: Just as God freely offers salvation, don’t give hoping to benefit
Christians are called to help those who have nothing to give and love those who don't love back, Pope Francis said.
Fall brings with it a spiritual renewal
"Every face turned to him grows brighter," wrote the psalmist, probably on a fall afternoon. For columnist Effie Caldarola, the autumn is a beautiful time for volunteering, learning and praying together.
Pope says Gospel brings new life, new freedom; don’t fear change
Do not be afraid to change and let go of obsolete structures, Pope Francis said, because Jesus has brought new wine that needs fresh wineskins.
Don’t forget the chalice for disabled communicants
Father Ken Doyle feels for the reader who asks why she and her husband are not offered the chalice at Communion. They should be invited to drink the Blood of Christ even if they remain in the front pew, he writes. Also, he writes of the apparent journalistic skill of St. Luke's Gospel reporting on Mary.
Delving the links of divorce, forgiveness and annulments
Father Ken Doyle enlightens a Catholic convert about the annulment process and reveals its Scriptural roots. Divorce, he writes in his weekly Q & A column, is not always a sin that needs to be forgiven.
God wants us to come together, pope says
Envy, jealousy and meanness are human instincts, but they are not Christian, since the division they cause among believers is the work of the devil, Pope Francis said at his Wednesday audience.
Priest brother-in-law won’t attend the beach wedding
A bride wonders why her groom's brother will attend the wedding reception but not the non-Catholic wedding ceremony on a Cancun beach. There are good reasons, explains Father Ken Doyle in his weekly Q & A column.
Come to the quiet
Michelle Francl-Donnay hears that silent retreats in the Buddhist tradition are becoming popular. So she traces the ancient Catholic practice of seeking silence – perhaps by taking a retreat -- and finding God.