It’s true that we Catholics have a blessing for just about everything.  In my 16 years as a priest, I’ve been asked  to bless new homes, cars, people, rosaries—last year one of my parishioners asked for a blessing to mark the opening of her new business, a pet store.  So we asked for God’s blessing on the new business, her new employees, their customers, and … Continue reading Blessing of Animals

Recently the Catholic people of the diocese of Columbus received a new Bishop—Frederick Campbell—following the retirement of our previous bishop.  Bishop Campbell’s installation ceremony received extensive media coverage, and there was considerable interest in the accoutrements of a Bishop. The most well-known symbols of a bishop are the mitre and crosier.  The mitre is the two-pointed headdress that symbolizes the special dignity of their office. … Continue reading Bishops’ Accoutrements

Occasionally, something ends up closely associated with the Church that has no connection to our beliefs, our theology, or our religious mission.  These things take on the characteristics of a tradition (with a small “t”), and start to seem like a Catholic thing, when they’re really just accidents of history. One primary example of this is the game of Bingo.  A form of legalized gambling, … Continue reading Bingo

In a recent conversation, a friend of mine was surprised at the tremendous interest lately in a stone box found in the Holy Land, with an inscription reading “James, brother of Jesus.”  Why would a few words on a box be so fascinating, when we have the entire New Testament to tell us all about Jesus? I explained that while we do have the New … Continue reading Biblical Manuscripts

One of the questions I’m often asked as a priest is “Which Bible should I read?”  It’s a fair question.  If you wander into the Bible aisle of you local bookstore, you’ll find a dizzying array of choices, with different translations, different features, sizes, colors, and bindings.  The most important consideration is the issue of translations.  In order to gain the best understanding of the … Continue reading Which Bible?

When Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope on April 19th, he took as his name, Benedict the Sixteenth.  There has been much commentary since then on precisely why he made this choice, and what it might mean.  One possibility is that the new pope wants to draw some parallels to the last pope to take this name, Benedict XV. Born Giacomo della Chiesa, Benedict the … Continue reading Benedict XV

Recently someone asked me– in all seriousness– what the Church thinks of all the claims in the news of people seeing images of Jesus and Mary in all sorts of unexpected places.  Well-publicized examples include the famous Mary-in-the-tortilla, Mary-in-the-grilled-cheese, and Jesus appearing in the salt stains of a Chicago highway underpass. None of these were what the Church would call an apparition: an actual appearance … Continue reading Apophenia