My father, mother and I attended the 9 a.m. Mass every Sunday at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Woonsocket. Originally this was the children’s Mass, but even in my teenage years, we continued to attend at this hour since Catholics rarely went to Communion at the later Masses in those days. more

Ponder the threats to traditional marriage that contemporary society is experiencing nowadays. more

Jesus left no doubt in the minds of his Apostles, nor should there be any doubt in the minds of later believers, that Jesus’ ministry would be brought to a joyous completion by the Holy Spirit. more

My father’s sister lived most of her married life in Lyndhurst, Ohio. In the early 1950s, my father drove my mother and me via a rather roundabout route to visit my aunt at her home in this Cleveland suburb. more

At time of this writing, the prospect of so-called marriage between same-sex couples is being hotly debated in the state’s legislature, in the press, and on the Internet. more

It was not the front page or the editorial page or the letters to the editor in the Providence Journal a couple of weeks ago that caught my attention, but rather the real estate section. more

Shepherds occupy a prominent place throughout sacred Scriptures. In both the Old and the New Testaments, shepherds hold a special place in salvation history. more

Readers should go to their computers and google “The Bad Vicar” to watch a very amusing video about the contrast between religion and spirituality. more

My appreciation of poetry inclines more toward Emily Dickinson or perhaps even Mother Goose rather than toward the 19th century English Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins. more

To this day the Passover meal among Jews remains a family festival. The Pasch, unlike the other great feasts of Judaism — Pentecost, the Day of Atonement — Passover was a day to remain at home. more

There is not a believer anywhere who has not demanded from the depth of his soul, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” The words of the eager Greeks in today’s Gospel echo the sentiments of everyone who seeks a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. more

Guess the author of the following quote: “We see faith, the root of all the Christian virtues, lessening in many souls; we see charity growing cold; the young generation daily growing in depravity of morals and views; the Church of Jesus Christ attacked on every side by open force or by craft; a relentless war waged against the sovereign pontiff; and the very foundations of religion undermined with a boldness which waxes daily in intensity. more

The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor in the company of his three select disciples reinforces the victory of the Savior over Satan that was proclaimed in last week’s Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent. more

Nicholas II, the murdered Tsar of Russia, died savagely 91 years ago with his wife, son, four daughters and a few family attendants. more

When Pope Benedict visited the United States last April, he spoke to the bishops of this country assembled in Washington’s Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. more

Shortly before Christmas, Bob Kerr, columnist for the Providence Journal, wrote about two men with AIDS who visited the Lincoln Middle School to advise the eighth graders about this wasting disease. more

Oddly, there are no exorcisms in the entire Old Testament. The 45 books of the Hebrew Scriptures certainly recognize the existence and horror of evil, but demon possession is never encountered within its pages. Neither does the Gospel according to St. John feature any episodes of demon possession nor any demonic exorcisms. more

A peculiar idea that surfaces from time to time is the notion that Jesus Christ never intended to found an actual Church. A few have proposed over the years that Jesus came simply to announce a Gospel of salvation and reconciliation. more

Older Catholics will well remember when Catholics were distinguished by a series of good works. more

A devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is not a piety that one would associate with the post-Vatican II Church. more