When I lived in the northeast I had an embarrassment of riches in terms of the availability of Masses. There were 27 options for daily Mass within five miles of my northern home. At our new home on the border of the Carolinas there are only two or three options within 15 miles. Visiting different … Read more
Fr. Paul Scalia’s homily at the funeral of his father, Justice Antonin Scalia, was “remarkable in its moving profundity,” as one of my colleagues wrote. But why was the homily so good? Can we analyze it and understand why it was so perfectly appropriate and profound? Such reflections can be helpful to both pastors and … Read more
As Christians prepare to celebrate the Paschal Feast of the Lord’s Resurrection, we will hear a lot about the “empty tomb.” Indeed, this year—in which the Lectionary focuses on St. Mark—will be particularly stark: the women encounter the empty tomb and the “young man” and are “utterly amazed” (Mk 16: 1-7). As we celebrate the … Read more
In thinking about the destiny of those who die, the course of their final trajectory beyond the grave, it is always unwise to make predictions about the precise place awaiting them on the other side. How can anyone, in the absence of a sudden sunburst from above, possibly know? Unless one were fully omniscient—which is … Read more
Stan Musial passed away on January 19, 2013 at 92 years of age. His wife of nearly 72 years died the previous year. Thousands of friends filed through the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis during the six-hour public visitation. The funeral Mass for the man who played 22 years in a Cardinal uniform was presided … Read more