I remember back in my school days hearing about utopian societies. Such groups are the attempts of the members to form a perfect society. In my limited knowledge of them, they were small, insular societies. To me, the world didn’t seem like too bad a place so I did not grasp the point of trying …
One of the topics I have covered a few times during the Coronavirus is prayer (see https://blog.renewaloffaith.org/blog/?cat=12 for those articles & homilies). Today I would like to cover a particular form of prayer required of clergy and religious but an option for all, the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. We …
At Baptism, we are asked six questions as our “baptismal promises.” (When we are baptized as infants, our parents answer for us.) At Confirmation we renew our baptismal promises ourselves. Each year at Easter time, we renew them. We respond, “I do,” to each question. How much do we think about what we are saying …
How Well Do You Know God? What does it even mean to know God? Is it a matter of how much we know about God? We need to learn about God but knowing God is not just a matter of the quantity of information we know. To know God involves finding meaning to go with …
It’s hard to know but it seems like I have heard of increasing numbers of acts of violence (mainly shootings). I currently serve in a parish about thirty minutes outside of Rochester, NY. Last weekend, Rochester had three separate shootings in 24 hours. I grew up in the Southern Tier area of New York State. …
The question for this article is how do we experience Church? As we explore this question, please note that I capitalized the word “Church”. This is because, ultimately, it is a transcendent “Church” that we are called to belong to. The Church founded by Jesus Christ is more than physical buildings and hierarchical institutions. The …
Does God change? God is eternal, without beginning or end. Does He ever change? I ask the question because recently I was asked about God’s vengeance. There is some tendency to see God in the Old Testament as a punishing God while in the New Testament God is loving and forgiving. Why the difference? The …
The Coronavirus shutdown our Masses for three months. It continues to impact attendance as people stay home to protect themselves. For those who do come in person, attendance hovers about 30-40% of normal. There are others who continue to watch our Mass streaming on our new parish YouTube channel. From this, we can consider the …
One of the things I like to write about here on my blog is current events in the news. I also desire to incorporate current events into my homilies. I think this is important because we need to show our faith is relevant today. However, I don’t do this as much as I would like. …
Hello, Today I recorded a new 18 minute video on church vestments and liturgical colors. You can see the video at http://www.renewaloffaith.org/video—vestments.html. I hope it aids you in the riches of our liturgy. I am looking forward to a series of three full length presentations this Fall on the Mass. Peace, Fr. Jeff
