July 2012

If all we knew of today’s saint were the monuments left in his honor, we would conclude that he was a very great man indeed. July 23 is the memorial of St. Apollinaris, the first bishop of Ravenna in Italy. And the two sanctuaries dedicated to his memory — Sant’Apollinare in Classe and Sant’Apollinare Nuovo […]

I’m currently teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses on Liturgical Theology and so I’ve been doing a lot of work in the study of worship. In the most recent podcast of “The Sacred Page” I thought I’d share some thoughts on the topic. In the first Eucharistic Prayer of the Catholic Mass, the priest makes

Lately I’ve been reading through St. Bernard’s four volumes of sermons on the Song of Songs.  I find it both spiritually edifying and historically interesting. Frequently, St. Bernard’s descriptions of the moral terpitude of twelfth-century Europe sound scarcely any different from contemporary American culture.  Truly there is “nothing new under the sun.” St. Bernard’s style

In this episode I look at Jesus’ role as a prophet, a much overlooked aspect of his ministry. In addition, I look at the role of “prophetic acts”, other first-century Jewish figures, and, for good measure, the Last Supper. This is podcast is jam-packed. Click here for a .pdf of the outline with all the

Pope Benedict XVI’s Wednesday Audience on St. Thomas from Vatican.va Dear Brothers and Sisters, Continuing our encounters with the Twelve Apostles chosen directly by Jesus, today we will focus our attention on Thomas. Ever present in the four lists compiled by the New Testament, in the first three Gospels he is placed next to Matthew (cf. Mt

If you’ve read any of my books, you know about the biblical significance of the number seven. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.  The seventh day would forever stand as a sign of the covenant (see Exodus 31:16-17).  He invited mankind to enter into His rest—to enter into a

Most people have heard of the Early Church Fathers, but the Mothers of the Church. . . there’s a category of saints we hear less often. In part, that is due to the fact that not many of the early Christian women wrote. Yet that should not obscure the important contribution women made to the early Church.