Author name: Molly Hostetler

Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins stated, “a universe with a creative superintendent would be a very different kind of universe from one without.” We add this all-important insight: each kind of universe would entail a radically different notion of morality, as Dawkins himself demonstrates.

I think there is a special place in heaven for the genius who first dreamed up combining olive oil, garlic, and salt, with vegetables and high heat. Or, perhaps, he (or she) didn’t dream it up. Maybe it came to him through private revelation . . . or infused knowledge.

Looking for something good to read for Lent? We love to share our favorite books! Here’s what our staff is reading for Lent this year.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to meet the risen Christ? During the Octave of Easter, we’ll hear a series of Gospel readings about the Resurrection. On Easter Wednesday, we’ll read from Luke 24, when Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Prayer is necessary, but it’s not easy. “[F]or we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Rom 8:26). We know how to pray in a superficial way, but not as we ought. The good news is that our Father knows this, and so He has sent His Son to teach us and has sent His Spirit to transform our moans, groans, and sighs into the profoundest prayers that reach the depths of God’s heart. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. . . . [T]he Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (Rom 8:26).

As the first family and the first church of the New Covenant, the Holy Family isn’t just the model family community, but the model ecclesial community. Mary and Joseph show us what and who we can be when we unite ourselves to Christ.

The Gospel of Matthew begins with a sentence fragment, perhaps intended as a title: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt 1:1). You may recognize the genealogy from lectors tripping over names like “Ammin’adab” and “Zerub’babel” during Christmas Eve Mass. But this section is more than a list of funny names: it is the interpretive key for the entire New Testament.