The use of the term, “Black Friday,” to identify the day after Thanksgiving has always struck me as appropriate given how swiftly our society turns its attention from thanking God for our many blessings to scrambling to the stores in the middle of the night to find a bargain on the “perfect gift” for Christmas. [...] [Read more]
Archive for November, 2012
Bringing the Light of Advent to “Black Friday”
Friday, November 23rd, 2012Thanksgiving – Our Civil “Holy Day”
Thursday, November 22nd, 2012Thanksgiving Day is the closest thing we have to a national holy day. Even in the wake of the tsunami of secularism that has swamped our culture, on this day we Americans not only ask God to bless us, but we return thanks to God for the blessings we so abundantly and regularly receive. In [...] [Read more]
The Gift of Black Catholic History Month
Monday, November 19th, 2012The words of the well-known spiritual, “We’ve Come This Far by Faith,” offer a special insight into why Black Catholic History Month, which we celebrate in November, should matter to all Catholics. That refrain sung so poignantly by gospel choirs and congregations in predominantly African American Catholic parishes encapsulates the history of Black Catholics in [...] [Read more]
Dreaming of an Education
Monday, November 5th, 2012For many high school seniors with dreams of going to college, these past few weeks have been very busy. High school transcripts have been collected, letters of recommendation have been requested, essays have been drafted and financial aid papers have been reviewed, all in anticipation of colleges’ mid-November early application deadlines. Completion of this long [...] [Read more]
The Gift of Married Love
Sunday, November 4th, 2012Marriage is a private relationship with a public significance. In the human love that brings a woman and man to marriage, we already hear God speaking to us of the beauty and fidelity of love, its transforming power, and its creative energy. In the sacrament of matrimony, God speaks to us of a fullness of [...] [Read more]
Our Newest Saints
Thursday, November 1st, 2012The Solemnity of All Saints, or All Saints Day, is the day the Church has set aside to celebrate those, marked with the sign of faith, who have gone before us to heaven. Our belief in the communion of saints, as expressed in the Creed, stems from the knowledge that our life together as a [...] [Read more]
