Today is the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross. Last week on the blog, we looked at why we honour the Cross: Because it reminds us that Jesus died to save us. And this is where I have a problem. Why do we need to be saved by Jesus’ death? I remember growing up learning ...read more

“Lift high the Cross, the love of Christ proclaim…” That’s a song we all know, but what does it mean? Why do we lift high the Cross? This coming Sunday is the feast of the Triumph of the Cross, also called the Exaltation of the Cross. Did you know that we celebrate this feast? Have ...read more

So far we’ve looked at what the Scriptures and tradition tell us about the “prince of darkness”. But is this whole “devil” thing something of the past? I remember watching the film The Exorcist and thinking that the whole scenario didn’t seem real to me. I don’t think demons sit around behind a tree waiting ...read more

  Last week we looked at the figure of the devil and why the Church teaches that Lucifer was an archangel created by God, who rebelled. There are many names for the devil. You may have heard Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub and Diabolos. He is also referred to as Belial, Prince of Darkness, Prince of demons, ...read more

Recently someone asked me why Pope Francis keeps mentioning the devil, as if the devil actually existed (see Fr. Rosica’s recent post, Why in the devil does Pope Francis speak so much about the prince of this world? )This person alleged that, just as ogres and leprechauns, devils do not exist. But the Catholic Church is ...read more

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been sharing with you some of the content from a conference in homiletics that I recently attended as part of St. Augustine’s Seminary’s 100th anniversary celebrations (Read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4). There are many ways to prepare a homily, but preaching experts agree ...read more

Proclaiming the Word: Part Four Last time we looked at why a homily must be scriptural, pastoral, catechetical and liturgical and that there should be one key message (focus) and one suggestion as to how we can respond to that message (function). These are great suggestions for organizing your text. However, no matter what, the ...read more

Last time  I wrote about what makes a good homily and what is an image of a preacher.  At the preaching conference, most of the presenters dedicated their talks to how a homilist should prepare. “Prepare the homilist; not the homily” was a phrase used by Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto during the keynote opening ...read more

As I wrote last Sunday, last week I attended a preaching conference as part of St. Augustine’s Seminary 100th anniversary events. It was a who’s who in preaching, with all the talks by homiletics experts from all over North America. I think about homilies all the time. Not so much because I have to prepare ...read more

Pope Benedict wrote in the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini that “the homily is a means of bringing the scriptural message to life in a way that helps the faithful to realize that God’s word is present and at work in their everyday lives.” (VD 59) Add to that the 18 pages that Pope Francis dedicated ...read more