Open wide the doors of Faith
It was an awkward moment. Our friend Angela loves to swim. As the mother of three, she invariably arrives at the pool tired, and a little weary. I am not sure if she had her glasses that day; in any case, a few weeks ago, when she bustled into the locker room, she saw well enough to notice an odd figure standing under the shower. “An athletic woman,” she thought. She looked again. The legs were thick, and hairy. One of them was in the wrong room.
Doors define space. They announce what’s upcoming, and shelter or invite. Can you guess what’s behind the glassy facade? If you were tired I bet you might mistake it. Apart from the half-disguised cross motif, a weary traveler might well wonder whether he was about to stumble into a mall, a lady’s washroom, or a Bible chapel. Each of these is a good in its own right. It’s one thing, for instance, for the Baptists to build sheds, and to slap an aluminum door on the side; it’s quite another for a Catholic Church to snub Michelangelo, Bernini, and 350 years of native architectural tradition.
I do not exaggerate. This year, the Mother Church of North America, Notre-Dame de Qu.bec, is celebrating its 350th birthday with a year of festivities. Chief among which has been the installation of a Holy Door, the 7th in the world. Pilgrims who enter can receive a plenary indulgence. The Basilica reports the response has been outstanding. They anticipate that by December 8 (the close of the Holy Year) some 400,000 will pass through.
Some weary worldlings, no doubt, will prefer to remain outside sipping latte. But at least the offer stands. “To enter the house of God, we must cross a threshold which symbolizes passing from the world wounded by sin to the world of the new life” (CCC, 1186). As Quebec’s Archbishop is making plain, a tired world doesn’t need more anonymous Christians, or invisible churches. Let the pilgrims come! It’s what happens when we open wide the doors of faith.
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→
Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
First Holy Communion: Sermon from May 16, 1943
Here is a sermon from the good old days by +Rev. Msgr. Vincent Nicholas Foy (August 14, 1915 – March 13, 2017), from 1943. Readers may recall that Pope Saint Pius X, by the decree Quam Singulari in 1910, lowered the customary age of reception of Holy Communion – after the rigours of the plague[…]Continue reading→
In the Glorious Light of Easter, Alleluia!
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). The Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour[…]Continue reading→
An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday
The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is one of waiting, in silence, as the world wonders – anticipates – what will happen, after the death of Christ. We re-live this time each year in the anamnesis of our liturgy, and in turn look forward to the glorious re-creation of all things at the[…]Continue reading→
Europe’s Long Descent
(As we meditate on this day on Christ’s burial, and His descent into hell, it is fitting to ponder here with contributor Peter Marcus how the world seems to be heading there as well. The difference is that, although God cannot ‘redeem’ hell, nor those therein, He can and did redeem the world. There is[…]Continue reading→
Pope Saint John Paul II’s First Good Friday Homily
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS AT THE COLOSSEUM Good Friday, 13 April 1979 When we make the Way of the Cross from one station to the next, in spirit we are always at the spot wherethis journey had its “historical” place: where it[…]Continue reading→