Dear Friends in Christ, With this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Church enters the final part of Lent: Passiontide. From today until the Vigil of the Resurrection in the night of Holy Saturday, crosses and statues are veiled and the sacred liturgy of each day takes us more deeply into the heart of the Paschal…

Dear Friends in Christ, Catholics use the word “Church” in a variety of ways. In the first sense, we speak of the universal Catholic Church, and we usually indicate this meaning by the use of the capital “C.” This is the worldwide assembly of disciples founded by the Lord Jesus which was found first only…

Dear Friends in Christ, The first principle of Evangelical Catholicism says that “the Lord Jesus is the crucified and risen Savior of all mankind, and no human person can fully understand his life or find his dignity and destiny apart from an authentic friendship with the Lord Jesus. It is not enough to know who…

Dear Friends in Christ, We are accustomed to the sight of teachers standing in front of their students to teach, either behind a lectern or pacing back and forth in a classroom or lecture hall. But in the ancient world the traditional posture of a distinguished teacher was to be seated in a prominent chair…

Dear Friends in Christ, From today through Pentecost, we will be using the Apostles’ Creed at Mass instead of the Nicene Creed. This is a practice suggested by the Roman Missal because the text we call the Apostles’ Creed is so directly connected to the sacrament of Holy Baptism, the promises of which we renew…