Author: Fr. Jim Sabak, OFM
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Eucharist in a time of Coronavirus
From Good Friday until the Easter Vigil there is a “Real Absence” of Jesus Christ.
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The Rite of Sending: “You like me! Right now, you like ME!”
Since the 92nd Academy Awards just aired, I have been drawn to reminisce over the 57th Academy Awards — decades ago in 1985! At this Awards ceremony the actress Sally Field gushed the now famous exclamation, “You like me! Right now, you like me!,” as she clutched the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of…
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It is ALWAYS Advent!
Homiletic reflections on Advent from a probing and thoughtful theologian: Joseph Ratzinger.
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Eucharistic Problems and Concelebrating Clergy
Creeping clericalism which transforms the Eucharist into an almost magical phenomenon.
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A Conveniently Delayed Funeral
In as a commodity driven society as is the United States, does a growing practice of delaying funerals inadvertently turn death into something that “fits into our schedules?” Does it communicate, “While grandma’s death was inconvenient, her funeral will not be.”
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After Easter………What’s Next?
Is Easter a terminus ad quem or terminus a quo for we who believe? If the latter, Easter reveals the lens through which we view all of reality, our destiny as human beings, and why God so passionately desires a relationship with us at all.
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Exodus at the Paschal Vigil: A Terrifying Dare to Believe
The history of the Church’s liturgy reveals that a significant aspect of “keeping vigil” through the nighttime hours is a prolonged Liturgy of the Word. Some ancient traditions proclaimed a number of scriptural and even non-scriptural readings to an assembly as it kept a “night watch” before the observance of a major liturgical celebration. While…
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The Scrutinies: Embodying the Serious Business of Belief
In the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the prayers of the scrutiny rites attest to the resolve of the Elect to remain faithful, even in the midst of confusion, doubt, or rejection, reflecting the serious nature of faith.
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Is Penance a Problem for Lent?
Tim Gabrielli’s 2013 enlightened study on the issues facing adolescent celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, Confirmation, has the very fitting subtitle, “How a Sacrament of God’s Grace Became All about Us.” What is most intriguing about this subtitle is that it might easily be used to describe the sacrament of Penance, perhaps the most…