During this time of pandemic, it has been very important to me to persevere in my work as a sacred musician. Not only do our liturgies still need music, but it seems to me that during this time, in which much of our focus has been on bodily survival, the …

What is the origin of beginning Lent with Ash Wednesday? When did the practice of using ashes start? Like other practices in the Church, being signed with ashes on the first day of Lent is an ancient custom that has undergone some development. From Biblical times through the Medieval Age, …

“None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of His hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when — like the …

“In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art,” St. Pope John Paul II writes in his Letter to Artists, issued on Easter Sunday, 1999. As you will read in this issue of The Catholic Telegraph, art and beauty have a unique power to …

“Para comunicar el mensaje que Cristo le ha confiado, la Iglesia necesita arte”, escribe San Juan Pablo II en su Carta a los Artistas, emitida el Domingo de Pascua de 1999. Como leerán en este número de The Catholic Telegraph, el arte y la belleza tienen un poder único para …

Serving the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as superintendent of Catholic schools, I could never have imagined the effects a global pandemic would have on our nation, state and Catholic schools. On Mar. 12, when Governor Mike DeWine announced statewide school closures, I was stunned, taking a very deep breath and instantly …

Why did Jesus need to be baptized? If Jesus is God, wouldn’t baptism be unnecessary? Many have considered this question throughout history, so it is a good one. When Jesus approached John the Baptist to be baptized, John replied, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are …

As we prepare for the celebration of the bicentennial of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati later this year, National Catholic Schools Week – Jan. 31 through Feb. 6 – offers an opportunity to reflect with gratitude upon the importance and success of Catholic education in the 19 counties of our local …

I write this column each month with the help of prayer and discernment, usually in my office, while the kids are asleep or at school. I always marvel at how God, in the midst of the quiet, provides inspiration as words fill the blank page. But writing this month was …

Mientras nos preparamos para la celebración del bicentenario de la Arquidiócesis de Cincinnati más tarde este año, la Semana Nacional de las Escuelas Católicas – del 31 de enero al 6 de febrero – ofrece la oportunidad de reflexionar con gratitud sobre la importancia y el éxito de la educación …