Posts Tagged

The Final Word

Students gather at the 50 yard line to read the Stations of the Cross and then do 40 seconds of conditioning after each Station is read. (CT Photo/Greg Hartman)
What a blessing our Catholic schools are for the children and young adults in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati! As attendance at Mass continues to wane, our Catholic grade and high schools often become the only avenues by which we can teach the beauty of the Gospels—where students attend Mass and …

The various phenomena of environmental degradation and natural disasters which, unfortunately, are often reported in the news remind us of the urgent need to respect nature as we should, recovering and appreciating a correct relationship with the environment in everyday life. A new sensitivity to these topics that justly give …

Virtue = Strength (CT Photo/Greg Hartman)
At the entrance of a parish school where I previously served as principal is a reproduction of the Renaissance artist Fra Angelico’s “The Annunciation.” In the painting, St. Gabriel comes to the Blessed Virgin Mary to announce that she will give birth to the Son of the Most High and …

Many people have asked me if leading the National Eucharistic Revival deepened my own relationship with Our Lord in the Eucharist. Indeed, yes! It has been a profound grace of the Revival, and I hope that’s true for many others too. In fact, I believe our Eucharistic Revival will only …

UD's Immaculate Conception Chapel at sunset for Christmas at UD. (CT Photo/Greg Hartman)
Father William Joseph Chaminade founded the Society of Mary in 1817, in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Born in 1761, as a young priest he barely survived the Revolution’s carnage and terror. When the revolutionary government demanded every priest in the country swear allegiance to the new government or …

God is good. God is real. God is not boring. He is worthy of our praise and our worship. But what is worship? As the Oxford Dictionary says, worship is “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” As a cradle Catholic, I could give a similar …

I was raised in a loving, Catholic family. We went to Mass every Sunday, prayed the Rosary weekly as a family and attended Catholic school. We all played sports, served Mass and participated in Catholic youth groups and other faith building programs. I am grateful for the opportunities my parents …

In the early 1980s my parents faced a quandary: I was the oldest child, and it was time to enroll me in kindergarten. My dad, a history teacher, was recently laid off from the local public school. While both parents were baptized Catholic and my mother attended Catholic school through …

My wife and I attended Mass on a typical Sunday many years ago, but what happened that day was not typical—in fact, it changed our lives. Our pastor invited a parishioner, Joe, to share a personal witness about the importance of sacrificial giving. Until then, I thought people gave to …

We are primed for another season as the defending AFC North Champions, which makes this a natural moment to review the perennially confusing question: can we really “pray for a Bengals win?” As the Cincinnati Bengals Catholic Chaplain, my answer regarding prayers for sports teams is “that depends on your …