The Acts of the Apostles strikingly illuminates the boldness and courage of the early Church. Peter and John, Paul and Stephen, Phoebe and Lydia speak and act in the freedom of the risen Christ, knowing themselves as beloved children of the Father who had been purchased with the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ and anointed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Category: Bishop Hying’s Columns
Building our faith for generations
I recently came across a treasure trove of family pictures, formal portraits of my maternal grandparents — Ignatz and Frances Franecki.
Finding those ‘thin places’ where God is with us
A priest I came to know well preaches often about the experiences and relationships in our lives where both the mystery and the presence of God are very apparent to us.
He calls these the “thin places” where the distance between the divine and the human is overcome, when God feels so close, we can touch Him and feel His gentle breath on our soul.
The meaning of light
Last Wednesday evening, I experienced the beautiful prayer of Tenebrae, named after the Latin word for darkness.
Since the earliest centuries of the Church, believers gathered during the Easter Triduum to offer Scripture readings, texts from the Church Fathers, and hymns to honor the suffering, Passion, and death of the Lord.
A further look at faith and culture
Two weeks ago, I reflected briefly on the fundamental shift in worldview in the West, beginning with the Renaissance and then gaining greater traction with the French Revolution and the Enlightenment.
This movement from a theistic, God-centered vision to a humanistic, this-worldly orientation is complex, long, and multi-faceted, and therefore not easy to fully understand or articulate.
Honoring St. Joseph
Issuing Patris Corde, (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis has declared a special year to honor St. Joseph and to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Joseph as the patron of the Universal Church.
A look at faith and culture over time
When we take a long, hard look at our culture today, it is painfully clear that we are in a profound crisis.
The racial, economic, political divisions in society, exacerbated by COVID, the elections last fall, and the violence in our midst, have become a profound obstacle to unity, peace, compassion, and even truth.
We are made in God’s image
A beautiful, basic tenet of our faith, articulated in the creation account of Genesis, is that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God, the imago Dei.
The Scriptures narrate the words of God Himself: Let us make man in our image and likeness.
This conviction is the bedrock of the Church’s defense of human dignity, proclamation of inherent rights, and responsibilities of each person and a motivation for all of our concern for the poor, the young, the elderly, and the suffering.
The ‘abandonment to Divine Providence’
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In last week’s column, I meditated on the surrender of Mary and Jesus in the key moments of the Annunciation and the Agony in the Garden.
We all know the difficulty of handing over our wills to the Lord.
We want to be in control, have a clear idea of how events should unfold, and we often think God is letting us down when we face disappointment, tragedy, and suffering.
How do we find peace amidst the storm and trust in the middle of life’s chaos?
Surrendering out of love
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Meditating on the Agony in the Garden, the First Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, is always a source of great spiritual fruit for me.
We see Jesus alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, facing His imminent Passion and death, praying that this cup of suffering pass Him by.
Jesus is so anxious and distressed that He sweats drops of blood, struggling to surrender to the will of the Father and the mystery of the cross.
Radical filial obedience wins out, as Jesus utters His fiat, “Let your will be done, not mine.”
When Christ arises from this prayer, He moves forward with determination, arousing the sleeping apostles, facing Judas and the approaching mob, ready and willing to drink the cup of suffering to the very dregs.
In the Gospel passion narratives, once Jesus has made His surrender in Gethsemane, He embraces the terrible details of His trial, torture, and death with a peace, acceptance, and love that is truly divine.