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Some people may wish to “donate their body to science” after they die. Such a gift of themselves can be objectively good and praiseworthy provided that their body would contribute to meaningful research or study, and that it would not be used in a disrespectful or otherwise inappropriate manner.
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Word on Fire
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Each November the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints. The saints are the great heroes of our faith. The Church describes a saint as a person of “heroic virtue.”
This means that while many Christians might be willing to settle for lackluster accomplishments as disciples, the saints engage their relationship with the Lord Jesus with vigorous creativity and absolute dedication. Most often, the work of the saints will go unnoticed and unseen.
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Bishop Robert Barron’s latest exploration into the life and truth of the Catholic faith, To Light a Fire on the Earth, was released recently.
To Light a Fire on the Earth is Bishop Barron’s anticipated follow-up to his book Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of Faith, which was released in 2011. This book differs from the first as it is written in partnership with Vatican journalist, John L. Allen, Jr.
The WordonFire website offers the synopsis shared below.
I’d like to say that every day in our house is peaceful, that no one ever fights, that we ride out problems prayerfully and lovingly.
But it would be a lie.
Yesterday was particularly challenging, with tired children shirking household duties and worn-out parents losing patience. Throughout the rainy day we had to help solve quarrels, enforce obedience, redirect whining. In the face of all our little problems, we got stuck in the muck of anger and impatience.
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| Fr.Gregory Ihm |
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart . . .” (Jer. 1:5).
Each person is willed by God to be, which is another way of saying that we have been chosen to exist.
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Jean Twenge’s book iGen is one of the most fascinating — and depressing — texts I’ve read in the past decade. A professor of psychology at San Diego State University, Dr. Twenge has been, for years, studying trends among young Americans, and her most recent book focuses on the generation born between 1995 and 2012.
Since this is the first cohort of young people who have never known a world without iPads and iPhones, and since these devices have remarkably shaped their consciousness and behavior, Dr. Twenge naturally enough has dubbed them the “iGen.”
For the past year, we’ve been anticipating the opening of The Beacon, the new homeless day resource center operated by Catholic Charities.
The day finally happened, and The Beacon shined as a light of hope in the lives of over 200 men, women, and children experiencing homelessness in Dane County.
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We Catholics believe that a cemetery is holy ground because it is where the body rests until it is reunited with the soul at resurrection.
Caring for a cemetery requires skill and grace. I learned this as a boy and even more as a pastor.
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Word on Fire
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In October, the Church commemorates the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a celebration that has its origin not, as it would seem, in simply a prayer, but in a battle.
On October 7, 1571, a fleet of ships assembled by the combined forces of Naples, Sardinia, Venice, the Papacy, Genoa, Savoy, and the Knights Hospitallers fought an intense battle with the fleet of the Ottoman Empire.
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| Sr. Constance Veit, LSP |
Each October we observe Respect Life Month in dioceses around the United States.
This year’s theme is “Be Not Afraid,” but of what, or whom, are we supposed to not be afraid?
Pondering this question, I recalled an experience I had while attending the Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando last summer.
