Convert from Lutheranism, ordained to the priesthood in 1991 by St. John Paul II in Rome for the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni. Classics at University of Minnesota. Licence and Doctoral studies in Patristic Theology at the Augustinianum in Rome. Formerly a collaborator of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," moderator of the Catholic Online Forum, columnist for The Wanderer and the UK's Catholic Herald, Fox News contributor. Speaker. Blogist. fatherzonline.com @fatherz
Author: Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
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Our context for the 4th Sunday after Easter is, in the liturgical year, our preparation for the Ascension of the Lord. Sometimes the Feast of the Ascension Thursday is given short shrift, which is unfortunate. One could argue that transferring …
We Don’t Belong Here
There is a Latin adage: motus in fine velocior, sometimes expressed as in fine citius. Things go faster the closer they get to the end. This is an overarching context for our days. For this 3rd Sunday after Easter we …
St. Joseph Against the Communists
This year the 1 May observance of the 2nd Sunday after Easter gives way in honor of St. Joseph, whom we venerate among his other many roles and titles as a patron of laborers and as the “Worker.” In contrast …
“My Lord and my God!”
This Sunday we complete the Octave of Easter. In the post-Conciliar calendar, it is creatively called the “Second Sunday of Easter” or, since John Paul II was greatly interested in the theme, “Divine Mercy Sunday”. However, historically we call the …
The Joy of Easter and the Easter Duty
Happy Easter! My hopeful prayer is that you experience, in this Easter Season, true joy in a personal encounter with the Risen Lord. The Church’s firehose of imagery and traditions and sacred liturgy has been blasting fully at our little …
His Passion and His Victory
Ever since we set out on our spiritual journey on pre-Lent Septuagesima Sunday, step by step we have approached Holy Week. While a measure of weariness might distress us as we slog along the paths of penance and discipline, of …
The Holy Crusade of the High Priest
From the pre-Lent, “Gesima” Sundays onward, Holy Mother Church began her plunge into liturgical death. At first we lost the “Alleluia,” the Gloria, and on Sundays we dressed in penitential violet to herald the proximity of Lent. With Lent, these …
The True Miracle of the Multiplication of Loaves
It is a fact of human nature that if our senses are constantly bombarded with the same thing, say for example, music that is too loud or an environment that is all the same color, or even violent or wicked …
Mary, Exorcism, and the Memory of Past Sins
The Roman Station for the 3rd Sunday of Lent is the Minor Papal Basilica of St. Lawrence outside-the-walls. There are five Papal Basilicas, four Major and one Minor. They were once called Patriarchal Basilicas and they corresponded to the five …
The Mystery of the Transfiguration
You’ve probably noticed that Gospel readings begin, “In illo tempore… in that time.” Well… what time is that? It is helpful to interrogate texts with classic questions from ancient rhetoric: “Quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando?” You can …