Those who follow baseball know that the past decade has seen what is called the “Moneyball” revolution in how players are evaluated. In the past, players were gauged using popular, preconceived narratives: Who knocks in the most runs? Who gets …
Altar Girls, Altar Boys and the Priesthood: Connecting the Dots
It has been twenty years since the Catholic Church officially permitted the use of altar girls at Mass. While extending this permission for girls to serve, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) was also …
Making Mass “Relevant” is Irrelevant to Evangelization
Many Catholics have witnessed or read about Masses gone wild: polka Masses, life-size scary puppet Masses, and probably worst of all, Los Angeles Religious Education Congress closing Masses. In these extreme cases, it is clear that there is something fundamentally …
Review: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
If you build something truly beautiful, the people will come of their own accord. So it was for the tenth annual Festival of Lessons and Carols at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, which – in the presence of Most …
Merry Christmas from OnePeterFive!
Today marks the last official business day of 2014 for 1P5. For the next two weeks, we’ll be spending time with family and friends, offering the final penances of advent and enjoying the graces and feasting of Christmas, catching up …
‘Vouchsafe, Oh My God’
I’ve quipped that I know I’m truly Catholic because I anticipate the St. Andrew prayer novena as part of our Advent season while still cleaning up Thanksgiving dishes. I have found rote recitation of prayers written by others to be …
Has Russia Been Consecrated to Mary?
Russia today is vengefully returning to international politics after temporarily receding after the collapse of the Soviet empire. Moscow is lashing out with tenacious diplomatic and military support for the brutal regime in Syria that has butchered more than one …
“Holy Father, don’t you understand?”
Clare Short, author of the Catholic blog Faith in Our Families, has published an open letter to Pope Francis. She writes: I have supported you and defended you many times this year. Even when I was unsure of exactly what it …
1916 Military Rosary Inspires New Combat Rosary
Men’s faith formation has been a pet project of mine for the last half of my 26 years as a priest. Among many things, I ‘ve wanted us men to rediscover the treasury of Catholic devotions. If men are going …
The Rorate Caeli Mass: An Advent Tradition Honoring Our Lady
The Rorate Mass takes its name from the opening words of the Introit, which comes to us from Isaiah 45:8: “Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum, aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem.” “Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and …