Tag: Catholic Exchange
Do Ghosts Exist?
Q: Dear Father Kerper: It seems like there is a lot of evidence that there are ghosts that haunt people’s homes. Do ghosts really exist? Thanks very much for your question about the reality of ghosts. Some people, of course, would brush it off as a silly thing to ask, but it actually leads us… Read More ›
Three Tips For Getting More Out of the Homily
Let’s be honest: We’ve all attended Masses with less than stellar homilies, right? Not all priests (or deacons) are naturally gifted orators, but when their monotone, let’s-repeat-the-Gospel message emerges, we tend to tune out. By the time Mass ends, we realize we may have missed an important point from the homily, but is the homily really… Read More ›
Holy Fear
Catholic Exchange. April 18, 2015: We find in the writings of the great mystics, especially of those who have been recognized as “Doctor of the Church,” a certain unanimous consent concerning the importance of holy fear if we are to grow in our life of prayer. They have a sense that it is a fearful… Read More ›
Distorted Desires: The Seven Deadly Sins
The seventeenth century poet Thomas Traherne is known for his joyful and positive spirit. He affirms that human souls are driven by desire, and that we desire what is good. The problem is, that desire is either distorted or directed wrongly by sin. Very often when we think about the seven deadly sins we view them… Read More ›
A Still Small Voice
What is in a whisper? When someone whispers, we quiet down, sharpen our ears and pay attention. A whisper conveys often the most important information–whether intimate words of love or secret words that tell of hidden matters. Whispers are usually more significant than shouts, but they also require more of us. If we fail to pay… Read More ›
God’s Holiness Makes Us Uncomfortable
There is a third human reaction to God’s holiness. It is an evil reaction; it rises from man’s contradictory nature and consists of a feeling of discomfort, irritation, and rebelliousness. A strange manifestation! One is inclined to ask how this can come about if God is the moving Spirit and essence of the universe, and… Read More ›
Silence and the Word
Stillness is intimately related to speech and the word. The word is a thing of mystery, so volatile that it vanishes almost on the lip, yet so powerful that it decides fates and determines the meaning of existence. A frail structure shaped by fleeting sound, it yet contains the eternal: truth. Words come from within,… Read More ›
The Biblical Roots of the Sign of the Cross
Few actions so clearly distinguish a person as a Catholic in our culture as the Sign of the Cross. Contrary to what some Protestants would have you think, the Sign of the Cross dates back to the earliest times. In third century, Tertullian wrote, “At every forward step and movement, at every going in and… Read More ›
Six Great Mysteries of the Bible
The Old Testament answers some of the greatest questions of all time—where did we come from? Why do we desire the good yet do evil? Why do our souls yearn for eternity while our bodies yield to death and decay? Yet, the Hebrew Scriptures leave so many other tantalizing questions unanswered. These mysteries have nagged… Read More ›
Emotional Pornography
Sex sells. Marketing in our culture is almost exclusively based on sex. We have known this for years, and although we think we are stronger than corporate marketing strategies, we (men) still fall easy prey to GoDaddy super bowl ads and Victoria’s Secret ceiling-high mall pinups. When I say “easy prey,” I don’t mean we all… Read More ›