Dear Fr. LeoIs the Catholic Church the only church that venerates relics? What’s the deal with relics, anyway?G Dear G:In truth, relics are venerated not only by Catholics, but also by Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians. Due to some of the abuses which happened in the Middle Ages, the churches and ecclesial communities which grew…
What an exciting and gracious feeling I had when my plane made its approach into the Juneau airport last month. Through partial clouds and sun appeared towering mountains, solitary islands, and inviting coves. It was familiar and, at the same time, unique. This familiar and unique character also deeply includes a shared faith amongst our…
June 20th is World Refugee Day, a day celebrated internationally to honor refugees worldwide – those who have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution, and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country. We spend this time celebrating the strength of those forced to flee their home, building understanding for their plight,…
A few days ago, on May 20, the Ignatian Year began. That date marked the 500th anniversary of a cannonball shattering the right knee of a young man named Inigo Lopez de Loyola. For all of you who, like me, have had knee transplants or surgery, that sentence makes you squirm. For the young man…
When the sun shines in Southeast for the first time in spring, everyone comes alive. Kids ride their bikes; families walk their dogs. Everyone feels a hum of excitement. The good mood was in no short supply at The Bridge Adult Day Program in Juneau recently, where clients enjoyed coffee in the sun while singing…
Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska, sits on 100 acres near the Missouri River, where the dry, monotonous flat terrain of Nebraska begins to give way to the greener hills of Iowa. Established in 1885, the cemetery is a resting place for many prominent Nebraskans. But it’s also the burial site, in pauper’s field, of…
Dear Fr. Leo: Would it be okay to imagine a biosphere (a spiritsphere?), perhaps, surrounding the earth containing the spirit world where souls head toward at the time of death? I hope that the spirits and images of those I love would be apparent to me if I find myself so lucky to meet them…
Dear Fr. Leo,Do we worship on Sunday because that is the day that Our Lord rose from the dead? In rising from the dead, did he cancel the Old Testament practice of observing the Sabbath on Saturdays? Is that why we call it the Lord’s Day? – S Dear S,These are three good questions. I’ll…
A friend in our group asked if we thought Mary, Jesus’s mother, had been present at the Last Supper. There’s much we don’t know about the Last Supper. We know that many women, including Mary, had followed Jesus into Jerusalem because Scripture records their presence at the Crucifixion. And let’s face it, someone had to…
“The food is falling off the shelves.” You can imagine my delight and gratitude when our AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America), Katie Gordon, told me how crowded the shelves at St. Francis House Food Pantry were this week because we had so much food. The Catholic Social Services (CSS) staff have had to…