Columns Archive

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Perspective

A Culture of Life and Civilization of Love

Earlier this month, I traveled to Washington, D.C., with a large group of students, faculty, and staff from the University of Notre Dame to participate in the annual March for […]

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Perspective

Gender Ideology Is Among Major Threats to Religious Liberty

In the inaugural report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the “State of Religious Liberty in the United States,” published on Tuesday, January 16, the landscape of religious […]

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Bishop's Column: In Truth and Charity

Persecution of Christians and the Ecumenism of Blood

The following is the homily delivered by Bishop Rhoades at the Melkite Catholic Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame on Sunday, January 21. Every year, I look forward to […]

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Perspective

The Work of the Apostles Brings Us to Jesus Christ

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time The first reading for this weekend is from the Book of Jonah, an Old Testament writing seldom presented in the liturgy. While Jonah is the […]

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Perspective

A Eucharistic Word: Tabernacle

While praying in our pew after Communion during a recent Sunday Mass, our 6-year-old son decided to administer a pop quiz to his willing little sister. “What was the first […]

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Perspective

It’s Not Your Life, It’s Not Your Death, It’s Not Your Choice

When I was an auxiliary bishop in the Los Angeles archdiocese some years ago, the state of California was militating in favor of physician-assisted suicide. During the campaign, while driving […]

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Perspective

Christ, True God and True Man, Is in Our Midst

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time The First Book of Samuel is the source of the first reading for this weekend. Originally, First and Second Samuel were one volume. At some […]

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Perspective

Don’t Weaponize the Blessing of Couples

What would you do if you saw a fellow Catholic walk over to a holy water font, pull out a squirt gun, fill it up with holy water, and begin […]

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Perspective

Saluting the Chroniclers: Put 2024 on Paper

He began at the beginning: “Left St. Paul Jan. 23rd 98 at 4:30 p.m.” In a leather-bound journal, his neat cursive scrolled in pencil across graph paper, Frank Storms charted […]

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Perspective

Five Events in 2024 to Help Us Be Better Catholics

As we flip the calendar to 2024, I must admit the thought of the coming 12 months fill me with a certain amount of dread. Entering into another election year, […]

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Perspective

Epiphany Celebrates the Salvation God Has Offered to Us All

Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord This weekend, the Church invites us to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, one of the most revered feasts in […]

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Perspective

Living the Joy like St. Philip Neri

It was just before Pentecost in 1544, and a young man named Philip was praying in the catacombs of the Church of St. Sebastian in Rome. As he immersed himself […]