St. Alphonsus: ‘adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments’ By Father Randy Stice The Church has never ceased to reflect on Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist, penetrating ever more profoundly into the mystery of the complete transformation of the bread and wine into the …
The five offices of the Liturgy of the Hours
The Divine Office ‘is an excellent preparation for the celebration of the Eucharist itself’ By Father Randy Stice Jesus prayed throughout His public ministry, from His baptism to His anguished cry to the Father on the cross. He frequently exhorted His disciples to pray, to seek, and to ask, and …
Explaining three profound aspects of the Mass
‘Memorial,’ ‘covenant,’ and ‘sacrifice’ are spoken in every liturgy, but what do they mean? By Father Randy Stice “As we celebrate the memorial”—“The new and eternal covenant”—“May the Lord accept the sacrifice.” We hear these phrases at every Mass, and the three italicized words—memorial, covenant, sacrifice—express three profound aspects of …
The culmination of the sacraments of initiation
Pope Francis: baptism, confirmation, and first Communion ‘form a single saving event’ By Father Randy Stice In recent columns, we have explored the relationship between the Eucharist and the other sacraments. In the final column in this series, we will look at the Eucharist as the culmination of the sacraments …
The Eucharist and the anointing of the sick
All that Christ did during His earthly ministry, He now does in the sacraments By Father Randy Stice In the Eucharist, we encounter “the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ Himself.” This is why the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” and why the …
Spouses’ total gift of self ‘has a eucharistic dimension’
The integral relationship between the Eucharist and matrimony is profound By Father Randy Stice In recent columns, I have been discussing the relationship between the Eucharist and individual sacraments. The seven sacraments of the Church “touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth …
The Eucharist and the sacrament of holy orders
The interplay between them goes back to the Upper Room, where they were instituted By Father Randy Stice “All the sacraments are bound up with the Eucharist and are directed toward it. For in the most blessed Eucharist is contained the entire spiritual wealth of the Church, namely Christ himself.”1 …
Pope Francis on the Mass: ‘prayer and encounter
The meeting is ‘with God through His Word and the body and blood of Jesus’ By Father Randy Stice In 2017 and 2018, Pope Francis gave a series of catecheses on the Mass.1 In this column, I want to share our late Holy Father’s insights on the Mass. Pope Francis …
The connection between Eucharist and penance
‘A love for the Eucharist leads to a growing appreciation of the sacrament of reconciliation’ By Father Randy Stice All the sacraments,” said the Second Vatican Council, “are bound up with the Eucharist and are directed towards it. For in the most blessed Eucharist is contained the entire spiritual wealth …
‘Not head knowledge: a personal encounter’
Father Randy Stice encourages devotion to the Eucharist, ‘the wonder of the Mass,’ in his latest book By Gabrielle Nolan Initially drawn to the Catholic Church in the 1990s because of the Church’s teachings on the Holy Eucharist, Father Randy Stice decades later has written a book on cultivating a …
Examining the special graces of Easter
The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls it ‘the Feast of feasts, the Solemnity of solemnities’ By Father Randy Stice In every celebration of Mass, wrote Pope Pius XII, Christ “continues that journey of immense mercy that He lovingly began in His mortal life.” In His journey with us in …
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The Holy Fathers on the gifts of the Spirit
Confirmation allows us to experience a ‘personal Pentecost’ that leads to new life in the Spirit By Father Randy Stice In last month’s column, I looked at how the sacrament of confirmation fulfilled Bishop Mark Beckman’s prayer for a new Pentecost and his desire to equip our young people. Confirmation …