The Prayer After Communion offers a rich theology on the Eucharist’s transforming power By Father Randy Stice This column is the last of a three-part series on the three proper prayers of the Mass. In previous columns, I have discussed the Collect and the Prayer Over the Offerings, so in …
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‘I just hate it when He talks like that’
A columnist hopes Christ’s words leave open room for a comeback when he makes mistakes By George Valadie A confession: the homily wasn’t speaking to me. So, I found myself leafing through the parish bulletin from this church we were visiting before also thumbing through their missalette, looking ahead to …
A child’s sacrament recalls another years ago
A grandson’s first Communion brings back memories and evokes prayers for the youth By George Valadie It was May 1961, so a good many of the details escape me now. But it was when my second-grade classmates and I received our first Holy Communion. It was the third of five …
The Bible is ‘the book of the Church’
It came from many sources but is ‘God’s Word for us today and for all generations’ By Deacon Bob Hunt Where did the Bible come from? The Bible is not a single book. It is a collection of many books, like a library. The word “bible” comes to us from …
Looking at the Prayer Over the Offerings
The language of sacrifice and offering or oblation is prominent in this second proper prayer By Father Randy Stice Last month, I began a three-part series on the proper prayers of the Mass: the Collect, the Prayer Over the Offerings, and the Prayer After Communion, beginning with the Collect. In …
If you are Catholic, the Mass is ‘what you do’
The Mass is where we are saved, the purpose for which Jesus came, and where Jesus is lifted up By Deacon Bob Hunt In one of the most profound Old Testament passages, the prophet Jeremiah speaks of the Lord establishing a new covenant with His people. “The days are coming, …
The Collect: the prayer that begins Mass
All such prayers share a common structure and can teach us who God is and what to pray for By Father Randy Stice Every Mass is provided with three orations (prayers) proclaimed by the priest: the Collect at the beginning of the Mass, the Prayer over the Offerings, and the …
‘Most everything’s working. It’s all good’
God would love to ‘climb out of bed, survey the universe,’ and think those words to Himself By George Valadie I’m not the weather fanatic my wife is, but I know this much: if our daughter in Little Rock gets hit by something crazy, odds are pretty good Chattanooga is …
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A look at the table of God’s Word
As Pope Benedict XVI wrote, Word and Eucharist are so intimately ‘bound together’ By Father Randy Stice The Mass is a single act of worship composed of two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Church calls these two parts the two tables, the …
Easter approaches—how is your Lent going?
It’s not too late to make a new beginning, focusing on the purpose of small sacrifices we make By Deacon Bob Hunt Here we are in mid-March, and Lent is already two-thirds through. Easter is only a couple of weeks away. How’s your Lent going? Lent is somewhat like New …
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It’s hard being George during Lent
Seeing people doing something for somebody else could be his way to get ‘closer to God’ By George Valadie I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” my wife uttered with a stressful tone of indecision heading downhill toward frustration. “I don’t know whether to wear my jeans or …
Our mission now: understand Jesus is Lord
If we follow and remain faithful to Him, our troubles will end, and we will live in the bosom of the Father By Deacon Bob Hunt “Jesus said to His disciples: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me’”(John 14:1). There …