Tag: Mass

  • The Immaculate Tour Guide

    The Immaculate Tour Guide

    The Mass is boring. I grew up Catholic, and when I was a kid, that’s how I felt. And I’ll admit that there have even been times as an adult when I find my mind wandering or glance down to check my watch.  And yet…ever since my youth, despite my occasional lack of enthusiasm for…

  • Truth & Joy

    Truth & Joy

    “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.” –St. Jean Vianney

  • Front Row Seats

    Front Row Seats

    Our parish used to have an associate pastor with a penchant for calling on people at Mass. It was well-intentioned, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. Needless to say, the very front pews in his Masses were quite sparse. Our family usually planted ourselves somewhere in the middle of the church; close enough…

  • Relics: What Superheroes Leave Behind

    Relics: What Superheroes Leave Behind

    On a visit to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion about an hour north of Sheboygan, my son Ben and I were marveling at the fact that the chapel had relics of each of the original Apostles (minus Judas, of course).  In the Catholic Church, a relic is a fragment of the body…