Noted scholar of religions Alan Watts suggests that some bible stories are better understood if they began with the words “Once upon a time.” When we read those four words, we immediately know that the story to follow is not factual but offers a window into truth or a slice of life couched in metaphorContinue reading “Can Christmas Survive the Hype?”
Category Archives: Catholic
Compassion vs. Dispassion
I saw a value to general principles providing guidance for moral decision making, but I also feared that this top-down approach could miss the rich variety that exists among individual persons and the complexity of situations in which they find themselves.
Body of Christ, Then and Now
by Joseph Stoutzenberger One of the most spiritually moving experiences of my life happened when I first served as a Eucharistic minister, distributing Communion at Mass. Before the changes brought on by Vatican Council II, only priests gave out Communion. In the1970s, laypeople were invited to serve as “extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist.” The firstContinue reading “Body of Christ, Then and Now “
The Holiness of the Ordinary
It struck me that what my friend was doing was reminding people that holiness wasn’t just present with the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago but that the holy exists in our world today, and in very ordinary circumstances.
Joseph Stoutzenberger 