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Father John Gerard Hillier
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Statistically, it would seem that not many people who respond “I do” to the wedding vow “until death do us part” really mean what they say. Yet, a general survey among faithfully married couples or new widows or widowers would seem to confirm that the glue that kept their marriage together was their faith in Christ and the promise they made before God on their wedding day. This promise is summarized succinctly in the opening paragraph of this section of the Catechism.Read More -
If you were asked about the doctrine of indulgences, would you say that indulgences are something that is “old fashioned,” “outdated” or “pre-Vatican II”? In fact, indulgences are included in the Catechism as a legitimate, present-day teaching of the Church. The Catechism states: “The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance” (ccc 1471).Read More
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This section of the Catechism provides an overview of how, though various forms of penance, interior conversion helps a person become more faithful to Christ. Ordinarily, there are at least two ways for Our Savior Jesus Christ to enter our lives. We can invite him in before a tragedy happens or when there is nowhere else to go but to him; or, he will invite himself into our lives after a tragedy happens.Read More
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Jesus’s titles are many throughout the New Testament. One highlighted in this section of the Catechism is Jesus as “physician.” Specifically, Jesus is referred to as the “physician of our souls and bodies,” who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health (ccc 1421).Read More
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I love telling the story of an experience I had in my first parish as a newly ordained priest. It happened that my sitting room was on the second floor of the rectory looking out toward the front door of the parish church across the street. Over the course of several months, a car stopped shortly after 5 p.m. in front of the church.Read More
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A wonderful way to begin the New Year 2019 is to make a pledge to fall in love, more and more, with Jesus — present in the Eucharist! Like many, my recognition of Jesus being fully present in the Eucharist was a kind of spiritual awakening that happened to me in high school. It was the moment when I realized, not only intellectually, but emotionally and spiritually, that Jesus is indeed fully, substantially, and in every way, truly present in the Holy Eucharist.Read More
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“Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24). This passage from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians reminds me of a banner prominently displayed in our school chapel when I was in high school. It was not a chintzy hanging with felt letters prepared freehand-style and fastened with Elmer’s glue, a familiar sort of banner that was often seen in churches in the years following the Second Vatican Council.Read More
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Christmas is all about active participation in the lives of our families, friends and neighbors. We offer one another best wishes of the Christmas season as we prepare gifts, in imitation of the Magi who gave “gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” ( Mt 2:11) to the Christ Child.Read More
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Most of us have heard the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium 11). What this means, as the Catechism states, is that “the other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.Read More
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As a high school student, I would help our parish priest during the weekdays by opening and closing the church and parish hall for special events. On one occasion, I was asked to open the church for a new group that was coming to our parish called the Charismatic Renewal.Read More
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