Catholic Church

By Fr. George Rutler, Church Militant - It is harder to make silence than noise. Because of modern cacophony, especially in what passes for music in the form of amplified "rock" sounds, young people are growing increasingly deaf. In urban areas, silence is so uncommon that one becomes suspicious of silence, rather like the dog that did not bark in Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" detective story… Satan and his evil spirits are noisy. Jesus told an evil spirit to be silent (Mark 1:25)… Our Lord always was precise. So should we be, in order to hear God. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

By Msgr. Charles Pope - There is a brief line in the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel that simply and completely sums up what we all are doing, even if we’re not aware of it. The setting of the passage is the outskirts of Capernaum in the early morning… The prior day Jesus had healed a great many people at the house of Simon Peter. As the new day dawned there was already a multitude gathered in hopes of seeing this healer. Word must have spread quickly about Jesus… But where was He? The text says that Jesus had slipped away to a deserted place to pray.

By Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D., Catholic Exchange - Flick on the television, turn to the news, and notice how hopeless it all looks. Terrorists kill hundreds and intimidate millions. Governments push their authority as we seem to move towards war… Things did not appear much better in first century Galilee. The king was an irreligious adulterer and a lackey of the hated Romans. Traitorous tax collectors took a big cut of the little money people managed to earn. The Sea of Galilee was really only a moderate sized lake and competition to catch its few fish was stiff. Only two things were (and still are) inevitable: death and taxes.

By Joseph M. Hanneman, Church Militant - "Bishop Ryan raped me!" If anyone thought Daniel L. Ryan's removal from public life would stop the sex scandals surrounding the retired Illinois prelate, they were sadly mistaken. A woman in the 1400 block of Guemes Court on the northwest side of Springfield called 911 after a crying, frantic man came to her door at 6 a.m. stating Ryan raped him… According to the Springfield Police Department incident report, the alleged sexual assault actually occurred several months earlier. The complainant, Timothy R. Hugo, 44, said Bp. Ryan invited him to his home after Hugo called a diocesan helpline.