Category: Sr. Rosemary’s Reflections

We know the Holy Spirit by many names: ‘Advocate’, as Jesus says in today’s Gospel, ‘Comforter, ‘Helper’, and some of us used to say, “Holy Ghost”.  But a lot of ink has been spilled on another name for the Holy Spirit, that is, ‘Paraclete’, which is from the Greek, and has 2 root words:  para…

How very differently the apostles acted before Jesus’ resurrection than after this great event. In our gospel, Jesus is at the Last Supper with his disciples and he’s preparing them to be his missionary disciples when he is no longer with them. They’re obviously confused and questioning him. He strengthens and encourages them by telling…

There’s a significant pivotal shift going on in our first reading from Acts.  St. Stephen’s death has acted as a catalyst for the spreading of the Gospel and the growth of this new church as far away as Cypress near Greece and Cyrene in North Africa.  Now, not only are Jewish people in Antioch continuing…

The question that the most recent CARA survey at Georgetown, taken in 2023, asked Catholics about what they believe happens during the consecration of the bread and wine during Mass was this: “Do you personally believe that after the Consecration during a Catholic Mass, that Jesus Christ is truly present under the appearance of bread…