Spirit of Mission

The Eucharist is an act of not simply remembering but recalling Jesus, writes Maryknoll Father Joseph Veneroso.

Maryknoll Father Joseph Veneroso reflects on the importance of Scripture in Catholic faith in this Spirit of Mission column.

“Why do you Catholics worship the Virgin Mary?” is a question asked regularly. The answer is simply, “We don’t.”

Father Joe Veneroso proposes as patron of synodality Mary Magdalene, discredited for 2 millennia and restored by Pope Francis as “Apostle to the Apostles.”

Father Joe Veneroso reminds us, it’s Christ’s Church! Overcoming despair, people like Saint Francis and Dorothy Day build the Reign of God.

As Christians, we cannot exist in a vacuum, separated physically, emotionally and spiritually from others, but must search out new, creative ways to express our connection to one another. We are the Body of Christ here and now.

St. Joseph emerges in the Gospels as a man beset by problems, uncertainties and dangers, who, like us, had to live by faith.

The miracle of Christmas is God didn’t just take on our human nature but transformed our chronological time into God’s fullness of time.