Understanding Our Church
A Treasury of Arkansas Writers Discussing the Catholic Faith
Official Website of the
Catholic Diocese of Little Rock
Understanding Our Church
Explore this treasury of Arkansas writers discussing the Catholic faith on a wide variety of topics. Find what you're looking for by browsing the whole list or search by keyword or author. All articles have been reviewed for theological accuracy. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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Using Latin helps assembly experience universality of Catholic Church Father James P. West “The use of the Latin language, with due respect to particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin rites.” Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36 “Clearly, Vatican II never envisioned the loss of Latin in the Church’s liturgy, yet that is what happened in so many places.” |
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In Bible, God’s saving Word comes to us in a real and personal way Abbot Jerome Kodell, OSB Since the Second Vatican Council, the lives of many Catholics have been enriched and transformed by their reading, study and meditation of the Bible. |
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How do I know if I have a religious vocation? Sister Kimberly Prohaska, OSB How do I know if I have a religious vocation? Many young people ask this very question; in fact I asked it myself not very long ago. The answer is not something you can find and define in a simple way. It is a mystery. |
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Four evangelists’ symbols came from themes in their Gospels Charles T. Sullivan The word evangelist comes from the Greek meaning, “proclaimer of the Good News.” Certainly Jesus was an evangelist: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. |
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We experience Jesus’ touch through seven sacraments of the Church Deacon John Marschewski Catholics my age or older, for the most part, grew up with the traditional Baltimore Catechism definition of a sacrament. I believe that definition went like this: “A sacrament is an outward (visible) sign instituted by Christ to give grace.” |
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Why Catholic? helps teach us how to explain reason for our hope Father Erik Pohlmeier Catholics around the state have just completed an amazing cycle in their lives of faith: the 40 days of Lenten preparation, the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the welcoming of new souls to the sacraments, and now the expectation of the coming Holy Spirit in Pentecost. |
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It’s a ‘Christian responsibility’ to share the faith Phyllis Rathman One of the most beautiful things about Lent and Easter is the welcoming of people into the Catholic Church. At the Rite of Election, the catechumen and candidates are reminded that they have heard the call of God and have responded to it, but how exactly does God call them? |
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With Jesus, Mary as guides, how are we answering God’s call to serve? Betsy Wiederkehr Huss I recently read the book “Each Little Bird That Sings” by Deborah Wiles, about a family who runs a small, southern town’s funeral home. So, yes, death is mentioned quite a lot and dealt with respectfully and humbly. The family’s motto was “We live to serve.” |
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Success predicted for Why Catholic? program by third week of Lent Dr. Linda Webster I’m going to make a prediction. By the third week of Lent, the Why Catholic? program will be a resounding success throughout the Diocese of Little Rock. Why? The program is such an exciting opportunity to do something positive during Lent; something almost indulgent. Visiting one another. |
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Proclaiming Word of God to benefit listeners requires skillful delivery Abbot Jerome Kodell, OSB There is a difference between reading for others and reading for yourself. If you can read well for the public you can usually read well for yourself. The reverse is not true. You may be able to read with great comprehension privately and be a very poor public reader. |
