Bathsheba is sometimes misrepresented as the woman who committed adultery with King David, although from the story in 2 Samuel 11-12 it appears that David either seduced her or even raped her. In the original Hebrew, the phrase in 2 Sam 11:4 makes clear that David was the active subject and Bathsheba was the object of his actions. He sent his messengers to bring Bathsheba to him and then “he went into her,” (the Hebrew euphemism for intercourse). In the original text, there is absolutely no connotation of Bathsheba seducing the king. In those days, a woman who had very little social status and whose husband was an employee of the king could have done little to protest the desires of that all-powerful king, and would…

I consulted the website for the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, and from their list of Catholic schools, I counted 46 whose names are Marian in character. Most of these are schools that were obviously named after Mary, like the many schools that are called Notre Dame (French for “Our Lady”) or that have Mary in the name (like the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas). There are also schools that were named for aspects of Mary’s experience (like Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts or Immaculata University in Immaculata, Pennsylvania) or for geographical places that relate to Mary (such as Lourdes College in Sylvania, Ohio).…

My knee-jerk response to this was no, because that’s what the good sisters told me in Catholic school thirty years ago. But I did a little research, and found that it’s not quite as clear-cut as that.
On the one hand, it makes sense that the sisters told us not to drape rosaries around our necks. The rosary isn’t jewelry; it’s a sacramental, which is an object meant to help bring about spiritual effects through the prayer or devotion it inspires. (Sacramentals don’t have any sort of magic power in and of themselves; the positive graces come through the prayers.) Many people argue that if you wear a rosary around your neck, you are treating it more like a fashion accessory than a sacramental and are thus distorting…

Certainly there are Old Testament passages that portray a harsh God that many of us would find difficult to accept. For example, God smites the Egyptians and indiscriminately strikes down their firstborn in Exodus, or God comes off like a bad parent who threatens punishment to followers in an attempt to coerce good behavior. Contrary to popular belief, though, some sections of the New Testament reflect similarly disturbing images of God. “Fire and brimstone” Christianity is a legacy of Matthew’s gospel in particular, because it is in that gospel that Jesus tells parables that conclude with various offenders being thrown “into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”…

Mary never had the stigmata (miraculous wounds or pain that correspond to the physical suffering of Christ) . She certainly suffered great emotional pain; Simeon said as much during the Presentation of the infant Jesus, when he told Mary that a sword would pierce her soul. I’ve no doubt she watched her son being crucified and probably had an emotional pain so intense that it felt physical, as is often the case when a mom sees her child hurting. But her suffering never manifested itself in the physical wounds that are the mark of the stigmatic.…

Mark’s gospel is sometimes called “the gospel with no Christmas and a shaky Easter” because it tells us nothing about Jesus’ birth, and the oldest manuscripts we have of the gospel ended at 16:8a: The women “fled from the tomb and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Therefore, there is not even an “Easter,” so to speak, in this gospel.
In the original Greek, the last word in verse 16:8 is an unusual word with which to end a sentence, and the sentence certainly would have been an odd way to end the story of Jesus’ life and death. Some have wondered if Mark died before finishing the gospel or if the original ending got torn off the parchment somehow. Scholars overwhelmingly agree that Mk…

We don’t know how old Jesus was historically when he died. Luke’s gospel tells us “Now Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry” (Lk 3:23). This is the only allusion to Jesus’ age in the Bible. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) seem to suggest that Jesus’ public ministry lasted about a year because they recount one time when he went to Jerusalem for an annual festival (Passover). John’s gospel relates that he went to Jerusalem for three annual festivals. Thus it is Luke’s comment that he was about 30 years old added to John’s insinuation that he ministered for three years that give us the tradition that he was 33 years old at the time of his death. We will never prove if he did…

As someone who lost two dear friends on that dreaded day of September 11, 2001, I know how incredibly painful it must be for anyone to consider forgiveness for those who carried out the violent acts of terrorism that day.
Too often, however, we equate forgiveness with being a doormat. That because someone has so drastically wronged us, we often have a default position that states that forgiveness would be naive at best for us in these grave matters because it sends those who harm us a signal that what they did was ok.
Nothing can be further from the truth about forgiveness. Forgiveness is a choice and that choice says that one will no longer allow the hurtful event to continue to effect their actions. One consciously chooses…

Does your workplace have a dress code? If so, remind your employee that when she was hired she agreed to follow it. Review the dress code with her during her performance evaluation or at another appropriate opportunity. If you’re a man, you might ask a trusted female colleague to have this conversation with your employee; she may even be able to make tactful suggestions about wardrobe adaptations. Consider this an opportunity to help your employee learn an important lesson and improve her professional demeanor.
If you don’t have a dress code, this might be the time to institute one. It’s important to keep expectations clear and consistent so that no individual feels targeted; it’s also important that…

In the 3rd edition of the Roman Missal, the Penitential Rite has now become the Penitential Act. In this reconciliatory action, there are a couple of very noticeable changes to the Confiteor (the old and new text of the Confiteor are below). First, instead of saying the phrase, “I have sinned greatly through my own fault,” we will now pray, “I have greatly sinned.” The second change occurs later in the Confiteor when the faithful pray, “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault,” while striking their breast. To some, the revised prayer may appear to focus on our own sinful nature too much. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops reminds us that, although at this point…

No, the Hail Mary is not a part of the Catholic Mass. That said, I have been to a few Masses where the priest inserts a Hail Mary at the end of his homily (this sometimes happens on Mother’s Day or on a Marian feast day). I know of no prohibitions against doing so as long as the Hail Mary does not replace one of the prayers of the Mass. Overall, though, the Hail Mary is prayed more as a private devotion or as part of the praying of the rosary.…

You are correct in noting that our Sunday lectionary cycle revolves around the synoptic gospels of Matthew (year A), Mark (year B) and Luke (year C) yet we don’t have a year dedicated to reading from the gospel of John. The only times we hear accounts from the fourth evangelist are occasionally in the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter, but not during ordinary time (i.e. the majority of weeks during the calendar year when we’re not in one of the particular seasons listed above.)
In general, the synoptic gospels lend themselves more easily to brief, succinct and self-contained readings. John’s Gospel contains significantly fewer healings, miracle stories, and episodic narrative events, replacing…

Regardless of how much you search and how closely you read the text, you won’t find an account of what we know of as the sixth station of the cross, Veronica wiping the face of Jesus, because it isn’t in the Bible. It is one of our Catholic legends that grew up after the Bible was written. The sources of the legend are varied, but it is noted in some medieval texts and includes the detail that after Veronica gave Jesus her veil to wipe his face as he walked to his death on Calvary it bore an imprint of his face. In the 1800s, a Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of St. Peter, reported a vision of Veronica wiping away the spit and mud from Jesus’ face. The name Veronica itself is sometimes said to derive from “Vera Icon” meaning…

Imagine that an opposing team’s player found your team’s playbook and wanted to share it with his teammates. Would that help you to answer your own question? The eighth commandment (do not bear false witness against your neighbor) calls us to respect the truth, and that involves a respect for private information and legitimate secrets. Even though you obtained the playbook by accident (as opposed to, say, by stealing it), it contains confidential information. The other team’s mistake does not give you permission to violate its private material. Consider an analogy to physical (rather than intellectual) property: If you had found a new football belonging to the opposing team, would it be yours to keep?…

In the Mass, the entire gathered assembly celebrates together with the priest (or prayer leader). Since the whole community celebrates together, the term “celebrant” is not the best way to describe the role of the priest in the Mass, because it sets the role of the priest against the role of the rest of the assembly (if we say that the priest is the only celebrant—what about the assembly?) Some liturgical texts use the term “priest-celebrant” which indicates the special role of the priest within the celebrating community. However, the term “presider” best describes the role of the priest in the Mass. A presider is someone who is called forth from the community to be a leader of prayer and to be…

First of all, congratulations on the new job. Second, it’s a bit hard to answer the question as I’m not entirely sure where your discomfort lies. Does it lie in the fact that it felt wrong to pray for success? If so, rest easy. There is nothing wrong with asking for God’s help so you can do a good job at your job. We could probably all use a little divine help in that area.
If your unease lies in the fact that your friend asked you to pray a Hail Mary instead of some other prayer, remember that praying for Mary’s intercession is perfectly in line with Catholic theology. The Catechism says that “Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another” (CCC 2647), which is something that most of us naturally…

Mel Gibson took some “creative license” in his movie, including making the unfortunate connection you mention here.
John’s gospel recounts a story of a woman, unnamed, who is caught in the act of adultery (Jn 7:53-8:11). As she is about to be stoned, Jesus says “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” There is no mention of the woman’s identity, and certainly no evidence to suggest any connection with Mary Magdalene. For some reason, some Christians like Mel Gibson have repeatedly marred Mary Magdalene’s reputation by making this unfair and biblically unwarranted connection.
Contrary to being identified as an adulterer or otherwise sexual sinner, the portrait…

Your coworker’s marital status is actually insignificant – the fact that you describe your behavior as “leering” suggests that it has gone beyond appropriate admiration and become an expression of lust. How can you tell the difference? A good clue would be that you would be embarrassed if your coworker found out what you are doing. In Catholic language, we might say you are showing a lack of chastity, the virtue which seeks to integrate sexuality within the person. You have introduced an inappropriate sexual element to your relationship with your coworker, even if it is unbeknownst to him/her. Rather than encouraging your own healthy integration of your sexuality, your behavior drives a wedge between…

In the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, Pope Piux XII wrote that  Mary, “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”  Thus the Assumption, a long-standing tradition of the Church, was formalized into a dogma of faith.
The wording of this quotation, however, leaves open the question you posed: Did Mary actually die before she was assumed into heaven?   In fact, there is no conclusive answer.  Over the centuries, arguments have been made both for and against the idea that Mary actually died first.
One argument against her death comes out of the Church’s teaching that she was conceived without original sin: if death is…

It takes some detective work to parse out the information about the various Marys mentioned in the gospels. The episode you mention is particularly confusing because there are four different accounts with varied details in each of the four gospels.
Mark and Matthew both mention an unnamed woman who anoints Jesus’ head with either nard or ointment. Luke tells us of an unnamed woman “who was a sinner” who bathed Jesus’ feet with her tears, anointed them with ointment, and dried them with her hair. Then, to add even more confusion, John describes Mary of Bethany, aka Martha’s sister, anointing his feet with nard and wiping them with her hair. Only in John’s gospel is the woman named as Mary of Bethany.
That…