In his autobiographical reflections, the French theologian Marc Oraison relates in a thought-provoking manner how he found his way from doctor to priest. In his struggle against sickness and death, he had many successes as a surgeon, he says, but he had come, as well, to realize the limits of medical science and its...
What exactly is ordination? And what is the priesthood it confers? These are questions that were raised again in the disputes of the last few years and for which we must relearn the answer. The Church’s liturgy gives the answer in prayer and meaningful actions, which it outlines beforehand in four questions that inquire...
Is it not presumptuous to suppose that the sprinkling of a little water can have a decisive effect on a person’s whole existence? Or the laying on of hands by the bishop that we call Confirmation? Or the annointing with holy oils by which the Church escorts a sick person on the last journey? ...
