Father John Kartje

June 03, 2026

June 14: 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The reviews of Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” have focused almost exclusively on his reflections concerning artificial intelligence. But we should note that the encyclical’s title isn’t “Magnifica Intelligentia Artificialis.”

June 03, 2026

June 7: Corpus Christi

The detention center in Broadview is relatively quiet these days. But last fall it was roiling with the confrontation between protesters and federal agents, while endless convoys of unmarked SUVs with their human cargo rolled in and out of the gates.

May 20, 2026

May 31: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Let’s begin with the “love of God.” When Paul writes “God,” he is referring to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — the “Father” of the Trinity. To speak of the Father’s love is to acknowledge our identity as a beloved daughter or son.

May 20, 2026

May 24: Pentecost

The suppressor of goodness is not evil, it’s fear. Fear of physical pain can instill cowardice and refusal to act on behalf of justice or the protection of the innocent. But fear wears many hats, and it is often “nonviolent fear” — for example, the fear of loss of respect or the exposure of our deepest shames — that can be one of the most powerful motivators in our lives, keeping us from following God’s will for us.

May 06, 2026

May 17: Ascension of the Lord

Doubt. For some, it is a sign of weakness. For others, fear. Still others view doubt as the marker of past failures that forever diminish the possibilities for future success.

May 06, 2026

May 10: Sixth Sunday of Easter

“Why should we baptize our child?” That was one of the first serious questions I was asked as a newly ordained priest. I “knew” the answer, which means that I knew the theology of baptism, captured succinctly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in baptism to be freed from the power of darkness. … The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer baptism shortly after birth” (CCC 1250).

April 22, 2026

May 3: Fifth Sunday of Easter

The motif of a dying and rising god is prevalent throughout the world’s mythologies. Examples are Tammuz (Mesopotamia) and Persephone (Greece), gods whose life and death reflect the cycles of the seasons. You can read more about the “dying god motif” in Joseph Campbell’s classic, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.”

April 22, 2026

April 26: Fourth Sunday of Easter

Perhaps it takes a shepherd with the name of a lion to show what it means to fearlessly lead his sheep, calmly but firmly, without needing to raise his voice or engage in histrionics (be they his own or AI-generated).

April 08, 2026

April 19: Third Sunday of Easter

I’m no songwriter. But if I were, I would write a tune called: “Where Will You Be When the Water Dries?” It would be about all the men, women and children who come into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, dripping wet as they emerge from the baptismal waters, and then what happens to their faith journeys during the days, weeks, months and years after that glorious night.

April 08, 2026

April 12: Second Sunday of Easter

Why did it have to be that way? When we read the Bible, or observe the world around us noticing how various people, places and times are associated with specific events, it is natural to ponder why God had to do things in the way that he did, rather than some other way.
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