An astute observer of Catholicism in post-World War II America, what did author J.F. Powers see in the priesthood and the Eucharist? James Farl Powers (1917-99), an American novelist and short story writer, was born in Jacksonville, Illinois and studied English and philosophy first at Wright Junior College and later at Northwestern University in Chicago. […]

Eucharistic Teachings
Eucharistic Teachings · September / October 2021
Rumer Godden on the Eucharist
Rumer Godden, one of the 20th century’s great literary figures, converted to Catholicism while writing a novel about monastic life of a group of Benedictine Nuns living through the changes of the Second Vatican Council. What eucharistic insights can we gain from her extraordinary work? Rumer Godden (1907-98) was born in Sussex, England but spent […]
Eucharistic Teachings · July / August 2021
From Frogs to Catechesis: The Role of the Imagination in Lifelong Catechesis for Eucharist
How can we use our imaginations to deepen our eucharistic catechesis? Frog Inspiration The Frog Prince was the first of the Brothers Grimm fairy-tales published in 1812. The meaning of the story revolves around an important life-lesson: sometimes what we don’t want is precisely what we need. Under the curse of a witch, the frog […]
Eucharistic Teachings · July / August 2021
Walker Percy on the Eucharist
A medical doctor, novelist, and convert to Catholicism, Walker Percy brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to his literature. How did all of this shape his understanding of the Eucharist? Walker Percy (1916-90), an American philosopher, philologist, and novelist was born in Birmingham, Alabama just before the start of the First World War. His […]
Eucharistic Teachings · May / June 2021
Following the Lead of the Spirit
How can those involved in pastoral ministry and Church leadership manifest the Spirit’s gift of wisdom? A group of young students was sailing from the mainland of Nicaragua to the island of Utila, some 40 miles to the northwest of that Central American nation. The students had never been there and when the trip began, […]
Eucharistic Teachings · May / June 2021
Graham Greene on the Eucharist
What do three powerful stories about the priesthood and the Eucharist reveal about Graham Greene’s sacramental worldview? Graham Greene (1904-91), one of the leading English novelists of his generation, was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, studied at Berkhamsted School, where his father taught and later became headmaster, and went on to graduate from Balliol College, Oxford […]
Eucharistic Teachings · March / April 2021
Ernest Skublics and the Sacraments, ‘In Piam Memoriam’
What is the connection between the sacraments and the Trinity and why is it important? Ernest Skublics (1936-2019), Theologian Ernest Skublics was a very fine liturgical and sacramental theologian. Just a few weeks after his death on April 9, 2019, his final book Plunged into the Trinity: Our Sacramental Becoming, Essays in Sacramental Ecclesiology was […]
Eucharistic Teachings · March / April 2021
Charles Williams on the Eucharist
What might romantic love tell us about the Eucharist and our relationship with God? Charles Williams (1886-1945), a prolific lecturer, poet, playwright, novelist, biographer, literary critic, and lay theologian was born in London and studied at Saint Albans School and University College, London. He joined the staff of Oxford University Press at the age of […]
Eucharistic Teachings · January / February 2021
C. S. Lewis on the Eucharist
How did the beloved author C.S. Lewis understand the mystery of the Eucharist? Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was a British scholar and lay theologian known for his studies in Medieval and Renaissance literature, his popular expositions of the Christian faith, his Perelandra space trilogy, and his famous Narnia tales. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, his […]
Eucharistic Teachings · January / February 2021
The Call to Holiness From Glory to Glory: The Saints Below and the Saints Above
How have Catholic and Methodists grown together in their understanding of holiness and the sacraments? Since January 1967 Methodists and Catholics have been engaged in an international dialogue on various questions which are shared and divide the two Christian communions. After the breakthrough on the question of justification by faith between the Lutheran World Federation […]