Thomas Leiker

Ave, Maris Stella: Mystery and wonder

Devotion to the Blessed Mother of Jesus is something distinct to the Catholic Church. At almost any given time in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe some sort of Marian prayer: the Angelus, the Memorare, Magnificat, Hail Mary, or different...

Which saint's day is it?

On any given weekday in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and throughout the Catholic Church, any number of saints may be honored and celebrated with Mass or prayer service, but commemoration of a saint never replaces the scheduled Sunday...

A parable of life and death

This is not a story that took place in Albuquerque, but rather, halfway around the world. It is not late-breaking news. In fact, it was first told around two thousand years ago, but it is as relevant...

St George: Of myth, history, and fourteen holy helpers, part 2

Lydda, Israel, is home to the church that bears the name of St. George. Even that wasn’t always so, as the church was originally consecrated to “a man of highest distinction,” with no name given...

St George: Of myth, history, and fourteen holy helpers, part 1

Throughout the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and most of the Christian world, April 23 is set aside as the feast day of St. George, a most revered saint, but who was this mysterious man of legend really? I recall...

Mystagogy

Mystagogy is the term for the period usually beginning right after the celebration of the Easter Vigil, during which those who have celebrated Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and/or 1st Communion) through the program known...

The first days with Jesus: the Remembrance

The sixty-something man was recounting the history of more than half a century ago, when he was not only a student at Holy Ghost Catholic School in Albuquerque, but also a very dedicated altar boy. Servers were all...

The first days with Jesus: the rest of the day

If anyone had cornered Simon Peter following the miracle of Pentecost and tried to coerce him into admitting he was friends with the man called Jesus, he would have certainly responded differently than he did on Good Friday; Peter...

The first days with Jesus: they were filled with the Holy Spirit

When asked why he thought the world was experiencing such difficult times, the Dalai Lama responded, that at least for the last century or more, humankind has not acted with truth and spirit. The first live interview of...

The first days with Jesus: Come, O Holy Spirit

In the waning days of the Easter season, Sunday attendance at Mass also begins to deflate in most of the parishes in Albuquerque and throughout the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. It is common in the universal church, as...

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