Evan Bednarz

3 weeks ago | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Evan Bednarz

Isaiah 43:16 – 21Psalm 126:1 – 2, 2 – 3, 4 – 5, 6. Philippians 3:8 – 14John 8:1 – 11This Sunday’s readings reveal how God brings newness of life in desirable as well as disruptive ways. In the reading from Isaiah God puts it beautifully and bluntly, saying: “[S]ee, I am doing something new! Do you not perceive it?” To illustrate, rivers will run through wastelands and deserts will become places of life.

4 weeks ago | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Evan Bednarz

As Christians, we don’t typically view music the way we view activities like recreational sex or drunk driving. While Christian morality warns against fornication and drunkenness, the Bible abounds with favorable references to music. “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all you lands . . . come before him with joyful song,” sings one of many jubilant psalms. David soothes the restless Saul with his harp playing, and angels sing at the birth of Jesus.

2 months ago | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Evan Bednarz

Cosmetic surgery in the United States today is a multibillion-dollar industry—smoothing out wrinkles and plumping up lips is no longer limited to Beverly Hills. With the proliferation of cosmetic alterations and filters for our socials, never have we come to appear so radiant and attractive. Nor, it seems, have we been so tormented by how we look. In 2018–19, approximately 10,000 in the United States died from body image-related disorders, while professional medical care exceeded $4 billion.

Sep 9, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Evan Bednarz

Isaiah 50:5 – 9aPsalms 116:1 – 2, 3 – 4, 5 – 6, 8 – 9James 2:14 – 18Mark 8:27 – 35Discerning God’s will is central to Christian life, and though it’s intended to birth clarity, it seems just as often to be a stumbling block: “Do I follow in the family business or go off on my own?” “If serving the poor in the city is such a good thing, then why am I so restless?”You would figure Peter, of all people, would have a solid grasp of God’s will.

Jul 29, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Evan Bednarz

Ex 16:2-4, 12-15Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54Eph 4:17, 20-24Jn 6:24-35In August 1943, a Frenchwoman lay dying in an English hospital while across the channel in her native Paris, occupying German soldiers sat in cafes drinking coffee. At thirty-four, she was young but probably felt much older: ill and frail since childhood, she suffered from incapacitating migraines throughout her adult life.