Author: Fr. John Waiss

Fr. John Waiss

Father John Waiss is the pastor of St. Mary of the Angels Church in Chicago, Illinois. He is also a member of Opus Dei, the prelature founded by St. Josemaria Escriva.

Returning to Sunday Obligation

November 17, 2022November 11, 2022 Articles, News and Culture

On the First Sunday of Advent, the dispensation from obligation to attend Mass on Sunday will be lifted in the Archdiocese of Chicago. While many people have returned to regular Sunday Mass attendance—our numbers at St. Mary of the Angels are very close to those of pre-pandemic days—some may still feel vulnerable to be in […]

Our Civic and Political Obligation

November 4, 2022January 25, 2023 Articles, News and Culture

It is lamentable that many good Catholics have withdrawn from politics – even from voting – so as to avoid all the mudslinging and false accusations different parties and candidates use in order to get their results. Yet we can’t abandon the political sphere to the devil and his minions. As St. Josemaría continues telling […]

Pursuing the Political Common Good

October 24, 2022October 24, 2022 Articles, News and Culture

Continuing St. Josemaría’s letter on freedom and public life, the saint addresses politics as something good and noble, serving the common good of society. Because of that, we are all called to chip in with our vote and our support. As St. Josemaría writes: Politics, in the noble sense of the word, is fundamentally a […]

Truth (Holy Intransigence) and Charity (Holy Tolerance)

October 19, 2022October 17, 2022 Articles

The freedom that Christians have in the public realm doesn’t mean we can “check out” or be indifferent to what happens in politics. We need to be involved to have a positive influence on our world. As St. Josemaría writes: In all fields where men and women work, I insist, you also have to be […]

Freedom in Temporal Affairs

October 12, 2022October 10, 2022 Articles, News and Culture

S t. Josemaría, in his recently translated, Collected Letters, vol. 1, makes some important points that can benefit us as we approach another election cycle. A key point he makes is the freedom and independence that Christians in the middle of the world have in the public sphere. This freedom is essential for our mission […]

Responding to Christ’s Word: Credo, I Believe

September 19, 2022September 15, 2022 Articles, Faith and Spirituality

As we saw last week, the Mass allows us to listen to Jesus Christ firsthand, to hear him speak his words to you and me personally as it is sacramentally represented to us through the sacred minister. But his words demand a response. Some respond to Jesus Christ’s preaching by reporting his “scandalous” behavior of […]

Holy Mass: Passover Fulfilled

August 29, 2022August 25, 2022 Articles, Faith and Spirituality

During Holy Week we celebrate the great mysteries of our Faith, the Last Supper, Christ’s Passion and Death, and his Resurrection on Easter. Just as faithful Jews celebrate their Passover Seder, we participate in the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday liturgies, allowing us to accompany our Lord as he fulfills his earthly life […]

Eucharistic Revival: Eucharistic Amazement

August 11, 2022August 10, 2022 Articles, Faith and Spirituality

The Catholic bishops of this great country of ours have begun an important initiative that began on June 19, 2022, the Feast of Corpus Christi: a nationwide Eucharistic Revival. As with any spiritual initiative, it must begin with each one of us, reviving our own love and “amazement” in this Sacrament Most Holy, as Pope […]

The Eucharist: The Sacrament of Trinitarian Love

August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 Articles, Catechesis

We have been covering the Eucharist: the Sacrament of God’s trinitarian love. As Pope Benedict XVI says: “The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman… The first element of Eucharistic faith is the mystery of […]

The Liturgy Reveals the Trinity

July 27, 2022July 25, 2022 Articles, Catechesis, Faith and Spirituality

As humans – with a spiritual soul and a physical body – we can only relate to others through a physical body. We express all our thoughts, desires, intentions, and love through matter, whether by physical touch, physical sounds in speech, writing with ink and paper, or by electronic communication. Even our knowledge and communication […]

The Ruptured Unity Between Body and Being

July 20, 2022July 18, 2022 Articles, Catechesis, News and Culture

At the pinnacle of creation, God created our first parents: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing […]

The Battle for Life Has Just Begun

July 13, 2022July 12, 2022 Articles, Family and Kids, News and Culture

The recent Supreme Court act to overturn their 1973 Roe v. Wade decision is the answer to years of prayer and hard work. While the recent Supreme Court action still allows for abortion, it is just not a right protected by the Constitution. Now it will be up to each state to decide whether and […]

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