Father John Kartje

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.

March 18, 2026

April 5: Resurrection of the Lord

I’ve always been struck by the sharp distinction between funeral Masses and wake services. Unlike a funeral Mass, which follows an established ritual liturgy, wake services have no clear guidelines. Yes, certain set prayers can be said, but the overall feeling is one of fragility and spontaneous, raw emotion.

March 18, 2026

March 29: Palm Sunday

Anticipation. Those readers of a certain age will remember a popular TV commercial for Heinz ketchup that featured a tipped bottle made of glass, of course, and the contents pouring out with agonizing slowness onto a juicy hamburger, with Carly Simon’s pop hit “Anticipation” playing in the background. If you’ve ever used a glass ketchup or mustard bottle, you can easily relate to the frustration of waiting for the contents to ooze out of the opening, as you pound the bottom of the bottle with your palm.

March 18, 2026

March 22: Fifth week of Lent

If you could have been present during any moment depicted in the Bible, when would it be? The instant of creation? The Resurrection? Pentecost?

March 04, 2026

March 15: Fourth Sunday of Lent

First light. That’s a term coined by astronomers to describe the very first image that is captured by a new telescope. Given the complexity of research telescopes in the modern era of astrophysics, these instruments can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Decades in the making, they represent the peak of many scientists’ and engineers’ entire professional careers.
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