Story by Joe Pisani Every morning, I start my day by praying the daily offering and the Liturgy of the Hours, but then I make a major miscalculation. I leave behind the spiritual realm and jump right into the morning news … and my inner peace is disrupted. It’s the same old stuff, which is [...]
By Father Charles Irvin Great flood of killing has inundated the world in which we precariously live. Killing human beings is as easily justified as eating between meals. Pope John Paul II points out that we live in a culture of death – “we” including people all over the world, not just Americans. War, abortion, [...]
Story by Peter Burak What we look at has the power to change us. Our eyes are like portals to our imagination. Seeing something has a unique ability to stimulate new thoughts, clarify former ideas and significantly alter our perception. To gaze upon the Grand Canyon, the face of a child or, more problematically, images [...]
Archbishop Leonard P. Blair When I was about to be ordained a bishop in 1999, I was required to make a “Profession of Catholic Faith” and an “Oath of Fidelity.” I remember that this took place at a vesper service for the clergy of the diocese. I also remember afterward overhearing one [...]
By Michelle DiFranco A couple of months ago, it all began. Cancellations of large events, followed by cancellations of schools and then … the cancellation of Mass. News of the pandemic was changing every minute for the worst … it was something that, for most of us, felt unreal. I vividly remember one day needing [...]
By Elizabeth Johnson The long, hazy days of summer may be “ordinary” time in the Church year, but the liturgical calendar for July and August reads like an All-Star line-up of the saints, including some heavy hitters like Mary Magdalene, Benedict, and Maximillian Kolbe. Here’s a look at some of the key players on [...]
By Father Dwight Ezop It usually happens sometime during the first week of June each year. I find myself excitedly thinking that summer is finally here and that things will slow down just a little bit around the parish. After all, by then, most of the major parish events of the spring have been [...]
By Michelle DiFranco I love summer, but in Michigan, by mid-August, I’m over the humidity and ready to embrace autumn. That’s right, goodbye air conditioning and hello colorful foliage, pumpkin spice lattes and apple-picking. There is absolutely no reason not to love the fall season! Well, except for one thing … the nights gradually get [...]
Story by Joe Pisani It rarely snows in Rome, and certainly never in August, the hottest month of the year … except once. According to a pious legend, which inspired one of the oldest devotions to Our Lady, a patrician Roman couple had no heirs so they prayed to the Blessed Mother and designated her [...]
By Dr. Cathleen McGreal Q: It’s summer and my kids are out of school. I remember the lazy days of summer in my childhood, but these days, it seems as if everyone’s kids are at camps or summer enrichment opportunities. Should I be structuring my kids’ vacation more? How much is too much? A: As summer [...]