Pope Francis welcomed actress and activist Whoopi Goldberg to a private audience recently, and he told her she was “really important.” I used to have a really hard time with news stories like this one. The pre-COVID, self-righteous version of...
Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, C’est la confiance (“It is confidence”), discusses at length an aspect of Theresian spirituality that is widely known but not widely examined. Thérèse is an enormously appealing saint, with there being...
In reading some articles presently published on Catholic websites, one might get the impression that the story of Cain and Abel is an apt parable for the state of the Catholic Church, especially in the United States. Who is to...
I just finished reading Pope Francis’s new exhortation, C’est la confiance, which was released earlier today and focuses on the life and message of St. Therese of Lisieux. I found it so rich and inspiring that I think as soon...
Have you ever felt so let down by God that you considered abstaining from the Eucharist as a form of protest, as a way of telling Him, “Fix this!” “Change them!” “Do something!”? I never thought I would get to...
It has been a very busy week in the Church. Noteworthy events include the consistory creating 21 new cardinals on Saturday, September 30; the publication on Monday of two sets of dubia by Cardinal Raymond Burke and four other cardinals on...
Earlier today, a dedication ceremony was held for a new Memorial Monument in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, at the gravesite of Dred Scott. Scott was an enslaved man who is best known for his role as the plaintiff in...
Today Pope Francis met with members of the Brazilian organization Família da Esperança, which cares for people in desperate situations like drug addiction and HIV/AIDS. His address to them can be read on the Vatican website. It touches on familiar...
We spend most of our lives hiding behind our true selves. It’s pitiful, honestly. I’m nearly 50 years old and I still spend much of my time worried about what others will think. Does it really matter? A few years...
I began this series “Union and Communion” with the consideration of the increasing isolation that people experience, especially in our country. I then looked at the Biblical account of Mary’s Annunciation and of Adam and Eve, and found that isolation...
September 11 evokes painful memories for so many, and anyone who was old enough to remember that fateful day can recall exactly where they were when the horrific terrorist attacks occurred. One of the most powerful examples of a self-sacrificing...
As St. Augustine, whose feast day the Church observed yesterday, famously said, “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.” From the very moment we begin to freely choose ourselves, sin, and the world...
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