Cursed be anyone who deprives the resident alien, the orphan or the widow of justice!” And all the people shall answer, “Amen!” ~Deuteronomy 27:19 You shall not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When testifying in a lawsuit, you shall not follow the crowd in perverting justice. ~Exodus 23:2 You shall keep away...
Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time “If there are ten righteous people, I will not destroy it.” Abraham intercedes for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He is told that yes, if there are ten righteous people to be found there, the two cities would not be destroyed. So, let’s extend...
Is Pope Leo XIV really “correcting” Pope Francis on synodality—or simply echoing the same vision? In this video, Pedro Gabriel unpacks Dr. Jeff Mirus’s recent article praising Leo’s “true synodality” and shows how, in fact, Francis has always placed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the “journeying together” as a Church at the...
A very brief post, but all the more significant for that: Last night in Komanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an all-night Eucharistic liturgy was interrupted by men armed with guns and machetes, believed to have been members of the so-called Allied Democratic Front, a branch of Islamic State (formerly known...
Let me paint a picture. One day, Jesus was praying. Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1). What place did he choose to pray? What would have been his posture? How did he pray?...
Catholic social media has been abuzz in recent days over the news that three professors at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit were dismissed from the faculty by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger. Eduardo Echeverria, Ralph Martin, and Ed Peters — each of whom had taught at the seminary for over two decades — were outspoken...
[Migrants and refugees’] courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes. Here too we can find a clear analogy with the experience of the people of Israel wandering in the...
James D. Conley, the Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, is in many respects a pretty typical example of the conservative-to-traditionalist flank of the American episcopate. He was critical of the Obama administration in its day; he inherited his see from the hyperconservative Fabian Bruskewitz and although he hasn’t continued some of Bruskewitz’s most toxic...
Chris Jackson at the Substack Hiraeth in Exile has generated some controversy recently with a number of hot takes on Pope Leo; I’m focusing here on one in particular, because it epitomizes a way of understanding the Church and the world. I’ve noticed Jackson’s work before; I truly admire the mastery with which it articulates a...
What if just a few pages could reveal everything about the near future of the Catholic Church? In today’s video, Pedro Gabriel explores why Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical—currently being drafted at Castel Gandolfo—might be the defining document of his pontificate. From his papal name and motto to the historical significance of first...
In the Gospel of Luke, today’s story of Martha and Mary is bracketed by the parable of the Good Samaritan that we heard last week and the beginning of chapter 11 that we’ll hear next week, which opens with the disciples asking Jesus how to pray and him teaching them the Lord’s prayer....
As Pope Leo XIV wraps up his two-week vacation at Castel Gandolfo, Catholic commentators have continued to speculate on and debate his views and priorities. They are prognosticating on the kind of pope he will be and on the decisions he will make in the years ahead. A little more than two months...
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