This is the first article in the series “Spiritual Challenges.” Recently there have been various attempts to address the polarization in the Catholic Church in the United States. Last month, Cardinal Pierre gave an address at Loyola University Chicago discussing present problematic views of the Church. The Editors of the National Catholic Register...
A reflection on the readings for Pentecost Sunday It was around this time back in 2013 that I was in the home stretch on the years-long path to my ordination as a deacon. The priests and deacons I spoke with told me that receiving the Sacrament of Holy Orders would be an amazing...
Yet, you have remained faithful to the Successor of Peter. And so it gives me great joy to welcome all of you and to confirm you in the glorious legacy that you have received and which you carry forward. You are obedient, and where obedience is present, there is the Church. Where there...
On Saturday, May 18, the world will witness the most significant sporting event of the last quarter-century when WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and unified WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk meet in the boxing ring to definitively settle, for the first time since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999,...
Today the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released “Listening to the Spirit Who Works in the Faithful People of God,” a new set of norms for discerning alleged supernatural phenomena, such as apparitions, miracles, visions, and other mystical events are claimed to be of divine origin. These norms were approved...
Yesterday, the USCCB and several other Catholic organizations presented a livestreamed dialogue entitled “Civilize It: Unifying a Divided Church.” Hosted by Gloria Purvis, three US bishops participated: Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, and Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville (perhaps in an attempt to represent the left, right,...
The following is the May 13, 2024, homily of Cardinal Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, delivered at the Sanctuary of Fátima in Portugal. Due to the rain, he set aside his prepared text and delivered a spontaneous homily instead. This is an unofficial English translation his words from the original Spanish: We...
I remember an incident that happened at a 5 p.m. Mass, the first time I ever preached at the parish at which I am stationed. It was 2008, the year I was ordained a deacon. Just before the Mass, I went over to the sacristy entrance to look out at the congregation, and...
A reflection on the readings for May 12, 2024 — The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord Today, we are celebrating the feast of the Ascension. With today’s feast we are nearing the conclusion of the Easter season in our liturgical calendar, on Pentecost. Today we contemplate Christ’s Ascension into heaven. We...
No less a concern is moral destitution, which consists in slavery to vice and sin. How much pain is caused in families because one of their members – often a young person – is in thrall to alcohol, drugs, gambling or pornography! How many people no longer see meaning in life or prospects for...
[UPDATED] If Joseph Strickland — the former bishop of Tyler, Texas, who was removed from his post last November by Pope Francis — isn’t a sedevacantist, he certainly has an odd way of expressing it. On his website today, the bishop published “A statement on Sedevacantism,” in which he writes, “I want to make...
“I have a question for you. If someone on the outside appoints a superior for your Carmel, without the knowledge or consent of any of the nuns, how would this go down?” Over the past year, there have been various articles and comments concerning the situation of the Carmelite Monastery in Arlington, Texas....
Popular Posts