What was Spiderman doing at Pope Francis’ Wednesday general audience?
Letting go of our obsession with having the perfect body...
Please permit some musings on the obsession that many of us have with achieving the perfect body ourselves. Let me start by saying (with all the good humor I can summon) that I do not have a perfect body. In fact, I have become increasingly dissatisfied with my appearance over the years as I gain weight, lose hair, and watch the gray eclipse the dark brown of what hair I do have left...
What you need to know: “Eucharistic consistency” fallout, “Catholic awkward,” and episcopal unity...
Today is the feast of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, the martyred bishop of Rochester. While More is well-known — having become the subject of a movie with six Academy Awards, after all — Fisher’s story is also worth knowing. The bishop was executed June 22nd, 1535, on charges of treason which stemmed from his refusal to recognize King Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church in England...
Why be good?
I woke up this morning early (as I always do in the summer) and wondered why on earth I ought to be good. Really. What’s the point? Why would anybody be motivated to be good? I immediately thought of some reasons why we ought to be good and none of them really impressed me and inspired me to be good. So why be good? Here are some reasons...
‘When in Rome’ is the best Catholic conversion movie you’ve never seen...
Computer program reveals surprising shared word etymologies — like “cancer” and “chancellor”...
The Supreme Court’s unanimous Fulton decision is a gift for children and pluralism...
he Supreme Court, in Fulton v. Philadelphia, just ruled against the City of Philadelphia, which had argued that Catholic Social Services (CSS) could not be a partner in helping children in foster care get out of the overburdened foster system and into loving homes.
3 lessons to learn from Our Lord’s peaceful nap in the middle of a storm...
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus commanding the wind and sea during a storm. He rebukes the wind and tells the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” and a great calm settles. His disciples in the boat, in awe at what they’ve witnessed, say to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” It’s a stunning moment for them, but there’s another striking detail contained in this Gospel...
Pope’s Sunday Angelus: “How often do we fixate on our problems rather than bringing them to God?”...
St. Joseph was the “earthly shadow of the Heavenly Father”...
Lead, protect, teach — the three things every good father does...
In 1994, a team of Swiss researchers conducted a study on how faith is transmitted in the family, and their results were surprising. If a father does not go to church — even if the mother is deeply religious — the study showed only one child in 50 will become a regular worshipper. Whether a child will remain a Catholic...
God doesn’t just calm storms. He turns their violence into covenants — and sacraments...
The Gospel and readings for this Sunday, the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, are all about finding faith amid the storms of life. But there is another lesson: God turns violence into sacraments that bring peace. The tale is told with the characteristic novelistic details of Mark’s Gospel.
What it’s like to be an Arab Christian in the Holy Land...
‘American Spartacus’ — On Juneteenth, let’s honor this black Catholic Civil War hero...
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Learn to hear again — starting with nature...
We probably take hearing for granted, as though simply something we can do at will. But what if without realizing it we are actually hard of hearing, or even deaf? Hearing is a wonderful and mysterious thing. One of the five senses, it has the dignity of being a way of taking in or having the world around us...
Outliving myself: On finding I have vascular dementia...
“Jesus and Mary don’t want me”: Learning from the saints in their darkest moments...
Do dogs go to Heaven?
If a dog dies and a kid's really distraught,it's not a bad idea to tell that kid, “If you really need Fido in Heaven to be happy, he'll be there.” Technically, that's not a lie. But here's the thing — you probably won't need Fido in Heaven to be happy, and that's really good news, because he probably won't be there...
Vatican Intervenes in Proposed ‘Anti-Homophobia’ Law in Italy...
The cannon accident that helped Aloysius Gonzaga become a saint...
Being the son of a wealthy and powerful parents in the height of the Renaissance comes with a ton of responsibility. It also comes with a fair amount of privilege. If that family is among the most famous in Europe, everything you do and say makes an impact. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591), better known by his peers as “Luigi,” perhaps didn’t quite understand that dichotomy at an early age.
Pro-abortion Catholic politicians want the Church to leave them alone. Problem is, they will not leave the Church alone... ...
Bishops “warned that such action would portray the bishops as a partisan force during a time of bitter political divisions across the country.” That’s AP’s report on the American Catholic bishops — only a quarter of them — who opposed the creation of a document on the nature of communion, and who can receive it and who shouldn’t.
Go ahead, teach me — I dare you!...
As I scanned the classroom it was obvious that some of my student’s spiritual mindset was not on class participation. This behavioral phenomenon is actually quite typical for a Monday morning class. What’s even more striking is the faces of some of my students that scream; “Go ahead, teach me I dare you!” If you are a teacher at any pedagogical level of instruction you know exactly what I just described...
My soul looks back and wonders how I got over...
Boys Town sent 800 young men to fight in World War II, and 35 made the ultimate sacrifice. Father Flanagan was the only father they ever knew...
The honor no American parent wants is the right to display the Gold Star Service Flag. This distinction is reserved for families of military servicemen who have died in the line of duty and is meant to honor and acknowledge the family’s sacrifice and grief. This somber honor dates back to the First World War when military families displayed service flags featuring a blue star...
Two big tips for young dads in June...
It’s wedding season, and bells are chiming out all over the place. We’ve already RSVP’d for two nuptial celebrations this month, and there’s another in July. Of course, these days it’s just my wife, Nancy, and me slipping into the back pews and sniffling at the vows...
‘Luca’ (Rotten Tomatoes 89%) is burdened by tiresome tropes, but it’s still a sweet film...
Why sharpen a knife (and a bit about how)...
When you teach about Jesus Christ, be urgent...
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