Don’t ask God to be “fair” — ask that He be merciful. Because if He were fair, we’d all be in Hell right now...
What Jesus teaches in this Sunday’s Gospel is one of those parables that rock our world and challenge our worldly way of thinking. Frankly, that is one of its purposes. We are tempted to side with the laborers who worked the longest, thinking that their being paid the same amount as those who worked only for an hour is unfair. Think very carefully before asking God to be “fair.” What we really should ask of God is that He be merciful, for if He were fair, we’d all be in Hell right now...
How an extraordinary healing led to the creation of The National Centre for Padre Pio...
Brain scans of coffee drinkers show its effects go beyond caffeine...
Tyler Bishop Joseph Strickland: ‘No Communication From Rome’ Yet Following Apostolic Visitation...
This Sunday, No Matter How You Hyphenate ‘Catholic’, Jesus Says: Get to Work!...
We are used to focusing on the pay rate in the famous Parable of the Landowners which Jesus tells on the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. That makes sense. But it might be more fruitful to focus on the laborers, the work, and the land-owner. First the laborers: Who are they, and why are they angry? The parable goes like this: A landowner hires laborers throughout the day — some work since morning, some since noon, and others only since late afternoon. But the landowner pays them all the same one-day wage. The all-day workers grumble...
UK police apologize to Catholic woman six months after arrest for silent prayer...
Happy Tolkien Week — and Happy Hobbit Day!...
In the month of September, we mark the 50th anniversary of the passing of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, J.R.R. Tolkien, and we celebrate this week both Hobbit Day and Tolkien Week. This week on Register Radio we talk to author and Tolkien expert Joseph Pearce about the legacy of the devoutly Catholic scholar and his masterwork, ‘The Lord of the Rings.’
Experts Warn: ‘Destruction’ of 120,000 Armenian Christians in Nagorno-Karabakh Is Imminent...
It may seem like everything’s in shambles, but why beat your head against a wall? Eyes front! Eyes on Christ...
To read the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament is to be frustrated by both Kind David and, I suspect, ourselves. In David, we have a man who was generally prompt to accept God’s will and to do his best to follow God’s direction. Even when he sinned—as he did egregiously in the matter of Bathsheba and her husband Uriah—he recognized his guilt when rebuked by Nathan the prophet, and immediately admitted: “I have sinned against the Lord.” And after Nathan had announced that God’s punishment would be the sickness and death of the son born of his adultery, David sought to avert this punishment through constant prayer and fasting for the baby.
A new age of Catholic apostolic entrepreneurs...
Twice as many people die of drug overdoses in the USA than car crashes - with more than 100,000 people a year who die from overdoses, mainly driven by the growth of opioid addictions. It is expected that in the next 10 years, that number will be cut in half! How? Because the Catholic apostolates (including Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul chapters, and Catholic healthcare systems) have banded together to lead the way in making a change in treating addiction, mental health resources, broken families, poverty, and homelessness. Amazing isn't it??!!
What if human fatherhood is but a manifestation of a deeper fatherhood?
There are important analogies between a father in a family and a ruler in a nation. This is perhaps especially clear in the consequences of their failure. Aquinas writes that “royal dignity is rendered hateful to many people on account of the wickedness of tyrants.” This provides a key angle into how we think about fatherhood. Apart from philosophical considerations on kingship itself, the common estimation of kings suffered mightily from tyrants—those great abusers of the royal office...
Thanks be to God for souls such as Joan Andrews Bell, calling us to more...
Joan Andrews Bell was sitting in a jail cell when former president Donald Trump was interviewed on “Meet the Press.” He talked about how upon reelection he would do something that has never happened: He would negotiate peace among Democrats and Republicans on abortion. He talked about, without naming it, some magic number that could be reached that would settle things. Trump needs to meet Joan Bell. As I write, Bell, in her 70s, is in prison because of the pro-life rescue work she does...
A saint's blood, a bishop-prince, and Pius XII...
Blood of St. Januarius ‘Completely Liquefies’ on Feast Day in Naples...
Feminism: America’s Best Frienemy...
For decades, Roe v. Wade stood as the legal Goliath against which pro-lifers battled. Few of us believed that we would see the end of its grip on America. And then it was overturned. We rejoiced and still rejoice at the end of Roe’s legal stranglehold on our great country. But its removal has uncovered something not everyone anticipated. The cultural underbelly of our nation has been revealed, and it isn’t pretty.
Controversial Mercy in the Vineyard...
The landowner in Jesus’ parable recruits workers throughout the day. He goes to the marketplace at dawn, at nine, at noon, at three, and at five, hiring laborers each time and sending them to work in his vineyard. At the end of the day, he pays his longest laborers one silver denarius coin (the wage to which they had previously agreed), but he surprisingly also pays even his briefest employees the same amount. When some grumble at this, the boss replies...
Getting better, the Rupnik implication, and something in the air...
The Vatican announced yesterday that two bishops from mainland China will be attending next month’s synod on synodality. Bishop Anthony Yao Shun and Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang were listed as papal nominees on an updated list of synod delegates published Sept. 21, and the Holy See confirmed, drawn from a list of Communist Party-approved possible attendees. The temptation here is to view the bishops as likely shills for the CCP and in the pocket of Beijing...
55 of the Best Fall Towns in the U.S. for Foliage...
The Blessed Ulma Family and our Catholic moment...
It’s a rare occasion when the word “unprecedented” can be used for a Church whose history extends over two millennia. Yet something unprecedented happened in the Polish village of Markowa on September 10, when an entire family, including their unborn child, was beatified. It seems not quite right to refer to the new blesseds by the traditional formula, “Blessed Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and Companions,” the “companions” in question being the Ulmas’ six living children and their unborn child. Let’s instead think about the Blessed Ulma Family and what they might mean for us.
Saints Have Died to Defend Christ’s Teaching on Marriage — Why Don’t We?
There’s a good reason why Americans (and only Americans) refer to autumn as “fall”...
Are Sunday Masses just too long?
In our preparation for the Synod, here in the Archdiocese of New York, close to 7,000 people accepted our invitation to attend listening sessions or respond online to issues of concern in the life of the Church today. One question I always posed was, “How can we get people back to Sunday Mass? Why have so many of our folks stopped coming?” I was amazed at the high interest this generated. At first, I was prone to dismiss this. But, after reconsidering...
Jesus says we should forgive one another 77 times, but we need not lose our sense of irony and humor...
In high levels of government, an elderly man dresses like a woman. He looks like a comical character out of Vaudeville or a Monty Python skit, but he’s unashamed. We also have young men who wear women’s swimsuits and easily win female swimming competitions. During the years of the Soviet empire and rigged Olympics, we laughed at comedian Yakov Smirnoff’s joke: “In Russia, if a male athlete loses, he becomes a female athlete.” Today, nobody laughs. Why not?
How to find any file on your Mac or Windows computer...
High school football team sings the “Ave Maria” after every game, honoring Our Lady in viral video...
One Catholic high school football team in California went viral after sharing how they honor the Blessed Mother after each game. Saint Joseph Academy High School Football Team in San Marcos, Calif. kneels while singing the Ave Maria after every football game. The school recently published the video on YouTube, which quickly gained traction throughout other social media networks. In another video, team captains Isaac and Andrew explain why they sing the Ave Maria after games...
Donald Trump calls 6-week abortion ban a “terrible thing and a terrible mistake”...
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