Third Sunday of Easter Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts 2:1-14,22-33; Psalm 16:1-2,5,7-11; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35) Experiencing More Deeply the Transforming Power of the Mass Were not our hearts burning? (Luke 24:32) Great writers have a knack for conveying deep, lasting truths in just a few words. This is the […]
It’s a troubling fact today that many Catholic children don’t know the basics of the faith. Many come to religious instruction in parishes without knowing how to make the Sign of the Cross or recite the Our Father or Hail Mary. Teaching children growing up in a secularized world, catechists and teachers can’t assume that […]
There are few things as toxic as envy. Schadenfreude, envy’s cousin, is close. To envy means to mistrust Jesus. It is to say, in effect, that God has erred in what He has given you, where He has placed you and what He has made you. When I am the object of someone’s envy, I […]
American education is in trouble—that much seems to be a given. Our public schools and colleges are getting poor results, our young people are drowning in debt, new graduates can’t find jobs, and our overall rankings in the world are pretty dismal. We are greatly in need of a transformation, but we need to think […]
A funny thing happened as Msgr. Charles M. Murphy was putting the finishing touches on a manuscript about St. Francis and how he could be a role model for the new evangelization: Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to lead the Catholic Church and took the name of Francis to be his own. While […]
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? (Romans 8:31) This exhortation by Saint Paul vividly expresses the full extent of the love of God the Father and […]
Reporters called one program “x-rated.” Another was dubbed “kindergarten sex ed.” A World Health Organization version led to a spectacular defeat in the European Parliament. UN delegates reject it as an assault on their culture. Comprehensive sexuality education often goes unchallenged – until people discover what it teaches. Now a new paper explains the politics […]
The 21st human chromosome is the smallest of all our chromosomes. It contains a few hundred genes and is only 1% of our total DNA. As most people know, an extra chromosome 21 causes Down Syndrome. What most people did not know, until research published this week, is that tiny chromosome has an effect across […]
When it comes to Divine Worship, there are a lot of misconceptions people have about Catholicism. Sometimes people aren’t necessarily wrong, but the signs of the liturgy are presented as empty clichés. A lot of times this behavior even comes from fellow Catholics. Take the Sign of the Cross. There is probably no prayer more powerful than those words […]
A new graphic novel, Pregnant Butch: Nine Long Months Spent in Drag, chronicles the pregnancy journey of a lesbian named Teek and her partner, Vee. While the novel is fiction, it’s based on the author’s own experience parenting her son. It’s a humorous take on the subject of lesbian pregnancies with one reviewer noting “This […]
In October of the Jubilee Year 2000, a World Mission Congress was held in Rome. Hundreds of missionaries and mission educators from around the world gathered in the Eternal City to celebrate the fundamental call of all Christians: to be the soul in the body of the world. To breathe a spirit of peace and […]
At the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the Octave of Easter and which John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, are the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus. He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to the Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath, the […]
Eric Mahl has always loved a challenge. In his youth, it was the prospect of being the best football player ever. This desire drove him to bench press 450 pounds, earn an NCAA Division I football scholarship and later a place on the Cleveland Browns’ roster. The 30-year-old Ohio native’s challenge now, however, is sharing the […]
In Pope Francis’ General Audience on Wednesday April 24th, he greets everyone with Easter Joy. Pope Francis challenges the crowd with the question the angel asked the women who went to Jesus’ tomb; “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” This question is definitely a challenging question for many because it is something […]
The Supreme Court of the Philippines struck down key provisions of a new contraception law in order to protect human life in the womb, as well as safeguard parental rights and conscience rights for health workers. The Reproductive Health Bill, as it is known, has been in the pipeline for two decades, having failed approval […]
In this Octave of Easter celebration, we contemplate God the Father’s gift to us, His beautiful Son, Jesus, and the gift Jesus gave to us – His life. Consider the abundance of gifts Jesus left behind so that we would know He is still with us. The gift of faith, which moves us to seek […]
This Sunday, Pope Francis will proclaim Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II Saints. He personally chose the date to coincide with Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast inaugurated by John Paul II in 2000. It was on the eve of this feast on April 2, 2005 that John Paul II gave up his spirit […]
Am I to be Silenced? Am I never to sing Your song, my God? Am I to be silenced? Am I never to sing Your song, my God, Like the birds who nest in the tree? Will my voice be taken away, Never to carry a note? Will the song be stilled in my throat, […]
Two popes on the altar. Two other popes—one reigning, one retired—on hand to fête them. Over a million pilgrims descending on Rome: 1,700 chartered buses in from Poland alone; 58 private planes, 5 trains; and a passenger ship from Barcelona. We’ve heard the term “Catholic Lollapalooza” before but, is there any doubt that the canonization […]
Whether it’s through his exhortation “Be Not Afraid!” or the deep insights contained in Theology of the Body, Blessed John Paul II has had an enduring impact on families and fathers. John Paul, who led the Church into the new millennium, will be canonized April 27, along with his predecessor, Pope John XXIII. Over the […]
Proms sure have gotten expensive these days. According to the San Jose Mercury News, high school kids spend nearly $4 billion annually for dresses, accessories, flowers, beauty products, limos and other prom-related items. The average couple spends upward of $1,000 for the one-time event. That got me thinking about my own prom in 1980. I […]
Why does it take a global controversy to alert Catholic Christians to the obvious: The secular world has become increasingly hostile to the good, the true and the beautiful. There’s an uncharitable urge to chuckle whenever someone ‘discovers’ a company, organization or government engaging in some kind of specifically anti-Catholic or generally anti-Christian manner. (Pssst. […]
The average wait to see him was 13 hours. The line was over 3 miles long. Over 150 cardinals concelebrated, 700 archbishops and bishops were present, and 3,000 priests participated. It was the largest gathering of statesmen in human history. It was the first time an Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church had attended a […]
Marriage Ministries recently gave me the opportunity to demo their Catholic Marriage Prep Class AND their Natural Family Planning Class—both of which are available exclusively online. Below is my review. Marriage is easily and often misrepresented in our society today, not necessarily always as something bad, but certainly often as something far short of the glorious elevated […]
