By John Pontifex NEW YORK—Victims of the Easter Sunday Pakistan bomb blast have received a personal message of sympathy from the Pope. Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore described how he was going from bed to bed visiting the wounded in a local hospital when he received a call on his mobile phone from Vatican officials […]
Beside my desk, seashells Show evidence of life outgrowing the old self and discarding hard protective layers that once encompassed vulnerabilities. Praise the Lord! You have risen from the grave condition of mankind and found Yourself, buoyed in the Spirit but anchored in us, Your blessed Body on earth. © 2016, Mary Harwell Sayler
It was my pleasure to introduce my kids to Kimberly Cook’s delightful little book Mami, Mami, Cuando Rezas — the Spanish-language translation of her book Mommy, Mommy, When You Pray. It provided me with the perfect opportunity to make headway on my New Year’s resolution to teach our kids more Spanish! Mami, Mami, Cuando Rezas […]
I spent this past weekend in Montreal, Canada, where despite the expected joie de vivre that Francophone cultures are prone to celebrate, the province of Quebec seems to be spending more time and energy focused on death rather than life. Last year the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the country’s ban on physician assisted suicide […]
Less than a week after it heard the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor, the U.S. Supreme Court took the unusual step of asking for additional information, telling both sides to discuss alternative ways to avoid forcing religious women to provide services against their faith. “This is an excellent development. Clearly the Supreme Court […]
“I’ve been served with a restraining order. I need a lawyer. Will you help me?” I answered the call one evening in 1989. I said yes and, as it turned out, from that point forward I have been active in the pro-life movement. The caller was Chuck Pelletier, founder of the local pro-life center here […]
Miracles from Heaven is a disruptive new God film from the folks who brought us Heaven Is For Real. There are many similarities to the two films. Each film is about a miracle experienced by a child. Each child has an out-of-body encounter with heaven and God, and comes from an already-believing family. Each film […]
Marianna Orlandi, Ph.D also contributed to this article. Holy Week did not deter an open attack sponsored by the government of Finland on the Catholic Church and religious teaching on family and sexuality at an event at the United Nations last week. Finland’s government screened a documentary on an aid worker determined to confront Catholic […]
From Vietnam to ISIS
One of the hardest things for a parent of a child with special needs is getting that child’s (and his or her own) religious needs met. Kathy Labosh, the parent of two children on the autism spectrum, knows first hand how difficult that battle can be, and she set out to do something about it. […]
The serpent’s bite was a deadly one. The venom had worked its way deep into the heart of the entire human race, doing its gruesome work. The anti-venom was unavailable until He appeared. One drop was all that was needed, so potent was this antidote. Yet it was not like Him to be stingy. He […]
And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross (Mark 15:2). And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross to carry behind […]
Within certain media and academic circles the term “progressive” is used to describe policy makers and politicians who promote agendas typically attributed to liberal causes. It’s a curious description that is used to cast a positive light on favored or fashionable ideological perspective. Conservative views are often described with derogatory labels such as right-wing (or even […]
An excerpt from An excerpt from Jesus of Nazareth PART TWO Holy Week From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection by Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI The Dating of the Last Supper The problem of dating Jesus’ Last Supper arises from the contradiction on this point between the Synoptic Gospels, on the one hand, […]
The Scripture readings during the course of Holy Week offer several examples of service. On Holy Thursday, there is the beautiful image of Jesus washing the feet of his apostles (John 13:1-15). Here is the Son of God bending low to remove the dirt from his follower’s feet. He instructs his followers: “Do you realize […]
Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, will soon be upon us, so it is appropriate to reflect on that resurrection and on the one which will be given to us, as Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians. It is an article of faith for us as Catholics that we will […]
The use and the abuse of apology as a political weapon, gambit, or statement has a long and varied history. It often includes a demand for a statement of sorrow and of responsibility, an “act of contrition.” Not a week goes by that some persons, group, institution, political party, or political leader requests (demands) an […]
Without virtues, politics are reduced to tribal emotion and personal greed.
Abortion advocates have attempted to lobby and shame pro-life Latin American countries into legalizing abortion for women who may contract the Zika virus. Although it has not been proven that Zika causes microcephaly and other congenital disabilities, pro-abortion groups have nonetheless assumed that it does. Apparently abortion activists think they know more about ZIKV than […]
Some Like Poetry Some – thus not all. Not even the majority of all but the minority. Not counting schools, where one has to, and the poets themselves, there might be two people per thousand. Like – but one also likes chicken soup with noodles, one likes compliments and the color blue, one likes an […]
The Catholic Church on the Arabian Peninsula has expressed its dismay at the indifference world opinion has shown in response to the nuns murdered in Yemen. In Aden on March 4, 2016, four nuns of the order founded by the Blessed Mother Teresa, whose work involved the care of the elderly and disabled—as well as […]
In When You Suffer: Biblical Keys for Hope and Understanding (Servant Books, 2015), Jeff Cavins tackles the difficult question of why a good God allows us to suffer and what we can do to make that suffering have value in our lives. He defines suffering as anything that makes our life less than ideal, so […]
