We’ve all heard it before: As long as you believe in Jesus, it doesn’t matter which church you belong to. This commonly-held sentiment makes us feel good, as if we were being friendly and welcoming. It demonstrates a striving for unity, but it is a unity accomplished at the price of truth. Actually, it’s not […]
Coming out of high school in 2012, Joe Burger was not offered a scholarship to Ohio State University. Undeterred, he worked hard at contributing to the team in any way he could. His work has paid off, as he was awarded a scholarship last year. And now the linebacker is a senior captain of the […]
Twenty-four years ago on Halloween, 42-year-old David Arias began a journey to hell. Ouija boards, drugs, assaults and sacrilege were a regular part of his life. After nearly four years of engaging in extraordinary evil in the pursuit of power, Arias had enough and slowly began to turn back to God for salvation. After an […]
We have all heard it, yet most of us would not be able to name it. The term polyphony (from the Greek for “many sounds”) is used to describe music that employs simultaneous yet independent melodies. This can occur in secular or spiritual songs, and the spiritual realm includes both sacred music (typically using a […]
When Nick Foligno’s daughter Milana was born with a congenital heart defect two-and-a-half years ago, he knew he could rely on his Catholic faith for solace and strength. His mother Janis had died four years prior to that — an experience that initially threw him but eventually helped him gain a more positive outlook on […]
Have you ever delighted in listening to an album with beautiful renditions of songs such as What Child Is This and Silent Night, only to be abruptly taken out of your delightful state by a tacky track such as Jingle Bell Rock? So many CDs have wildly varying songs, possibly because of a desire to […]
Parishioners at North American Martyrs Parish in Seattle have friends in high places—in more than one sense. To be sure, St. Isaac Jogues and his missionary brothers intercede for the souls in their namesake’s parish, but parishioners who attend the 8:00 am Mass at Holyrood Cemetery’s mausoleum have an additional friend likely in Heaven, whose […]
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to read The Story of a Soul by Saint Thérése or True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort in their original French? Doing that with new copies was formerly a distant dream or an expensive reality, since there were next to no Catholic books published […]
Until relatively recently, atheism just seemed to me like a phase for confused college students—usually nothing to be taken seriously, only something to be outgrown. However, atheism has become more pernicious in recent years. Aside from those who are going through a phase of “amateur atheism” occasioned by trendiness, myopic biology professors, or tough situations […]
As a two-time NCAA Division I All-American and National Champion high jumper, Bill Thierfelder had long been accustomed to raising the bar in a literal sense. Now, he does so in a metaphorical way by promoting excellence and virtue in every aspect of life. In fact, each light post at Belmont Abbey College is adorned with a […]
Mark Teixeira is widely known as one of the best all-around players in baseball. After being awarded the 2000 Dick Howser Trophy, college baseball’s equivalent of college football’s Heisman Trophy, he was taken in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft in 2001. His professional career includes a World Series championship, two All-Star Game […]
Father Michael Gaitley is quickly becoming known for promoting the Divine Mercy through every means possible. A priest of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, he is director of the Association of Marian Helpers, which assists others in growing spiritually and raises funds for seminarians. He has two best-selling books in print and speaks at […]
Kellen Clemens has been playing football as far back as he can remember. After learning the game from his father on their cattle ranch, he went on to set high-school records for the state of Oregon in passing yards and touchdowns. At the University of Oregon, he set single-season passing records and ended his collegiate […]
If things had gone according to his original plan, Mario Ancic would have been playing tennis at the Olympic Games in London this week. However, his life took a different course than he expected. The 6-foot-5-inch Croatian was riding high at the end of 2006. He was already an Olympic bronze medalist, a Wimbledon semifinalist […]
Students at Boston College who learn solid proofs for the existence of God have an atheist professor to thank. A little over 20 years ago, a history professor at the Jesuit college was advocating atheism in one of his classes. When Jesuit Father Ronald Tacelli, a professor of philosophy, learned of the class, he thought […]
Mike Sweeney’s Catholic Baseball Camp, to be held July 24-26 at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, is not your average baseball camp. In addition to the customary fielding, hitting and base-running, this camp will include daily Mass, confession and praying the Rosary. Participants will learn not only how to become great baseball players, […]
The way Willie Bloomquist sees it, he’s living an impossible dream. Of all the players who try to make it to the major leagues, only a relative few actually get there. Bloomquist is one of those few, but he doesn’t attribute this to his own skills. The 34-year-old Port Orchard, Wash., native says he’s not […]
If you ask Jack Hannahan what he’s thankful for, be prepared to listen for a while. Hannahan, 32, has plenty to appreciate, starting with the realization of his dream of playing in the major leagues. In 2001, he was named Big Ten Player of the Year at the University of Minnesota and was drafted in […]
Dr. Vincent Fortanasce knows the field of medicine as well as anyone. He has studied psychiatry at Yale, neurology at the University of Southern California and orthopedic rehabilitation at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, one of the top rehab centers in the country. He has spent decades treating thousands of patients, including world-class athletes and celebrities. Many […]
Rich Donnelly has a baseball story that is out of this world. Donnelly’s daughter Amy had passed away four years before his trip to the World Series in 1997 with the Florida Marlins, but her presence was felt keenly at the end of the seventh game. The coach has recounted the story to thousands of […]
Contrary to Luther’s misconception (see Part 1 ), humility is in reality wise, while pride is foolish. St Alphonsus tells us that “no fool esteems himself foolish, but his folly consists in being a fool without knowing it.” Luther was so foolish that his own pride appeared to him as wisdom. Luther seemed to go […]
Many people admire Martin Luther (1483-1546) for his defiance of Church authority in the name of religious freedom. The idea is that Luther stood up to overbearing Church leaders who were no more than pagans in disguise. Luther freed us from unlawful intrusion in the area of conscience, which is supposed to be left to […]
What does a man do after reading powerful, potentially life-changing words from a saint? Hopefully he actually changes his life. Additionally, he could slice and dice the words up, put them in a book, and try to get as many other people as possible to read them. That’s what I did after reading the works […]
? Ryan Lefebvre is hopeful that [this] Major League Baseball season[…] will be a winning one — but his hopes extend far beyond the diamond. Lefebvre, the television announcer for the Kansas City Royals, began a broadcasting career during his freshman year at the University of Minnesota in 1992 when he called football games on […]
