Arriving in the Philippines last January, Pope Francis warned his millions of listeners to resist “ideological colonization.” This destructive assault on families, the Pope continued, included efforts to “redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.” Africans, above all, know what he […]
It wasn’t until November 2012 that I visited my first art museum. Once before, as a college senior and tourist to Chicago, I attempted to visit the Chicago Art Institute, but the price of admission deterred me as a struggling college student. I have visited several art museums since that initial visit and each has […]
A stumbling block in my conversion process was dealing with the concept of the Holy Trinity–as a Jew, a cornerstone of my minimal religious faith was the Sh’ma Yisrael, that God was One: Sh’ma Yisra’el YHWH Eloheinu YHWH E?ad” Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one. Deut. 6:4-9 The priest who was […]
The Catholic Church is perceived to be anti-science. That perception is completely false, of course. The Church is one of the few institutions left that actually looks at human biology and acknowledges the facts. And I am not just talking about the fact that a new genetically distinct human organism is created when fertilization is […]
I have a memory of the day my grandfather died in 1962. My father came home from the hospital where my grandfather was being treated for what we thought was a relatively minor ailment but he unexpectedly died. I was waiting at my grandfather’s house with other family members when my dad came in the door. In […]
World leaders broke out into applause 27 times during the Pope’s address to the UN General Assembly last week, including when he called for the defense of the “right to life,” and called the family the “primary cell of any social development.” Pro-life and pro-family advocates welcomed the speech as an improvement upon the more […]
How do you pray when you are angry? How can you pray for those who oppose you? When I can’t find my own words, the traditional prayers of our Catholic faith can help. When I was going through my divorce, I had a very difficult time praying. I wasn’t sure of the words to use. […]
Pray with Me: Seven Simple Ways to Pray with Your Children (Ave Maria Press, 2015) is a great gift to Catholic parents everywhere. Grace Mazza Urbanski, the director of Children’s Ministry for the Apostleship of Prayer in the United States, has degrees in English and Theology, and is also the mother of five children. She […]
This pope is neither liberal nor conservative.
As The World Meeting of Families draws to a close, we can all take a moment to pray to one of the meeting’s patron saints, St. Gianna Molla. (The other patron saint, also dear to my heart, is Pope John Paul II.) St. Gianna is easier to relate to than many earlier female saints who […]
Radio talk show hosts make a living on it. Show after show, they bring before our eyes stupid, unjust and wasteful situations in order to incite outrage. We love to listen and get ourselves all worked up. Our indignation keeps us tuned in and raises the show’s ratings. It’s easy to focus on the outrageous […]
Full text of Pope Francis’ address to the Joint Session of the United States Congress: Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends, I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. I would like to […]
Pope Francis’ homily at the Canonization Mass of St. Junípero Serra in Washington. Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again, rejoice! These are striking words, words which impact our lives. Paul tells us to rejoice; he practically orders us to rejoice. This command resonates with the desire we all have for a fulfilling […]
Participation in the global community of nations has always required compromises, sometimes uncomfortable ones. How the United States confronts these issues generally depends on the current ideological temperament holding sway in the Oval Office and among the American people in general. One thing any student of foreign affairs quickly learns is that when it comes […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading Numbers 11:25-2 2nd Reading: James 5:1-6 Responsorial: Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-14 Gospel: Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 Answering God’s Call to Reach Out to Those in Need Whoever is not against us is for us. (Mark 9:40) In the first reading, we see how […]
Meeting with the United States Bishops, Cathedral of Saint Matthew, Washington Dear Brother Bishops, I am pleased that we can meet at this point in the apostolic mission which has brought me to your country. I thank Cardinal Wuerl and Archbishop Kurtz for their kind words in your name. I am very appreciative of your […]
The War Room is a winning film about prayer. A film about prayer? How do you make such a thing? Why would you make such a thing? Who would make such a thing? Obviously, the Kendrick Brothers are at it again (Facing Giants, Fireproof, Courageous). War Room is their best yet. It’s definitely a film […]
Welcome Ceremony The White House, Washington Wednesday, 23 September 2015 Good morning! Mr President, I am deeply grateful for your welcome in the name of all Americans. As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families. I look forward to […]
There is intense discussion currently about changing the U.S. immigration system so that thousands or even millions more people can easily become citizens. Oftentimes underlying this talk is the belief that the U.S. will always be prosperous and poor nations will always be poor, so the only way to help is by letting the poor […]
By Steven Mosher and Jonathan Abbamonte Will the Chinese Communist Party loosen the stranglehold it has had on reproduction since the late seventies? There has been much speculation that the 13 th Five-Year Plan, to be released next month, will significantly relax the well-known One Child Policy. If the regime does back away from its […]
By Marta Petrosillo ROME—“We Christians are determined to stay on in Syria and continue to give our witness.” Grim-faced and speaking with determination, Chaldean Archbishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria, addressed media here today. The archbishop commented on the mass exodus of Syrians, spurred on in recent weeks by the welcome shown by some European […]
Recently a prominent CEO told a mixed group of business leaders that, regardless of their religion, they simply had to read the Bible. Why? Because success in business depends not so much upon understanding financial reports as it does upon understanding people. And when it comes to a book that reveals what makes people tick, […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 2nd Reading: James 3:16–4:3 Responsorial: Psalm 54:3-6, 8 Gospel: Mark 9:30-37 Saying Yes to Jesus and No to Sin “Where do the conflicts among you come from? (James 4:1) Our minds have the capacity to do amazing things. They can […]
