The following column was written by The Christophers’ Jerry Costello: This is a story about a wounded Marine, ready to give up on life, and a visiting celebrity who convinced him otherwise—that God still had a job for him to do. It’s a perfect Christopher story, sent my way by a college classmate, and it’s ideal for retelling any time at all. But there’s a special reason for telling it somewhere around the Fourth of July. It reminds us all... Read more
For 25-year-old singer-songwriter Tori Harris, attending a Baptist University was the best thing that ever happened to her Catholic faith. Though she grew up attending Catholic school and seeing her parents as models of the faith, Harris acknowledged during a recent interview on “Christopher Closeup” that she embraced Catholicism more intentionally in college because of the challenging questions posed by her professors. Admitting that she didn’t want to just “blindly believe something,” Tori confronted the rationality of her belief in... Read more
From today’s Associated Press: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Archdiocese of Santa Fe announced Wednesday it is exploring sainthood for an Italian-born nun who challenged Billy the Kid, calmed angry mobs and helped open New Mexico territory hospitals and schools. Archbishop Michael Sheehan said he has received permission from the Vatican to open the “Sainthood Cause” for Sister Blandina Segale, an educator and social worker who worked in Ohio, Colorado and New Mexico. ***** Segale, a nun with the Sisters... Read more
When Jim Ziolkowski got word that several inmates at the maximum security prison Sing Sing wanted to meet with him, he wasn’t sure what to expect. It seems they had all read his Christopher Award-winning book “Walk In Their Shoes: Can One Person Change the World?” about his creation of the nonprofit buildOn, and wanted to discuss it with him. Ziolkowski obliged and found himself locked in a room at the prison with 13 convicted murderers – and no guard.... Read more
During its regular eight season run, “24” never shied away from killing main characters – a story element that, when it’s done right, leaves viewers feeling emotionally devastated. Sometimes it worked, as in the case of Jack Bauer’s wife’s murder at the end of season one. Other times, it felt forced and unnatural, as if the writers were just trying to do something shocking. In my opinion, that was the case in several instances, most obviously when Tony Almeida (Carlos... Read more
Keith Urban has always come across as a genuinely nice guy during his two judging stints on “American Idol.” He also takes his faith seriously, as I covered in my recent blog post “American Idol’s Catholic Judging Panel.” Urban’s sense of compassion was on display again last Friday, but in a much different venue: Monash Children’s Hospital in Australia. Urban and his wife Nicole Kidman visited both patients and staff at the hospital to show emotional and moral support for... Read more
One of this year’s Christopher Awards went to the documentary “Life According to Sam.” It was about Sam Berns, who was born in 1996 with the rapid aging disease progeria, which usually results in death by age 13. When his physician parents, Dr. Scott Berns and Dr. Leslie Gordon, received that diagnosis, they resolved to not give up their son without a fight. They founded the Progeria Research Foundation, through which Dr. Gordon embarked on a research project to discover... Read more
Entrepreneur and education advocate Gary Chartrand wrote a book called “Unreasonable Leadership” a few years ago and, in a sense, that concept is what drew him to the story of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a parish priest killed by Poland’s communist government in 1984 for leading a nonviolent revolution against their oppression. As someone who achieved business success in the grocery industry and philanthropic success through support of Catholic Charities, Wounded Warriors, and his own Chartrand Foundation which focuses on education,... Read more
The following post was written by The Christophers’ Jerry Costello: I remember once, years ago, writing a Christopher column about a nun who made a project of sorts out of Gregory Peck, the actor. She had been on an NBC tour when he was a page and was taken with his voice, and now, a few years later, when he had two or three movie roles behind him, she wrote to tell him she was praying for his success. The... Read more
Nobody can accuse executive producer Martha Williamson of shying away from tough topics in her new Hallmark Channel series “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” That was especially true for last night’s episode, entitled “Dark of Night,” which included story elements about a child conceived during a rape, the quest for revenge, and the possibility of redemption for a hardened criminal. On the verge of death following an accident, Melissa Wheeler writes a letter to her husband Michael explaining that he’s not the... Read more
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