This is superb: an excerpt from the commencement speech delivered recently by motivational speaker Rick Rigsby.  This speech was delivered at California State University’s Maritime Academy in October: Raised by a humble man, Rigsby said that his father also taught him a thing or two about pride and ego. Giving the example of champion UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who was known to grab a broom from the closet and sweep the gym floor himself after practices, he explained that... Read more

This week, my parish kicks off Advent with this seasonal perennial. It’s our entrance hymn for this Sunday. Judging from the evidence on YouTube, a lot of parishes have this in their repertoire and will likely be singing this over the next four weeks. It is actually a French hymn, written by Simon Joseph Pellegrin over 400 years ago: He was born at Marseille, the son of a conseiller to the Siège Présidial of the city. He was at first... Read more

You may remember the reports about this church and its parish community from a few months back. This video showed the devastation: Now, an update: After being completely flooded by Hurricane Harvey, St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church is putting the finishing touches on a temporary church to finally resume services after being away for nearly three months. A crew was working power the building located on the church’s front lawn, which is adding five air conditioning and heating units, speaker... Read more

From the CBC in Canada: Angèle Regnier says travelling the country with the 465-year-old severed right forearm of St. Francis Xavier will be “like doing a road trip with a friend.” “I mean, I know it’s bones, but connected to that is a living friendship with St. Francis Xavier,” Regnier, the co-founder of Ottawa’s Catholic Christian Outreach, told As It Happens guest host Helen Mann. “I’m sure there’ll be a lot of interesting conversations as we go around.” Regnier will accompany the sacred Catholic relic from Rome to Ottawa... Read more

It has an impressive lineup of talent behind it, including Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus and Rooney Mara as the saint in the title. A description:  Set in the Holy Land in the first century C.E., a young woman leaves her small fishing village and traditional family behind to join a radical new social movement. At its head is a charismatic leader, Jesus of Nazareth, who promises that the world is changing. Mary is searching for a new way of living,... Read more

It happened last night, after Moore challenged him in a tweet: “If you want to mock our Christian values, come down here to Alabama and do it man to man.” Kimmel responded in his monologue: “It doesn’t fit your stereotype, but I happen to be a Christian too. I made my first holy communion, I was confirmed, I pray, I support my church, one of my closest friends is a priest, I baptized my children. Christian is actually my middle... Read more

That’s the great advice of Simcha Fisher: On Sunday, our beloved pastor told a version of the story he often tells: He had already been through college, already had his own successful business, already owned his own home, and was fairly content with his life — until someone said to him, “Hey, have you ever thought of becoming a priest?” He hadn’t. But after that, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Eventually he joined the seminary (and found himself by... Read more

It’s said to be the first center of its kind on Long Island, and attracting women from all over the East Coast for treatment. The video here explains some of what they do. From the website: Our highly skilled team is delighted to offer an exciting approach to women’s health care. We provide preventive and specialized obstetrical and gynecologic care to women, honoring their dignity and the sanctity of human life. While we are successfully able to address male infertility... Read more

You’ll remember that a wave of kidnappings hit Catholic religious in Nigeria earlier this month. Now, the latest news comes in a letter from the Conference of Major Superiors in Nigeria: The issue of kidnapping is one of the country’s biggest challenges. Nigeria faces problems in education, unemployment and corruption, but kidnapping has drawn the attention of both Nigerians and international organizations. However, of more concern is the rate at which priests and consecrated persons are kidnapped in the country... Read more

National Geographic has the scoop: Over the centuries, Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre has suffered violent attacks, fires, and earthquakes. It was totally destroyed in 1009 and subsequently rebuilt, leading modern scholars to question whether it could possibly be the site identified as the burial place of Christ by a delegation sent from Rome some 17 centuries ago. Now the results of scientific tests provided to National Geographic appear to confirm that the remains of a limestone cave enshrined... Read more