What a story: He was a homeless veteran only known as John, but thanks to a group of students at Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, he was honored with a funeral. With the help of Lawler and Crosby Funeral Home and Lazarus Ministry, the students planned a memorial service for the veteran, who had no living family members, according to WHDH-TV. Related: Boston HS Students Bury the Dead When No One Else is There To Dr. Peter Folan, the president of... Read more

This swinging rendition of the Andrae Crouch classic never fails to lift my spirits—and don’t we all need that now? Continuing a long tradition for the Sunday before Christ the King, our choir will be singing this for the recessional, pointing the way to the great feast next Sunday, which leads us then into Advent (!) But for me, this song will now and forevermore be associated with the great Msgr. Fursey O’Toole. I remember attending the Mass of Transferal... Read more

Details:  An Irish Catholic priest has called for Christians to stop using the word Christmas because it has been hijacked by “Santa and reindeer”. Father Desmond O’Donnell said Christians of any denomination need to accept Christmas now has no sacred meaning. O’Donnell’s comments follow calls from a rightwing pressure group for a boycott of Greggs bakery in the UK after the company replaced baby Jesus with a sausage roll in a nativity scene. “We’ve lost Christmas, just like we lost... Read more

From UCANews:  Officials in China’s Eastern Jiangxi Province have replaced religious images displayed by Christian families with portraits of the country’s leader Xi Jinping. On Nov. 12, pictures were uploaded to an account on the popular social messaging service WeChat account of Huangjinbu town government, Yugan County, showing officials removing images of the cross and other religious subjects. The message from officials stated that the Christians involved had “recognized their mistakes and decided not to entrust to Jesus but to the (Communist) Party”... Read more

I would add: these are great ways to prepare your son for manhood. From the sublime Jennifer Fitz: We hear a lot of noise about praying for vocations, and sometimes it sounds like we’re all hoping the Vocations Fairy will sprinkle Magic Vocation Dust on our dioceses, causing priests to pop up in the lawn like mushrooms after wet weather. Priests don’t grow in the grass. Priests grow in families. They are born to parents (a subject treated elsewhere, but... Read more

And that’s not all. He also wanted to remind the television audience it was First Friday and to pray for the souls in purgatory. When was the last time you heard a sports figure say that? Check out this video above (h/t Church Pop!) following the November 3 race at the Texas Speedway, where he won the Jag Metals 350. Johnny Sauter has made no secret of his Catholicism: “I think the whole NASCAR family is religious,” says Sauter, who... Read more

This item about Joe Biden wearing a rosary in tribute to his deceased son caused quite a stir—not least, because many view wearing the beads as jewelry to be taboo. Katrina Fernandez addressed this controversy last year: Don’t assume a person wearing a rosary as a necklace is doing so out of disrespect or even ignorance. In fact, a lot of very devout and practicing Catholics of Hispanic heritage wear the rosary in the same way that most of us... Read more

Praise God: Some welcome news from Nigeria, regarding the three kidnapped sisters from the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy. This email was sent to Bishop Gerald Barnes in San Bernardino late this afternoon: Dear Bishop Barnes, Good afternoon! The Regional Superior of the DMMM USA-Canada region just sent an email letting us know the kidnapped sisters have been released. God has answered our prayers. May His great name be praised both now and forever, Amen!! Thank you all for... Read more

Details: Catholic schools will be asked to remove the terms “mother” and “father” from admissions forms, after a government ruling that the terms could be too restrictive. The Catholic Education Service has said that it will be asking schools to comply with a “unified approach” under which admissions forms omit the words. However, bishops will have the final decision over whether to accept the request for schools in the diocese. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator, which settles admissions disputes... Read more

There has been no news out of Nigeria since the DMMM sisters were kidnapped Sunday, but my contact in California forwarded me this email about another incident: The Eucharistic Heart Sisters in Benin City were visited late last night and [in the] early hours this morning by kidnappers. They took three professed sisters and four aspirants. We really have to pray that they will be released in safety and good health alongside our DMMM sisters. Fr. Simon Peter Okanumee, SMMM... Read more