A beautiful account of one community of faith, keeping the faith, via The Washington Post:  Carmen Ortiz and her family live nearest to Our Lady of Monte Carmelo, and they worked for a week to dig it out from the mud and clean the pews. On the first Mass after the Sept. 20 storm, the church opened and the Ortiz family — the four of them — were the only ones who could make it. Ortiz sought solace in Father Rafael Rodriguez,... Read more

This Gospel parable touches on a number of important themes. Perhaps most significantly, in the final chapters of Matthew, it has Jesus foretelling his own death, as the son of the vineyard owner, and reminding his disciples of what is at stake. But this Sunday, it speaks to us with a particular urgency and immediacy. It strikes close to home. For we are a people who have known violence in the vineyard. The leaves are stained with blood and tears.... Read more

The Russian Orthodox Church has already declared them martyrs for the faith, releasing the short video above. The story:  Two Russian mercenaries reportedly captured by ISIS jihadists are feared to have been executed because they refused to read out a statement saying they rejected their Christian faith and had become Muslim. Roman Zabolotny, 39, and Grigory Tsurkanu, 38, held in Syria, also refused to say on camera that they had joined the terrorist group. The men are believed to have been fighting for a private... Read more

From CNN:  In a blow to Obamacare’s controversial contraceptive mandate, employers may now have more leeway to withhold birth control coverage on religious grounds, according to new rules issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services on Friday. The rules would let a broad range of employers — including nonprofits, private firms and publicly traded companies — stop offering free contraceptives through their health insurance plans if they have a “sincerely held religious or moral objection,” senior agency... Read more

Details:  A steady decline in the number of Catholic priests is pushing the Diocese of London to group parishes together beginning next year. Three years ago Bishop Ronald Fabbro called a task force to investigate how other dioceses in Canada and the United States proposed to deal with the shortage of priests. A new model called the Family of Parishes where three to five parishes are grouped together is expected to begin in early 2018. Unlike parishes that have been... Read more

“That” is the Diocese of Orange in California. The Los Angeles Times explains: On any given Sunday, the Garden Grove campus of Christ Cathedral — a postmodern glass structure accompanied by an 18-story stainless steel steeple that serves as the hub of Catholic life in Orange County — is a flurry of different languages. A 6:15 a.m. Mass in Vietnamese is followed by a 7:45 a.m. Mass in Spanish, then ones in English, Chinese and Spanish again — and on throughout the... Read more

If nothing else, he appears to be the most popular name on the list. Details on top contenders, from TIME magazine: Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Syrian White Helmets and the architects of the Iran nuclear deal are among the oddsmakers’ favorites to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which is due to be announced on Friday. The award is given annually to a person or people who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity... Read more

Actually, it may be the burial spot of St. Nicholas—more popularly recognized as “Santa Claus.” Details: Turkish archaeologists have dashed the hopes of millions of children by claiming to have uncovered the likely burial place of Saint Nicholas. Surveys have uncovered an intact temple and burial grounds below St Nicholas church in the province of Antalya, where he is believed to have been born, archaeologists told the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. “We have obtained very good results but the real work... Read more

Here’s an interesting posting from the Dallas Morning News, from Father Joshua Whitfield— a priest who agreed to answer a series of questions posed on Reddit from a wide array of readers. It’s an unusual experiment, and it got some intriguing questions. Snip: Hello Father! Practicing Catholic here. How do you deal with those who hold being a Republican above being Catholic? I have friends who will seemingly idolize Trump while calling Pope Francis a “liberal hippie” who shouldn’t be... Read more

I’m seeing more deacons involved in this sort of preparation—and I think the cardinal makes a compelling point. From CNS:  Marriage ministry needs to be done by married couples because priests have “no credibility in this area,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, told a church gathering. Delivering the keynote address to 500 delegates from the Diocese of Down and Connor at the Faith and Life convention in Belfast September 30, Farrell discussed Pope... Read more