My Salesian friend Father Mike Mendl delivered a really good homily today on St. Lawrence. Here’s part of it: Lawrence made a link between what the Church does inside its places of worship and what it does outside; or, in the ideas contained in the collect, between “love” and “practice”; his “faithful service” led to his “glorious martyrdom.” My brothers and sisters, we’re aware of how the Church is being persecuted in our time—Christians taxed, robbed, exiled, beaten, burned, beheaded —in... Read more

We need more news like this:  Many are familiar with “The Vicar of Baghdad,” Canon Andrew White, the head of one of the most prominent relief charities helping thousands of Christians displaced by ISIS, but many don’t know that much of the work White gets credit for is actually carried out by a Muslim woman. Meet Dr. Sarah Ahmed, an Iraqi dentist who for the past few years has devoted her time to traveling all over Iraq to bring clothes,... Read more

From the USCCB website:  The Catholic bishops of the United States are pleased to offer once again to the Catholic faithful Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (en Español), our teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics. This statement represents our guidance for Catholics in the exercise of their rights and duties as participants in our democracy. We urge our pastors, lay and religious faithful, and all people of good will to use this statement to help form their consciences;... Read more

The image here comes from the ridiculously talented Deacon Lawrence Klimecki. I’ve ordered copies of this print to give to deacons as ordination gifts—a classmate of mine saw it and said, “He looks like a super hero!” Indeed. Lawrence Klimecki is a deacon for the Diocese of Sacramento.  Check out his web page here.  And if you’re interested in ordering copies of his work, it’s available through Fine Art America. Meantime: Happy Feast Day! Read more

I received an email yesterday from Deacon Ed Shoener, from the Diocese of Scranton. I met Ed when we were in Rome for the Jubilee for Deacons in May, and he thought I might want to post this item and spread the word. It is the obituary for his daughter, Kathleen: Kathleen “Katie” Marie Shoener, 29, fought bipolar disorder since 2005, but she finally lost the battle on Wednesday to suicide in Lewis Center, Ohio. Katie was born in Scranton and is the... Read more

This story has been making the rounds of social media: In a document that lays down revised foundations for the Catholic Church’s teaching on a host of issues related to family life, Pope Francis reminded married couples that a good marriage is a dynamic process: “Love does not have to be perfect for us to value it,” Pope Francis said in Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), a 200-page “apostolic exhortation” to the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. The document cites... Read more

Really. Here’s something completely different: In another manifestation of Biblical precepts interacting with modern life, a private foundation representing the descendants of King David recently launched a lawsuit presenting a legal claim to ownership of the Temple Mount. While their claim is legally sound and verifiable, it faces significant political hurdles. One of the suit’s beneficiaries, who claims descent from the Davidic Dynasty, is ready for the legal battle but cautiously pragmatic. This story has simple beginnings. In 2004, Dr.... Read more

From The Hollywood Reporter: The team behind Fox’s The Exorcist reboot really did their research. During the development process, the executive producers of the new drama starring Geena Davis reached out to the Catholic church in an effort to hear from real-life exorcists. But it turns out the church wasn’t eager to talk with the producers. “We were kind of met with a stony silence,” executive producer and director Rupert Wyatt revealed at a Television Critics Association summer press tour panel... Read more

I didn’t. Marian apparitions get all the press. But St. Joseph has been popping up, too. From The National Catholic Register: There were apparitions in Itapiranga, Brazil from 1994-1998 in which St. Joseph appeared along with Mary and Jesus. In January 2010, after much study, prayer, reflection, observation and seeing the growth in the faith life of thousands, the local ordinary, Bishop Carillo Gritti declared a Decree of Worship favoring the Itapiranga appearances and in an earlier document called it of... Read more

This just in: As the calendar turned from spring to summer and the political season transitioned from the primaries to the general election campaign, many American churchgoers were hearing at least some discussion of social and political issues from the pulpits at their houses of worship, a new Pew Research Center survey finds. Religious liberty and homosexuality were chief among the issues they were hearing about, with four-in-ten saying they heard from clergy on each of these topics during the... Read more