2016-09-30T16:02:18-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

It’s not a done deal yet, but this sounds promising.  From CNN:  The Syrian government supports a proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control as a way to avert a Western military strike, Syria’s prime minister said Tuesday. The Russian plan “aims to stop the Syrian bloodshed and prevent a war,” Wael Nader Al-Halqi said, according to Syrian state television. Earlier, Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem as saying the country had accepted the... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:18-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

That could be the phrase on a new bumper sticker. But it’s Pope Francis in this morning’s homily:  “Jesus is the Winner who has won over sin and death.” Those were the words of Pope Francis on Tuesday morning during his Homily at morning Mass. He was referring to the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians in which the Saint recommends we walk with Jesus ” because he has won, and we walk with him in his victory “firm... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:18-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

Left, the Rev. Michael A. Perry, pastor of Our Lady of Refuge, sat at the organ with Joseph A. Vitacco III, the mastermind of the restoration. Photo by Bryan Thomas for the New York Times Here’s a great story from the In My Backyard Desk, courtesy the New York Times:  Joseph A. Vitacco III remembers what captivated him when he was a child and his grandmother took him to Mass: not the sight of the priests in their robes, not... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:18-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

A reader sent this my way: a blog post from a parish in South Pasadena, written by a deacon aspirant and his wife, describing the journey toward ordination. From the way this is written, it sounds like she’s being ordained, too: The summer was very active for us; homework assignments, meeting our Deacon journeying couple, Deacon Joe & Lorraine Mirzerski from St. Therese’s parish in Alhambra, and writing our candidacy letters. Jay has written to Archbishop Gomez asking that he... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:19-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

You probably remember this story from June.  Now, an update:  A man accused of shooting and nearly killing his father-in-law during a crowded Father’s Day church service in northern Utah has been ruled competent to stand trial. The Standard-Examiner of Ogden reports a pair of mental health professionals determined 35-year-old Charles “Ricky” Jennings Jr. is mentally stable enough to be on trial. The judge delivered the ruling during a Monday court hearing. Prosecutors say Jennings shot 66-year-old James Evans because... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:19-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

Iowa is granting gun permits to people who are legally blind. Seriously. From  CBS News: Iowa law enforcement officials are debating the wisdom of granting gun permits to blind people. The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa law doesn’t allow sheriffs to deny a permit to carry a gun in public based on physical ability. Some sheriffs have been granting gun permits to people with visual impairments while others have been denying them. Blind people and other Iowans can obtain... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:19-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

From Variety:  Habemus a pope pic. And from Pope Francis’ native Argentina. One of its most international directors, Alejandro Agresti (“The Lake House”) will direct “Historia de un cura” (A Priest’s Tale), a biopic of Jorge Mario Bergoglio from his childhood through to election in March as the head of the Catholic Church. Bergoglio became the first Jesuit pope, the first from the southern hemisphere and the first from North or Latin America. Rodrigo de la Serna, who played memorably opposite Gael Gaecia Bernal... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:19-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

I was otherwise engaged this weekend—attending a family baptism in Virginia. If you missed it, too, pull up a chair, break out the rosary, and just click the PLAY arrow below. And, for added measure, here’s the text of the pope’s homily—which, at the very least, should be required reading: “And God saw that it was good” (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25). The biblical account of the beginning of the history of the world and of humanity speaks to us of... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:19-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

Details:  Children who attend Catholic schools within the Madison diocese won’t be taking any more field trips to a renowned research center because it conducts research using embryonic stem cells. The Madison Catholic Diocese, which announced its decision in a letter Thursday, said the research at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery runs counter to Catholic teachings on the sanctity of human life, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. Any plans to have students visit the center “should be halted immediately, and... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:19-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

A remarkable ministry, with a remarkable story behind it, as reported by USA TODAY:  It wasn’t just one thing that led the Rev. Paul Scaglione to devote so much of his ministry to the terminally and the chronically ill over his 40 years as a Roman Catholic priest. There was his own near-fatal diabetic coma four decades ago. There was the unexplained paralysis of his mother, for whom he cared for many years. There was his confrontation with a deep betrayal he... Read more

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