I was enjoying a reflection on service and humility, thinking about the life of Kateri Tekawitha, wanting to get back to her shrine in New York. (The pope just announced she will be canonized in And the Associated Press on Twitter sums up the morning in Rome as: Pope Benedict XVI brings 22 cardinals into club to elect his successor amid signs he’s slowing down. Crude and cynical! Back to earth. We can elevate this, too, though. Just ask Fr.... Read more
From Pope Benedict XVI — otherwise known as B16 — at the consistory this morning in Rome: In the Gospel we have just heard proclaimed there is offered a model to imitate and to follow. Against the background of the third prediction of the Passion, death and resurrection of the Son of Man, and in profound contrast to it, is placed the scene of the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, who are still pursuing dreams of glory beside... Read more
I’m watching the consistory in Rome, where my bishop, Timothy Dolan, has just been elevated to cardinal. The Holy Father spoke of service and sacrifice, and the blood red of the cardinals as real blood sacrifice. Pray for them, as they are called to be shepherds and models of integrity. In A People of Hope, now-Cardinal Dolan’s interview book by John Allen, the new cardinal reflects: My years at the North American College were a great boon to my spiritual... Read more
It is always time for Divine Mercy. Read more
In her recent book, Extreme Makeover, Teresa Tomeo talks about her reintroduction to the Catholic faith of her youth. I did an interview with her touching on many of the issues the HHS mandate has brought up in ways clarifying and confusing. And I saved a little of the recatechetical talk for here: How do you recatechize yourself, as you and your husband did? It all begins with Jesus. Truth is a person, as Pope Benedict says, and that person... Read more
I am far from alone in wondering what Fr. Richard John Neuhaus would be writing right about now. He did leave us this to return to, the closing of his final book, American Babylon: As Christians and as Americans, in this our awkward duality of citizenship, we seek to be faithful in a time not of our choosing but of our testing. We resist the hubris of presuming that it is the definitive time and place of historical promise or... Read more
This is a recatechetical moment for some of us, as we fight for religious freedom in America. A good little piece toward that goal. Read more
As we face, day in and out, the struggle for religious freedom, I recommend (re)reading Cardinal Daniel DiNardo’s homily at opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception just last month. First let me paint the picture. You could barely get in the door of the main floor of the basilica. I’ve never seen it so crowded. Young people were everywhere. They watched patiently as, at times, seemingly endless march... Read more
Those of you who find yourself arguing about religious liberty these days in hostile territory might appreciate watching this, the same Fr. Dailey I mentioned earlier, on MSNBC, of all places: Read more
It will not be breaking news to you that there are people out there who are not married and wish they were. There are the widowed, whose hearts are full of the pain of loss. There are those whose marriages fell apart, perhaps on account of betrayal or a deep confusion. And there are young people, not as young as they used to be, who have no immediate prospects for marriage. Emily Stimpson is one of those in the latter... Read more
Kathryn Lopez
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