HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In a few hours, 2014 will be a happy memory and we’ll be jotting down our New Years Resolutions for 2015.

I’m not going to tell you that I’m always right–that I always report on the biggest and best Catholic stories on the Internet.

What I will say, though, is that I covered a lot of news–and looking back, I can see which of my reports my readers liked the best.  So just in case you missed it, here’s my “TOP TEN” COUNTDOWN of the biggest stories to appear on Seasons of Grace during 2014:

#10:  SWEDISH MEGACHURCH PASTOR CONVERTED TO CATHOLICISM.  

A Swedish megachurch pastor converted to Catholicism, and I told the story on Seasons of Grace.  If you missed it, you’ll want to know what prompted Ulf Ekman, pastor of the largest megachurch in Sweden, and his wife Birgitta to cross the Tiber and convert to Roman Catholicism.

#9:  NEW YORK TIMES PUBLISHED A FULL-PAGE ANTI-CATHOLIC AD.

The New York Times published a full-page anti-Catholic ad.  The ad, from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, touted Margaret Sanger’s support for birth control and insisted “Dogma should not trump our civil liberties.”  They seemed to think that the “all-male, all-Roman Catholic majority” on the Supreme Court was the source of their trouble.  They didn’t say anything about the rights of those who were murdered in the womb.

#8:  ARCHBISHOP CORDILEONE RESPONDS TO NANCY PELOSI AND OTHER CRITICS OF THE “MARCH FOR MARRIAGE”

Nancy Pelosi demanded that Archbishop Cordileone withdraw from the March for Marriage–and oh my gosh, she actually thought he would?  Instead, he stood firm and issued a public statement.  I reported on it in “Archbishop Cordileone Responds to Nancy Pelosi and Other Critics of the ‘March for Marriage'”.

#7:  BRITTANY MAYNARD WANTS TO LIVE!

Oh, how I hate to be wrong!  For a day, it seemed that Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old cancer sufferer who won the right to take her own life, would decide instead to live as long as God permitted.  I shared my hope in Brittany Maynard Wants to Live!  Let’s Help Her to Live Well.  Alas, Brittany committed suicide shortly thereafter.  We were all disappointed, but we joined in prayer for her eternal soul.

#6:  POPE FRANCIS SENDS A PENTECOSTAL CONFERENCE  “TEARS OF LOVE, SPIRITUAL HUGS”

Could you have imagined that unity could seem so possible?  Pope Francis addressed a Pentecostal conference here in the U.S., sending “tears of love, spiritual hugs.”   It was an ecumenical moment to remember, and of the 28,000 readers, nearly 11,000 shared that post.

#5:  ARCHBISHOP AYMOND’S BOYCOTT:  “WE CANNOT COOPERATE WITH EVIL.”

An American bishop launched an anti-abortion protest of businesses which help in construction of a proposed new Planned Parenthood facility, and you wanted to know more about it.  I told that story in Archbishop Aymond’s Boycott:  “We Cannot Cooperate With Evil.”

#4:  ASSOCIATED PRESS APOLOGIZED FOR ITS COVERAGE OF THE IRISH ORPHANAGE STORY

Were 800 babies really “dumped into a septic tank”?  When the Associated Press apologized for its coverage of the Irish orphanage story, the news reached around the world.  Obviously, everyone wanted to know more about the news agency’s errant reporting; that article was shared nearly 14,000  times.

#3:  BISHOP TONY PALMER, POPE FRANCIS’ FRIEND, DIES IN A MOTORCYCLE CRASH

I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but I had to report when Bishop Tony Palmer, Pope Francis’ friend, died in a motorcycle crash.  Bishop Palmer had been such a force for unity–carrying a personal message from Pope Francis to Kenneth Copeland’s Pentecostal conference.

#2:  MAMMA MIA!  NUN SCORES A HIT ON ITALY’S “THE VOICE”

You remember Sister Cristina Scuccia, the 25-year-old Ursuline Sister of the Holy Family who catapulted to international fame after winning a vocal competition on an Italian television show.  Sister Cristina won hearts (and shocked the judges) with her rendition of Alicia Keys’ “No One.”  I told her story in  MAMMA MIA!  Nun Scores a Hit on Italy’s “The Voice.”

And the TOP-RANKED STORY for all of 2014:

#1:  HEAVEN IS FOR REAL:  SECRETS COLTON BURPO DIDN’T TELL YOU IN THE BOOK OR THE MOVIE

The most popular post of 2014–which has been read by more than 230,000 readers to date and shared more than 131,000 times–was HEAVEN IS FOR REAL:  Secrets Colton Burpo Didn’t Tell You in the Book or the Movie.  I suppose the title sounds like something from the National Enquirer, but it’s actually an honest report of my interview with the young man whose near-death experience was recounted in the movie Heaven Is For Real.  I found the Burpo family–Colton and his parents, Todd and Sonja–to be warm, honest and faithful Christians.  Oh, and Colton has quite a musical talent!

Happy New Year, everyone!  With joyful confidence, let us look forward to God’s grace and His miracles in 2015.