2016-09-30T15:55:02-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

  The Catholic bishops of the United States, at the conclusion of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fall General Assembly in Baltimore, have issued a SPECIAL MESSAGE which takes aim at the policies of President Obama and the current Administration. The statement, which was passed by unanimous vote, concerned the HHS Mandate and the threat which the Mandate poses to religious freedom in this nation.  The statement asserts: Not only does the mandate undermine our ministries’ ability to witness to... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:02-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

By an overwhelming margin, this morning the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz as their next president, replacing outgoing president Cardinal Timothy Dolan.  Archbishop Kurtz received 125 votes; the next candidate, Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, received 25 votes for the office of president, and was subsequently elected Vice President with 147 votes. The slate of ten candidates included Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Cardinal... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:02-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

As the first relief shipments arrive in the typhoon-ravaged Philippines, Pope Francis and the U.S. Bishops have stepped up to help—and your help is needed, too! The first wave of U.S. and Philippine cargo planes have delivered 66 tons of relief supplies; but delivery of supplies to where they’re needed most is difficult because of flooded roads, damaged infrastructure, and throngs of stunned survivors who roam the streets in the port city of Tacloban, faces shielded against the stench of... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:02-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

The Vatican has just announced plans for an unprecedented exhibit:  For the first time ever, to mark the end of the Year of Faith, relics of St. Peter will be put on display for public veneration. The exhibit was announced in L’Osservatore Romano by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.  Archbishop Fisichella said that the veneration of the relics at the Vatican is a fitting way to conclude the Year of Faith November 24. ... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:02-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

I admit it:  I’m a sucker for some good folk music.  And on my short list of favorites is Chicago-based singer-songwriter Michael Smith. As a child, Smith attended Catholic schools (Our Lady of the Valley and Our Lady of Sorrows), and the values-based education he received there colors his writing even today. An example of that: His sentimental ballad, Sister Clarissa. If you are a product of Catholic schools… if you love nuns… if you have a sentimental fondness for the... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:02-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

Here we go again.  In September 2011, NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), which was launched in 1993 to study climate conditions, was falling to earth.  It was expected to be, by NASA’s own admission, “the largest uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere” in more than 30 years. In the excitement, I penned a Prayer for Just in Case a Satellite Lands on Your Head.  It was a pretty smooth prayer, I thought, helping to put one in the proper mindset... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:03-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

Continuing on the theme of “Church leaders are regular people, too”…. I love Bishop Daniel Jenky.  As bishop of Peoria since 2002, he’s been a wise, good-natured leader and an excellent homilist.  He also serves as a Fellow and Trustee of the University of  Notre Dame. Bishop Jenky just posted this amusing picture on Twitter.  “Just 4 fun,” he tweets, “here is a picture of me in a shoot out as I was asked to bless the set for the... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:03-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

Every Wednesday morning in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope greets pilgrims from around the world and offers a papal blessing to throngs gathered to hear his message to the world.  One enduring tradition is that newlywed couples who attend the audience in their wedding attire will be seated in the front row and will receive a special blessing from the Holy Father. At the Wednesday Audience on November 6, one of the newlywed couples were volunteers with the Rainbow Association... Read more

2015-01-16T05:02:22-05:00

Last updated on: January 16, 2015 at 5:02 am   By

Thirty-five years of rainbows and fresh breezes, bouquets and butterflies, sultry kisses on Saturday nights…..  Well, not exactly.  My husband and I dated w-a-y back in high school, and he was my tried-and-true friend through the college years and all along the way. But doesn’t that mean that there weren’t some huge bumps in the road through the years, periods when romance was elusive, when the problems seemed to overwhelm the possibilities, and divorce seemed the easy way. Thank God,... Read more

2016-09-30T15:55:03-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm   By

Pope Francis has said that we should “mess up the Church”–and there are those among the Vatican-watchers who would claim that’s exactly what’s happened in the first eight months of his papacy. “Who am I to judge?” he said, when asked about homosexuality; and several Illinois lawmakers cited his remark in defense of their vote to legalize same-sex marriage in their state. “The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,” he said. “The most important... Read more

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