I just came back from Hollywood, where I was privileged to see an advance screening of the new film Heaven Is For Real and meet members of the cast, the director, the producer, and the Burpo family whose real-life story is told on the big screen. If you watch this page in the coming days, I’ll be sharing reflections and reports based on two days of interviews and opportunities. Today, though, I want to mention this: YOU, TOO, CAN GO TO... Read more
Yesterday I spent a lot of time working on an article regarding the baptism of the same-sex couple’s baby, little Umma Blue, in the Cordoba cathedral. My working title was: Cordoba Archbishop Decries Media Distortion Re. Baptism of Lesbians’ Baby I was going to tell you about how the media has misrepresented the story, making it seem as though the Church is abandoning its constant teaching and really “getting with the times.” I wrote about the archbishop’s correction of several... Read more
Things don’t look good for the Canadian nun who was kidnapped early Saturday morning in Cameroon, where she worked as a missionary helping those with HIV and AIDS. Several of my readers have asked whether I had any updates on the status of the victims, since I first posted a prayer request on Saturday morning. Sadly, they’ve not been located, but additional information has now been published by Britain’s Daily Mail. The 80-year-old Canadian nun, who has now been officially... Read more
“Strong and brave young women.” That’s what former U.S. Secretary of State and potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called the members of Pussy Riot, a Russian anarchist punk band whose members have been convicted in Russian courts of “hooliganism” and inciting religious hatred. Clinton posed with two members of the band while in New York for the Women in the World Summit. On Friday, she posted the photo on Twitter, saying, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina served nearly two years... Read more
Dr. Stephen Barrows wants the full attention of his class. That’s why the economics professor at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has a “no cell phone” policy. If students receive a call during class time, he requires them to answer it on speaker phone. All of which provided the perfect set-up for his students to prank him on April Fool’s Day. This will make you chuckle! Read more
The faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus on Sunday, April 6, will receive a special gift from the Holy Father: a “pocket gospel.” Several times in the past, Pope Francis has urged the faithful to carry a pocket-sized book of the Gospels and to read it often, meditating on Jesus’ words and deeds. According to the Vatican Information Service, To help put this suggestion into practice, and communicating a clear message, next Sunday during the Angelus in... Read more
Two Italian priests and an 80-year-old Canadian sister were kidnapped during the night of April 4-5 by armed men in northern Cameroon. The gunmen reportedly ransacked the building where the three were staying before forcibly taking the hostages. The three kidnapping victims were working as missionaries in Cameroon’s Diocese of Maroua, near the border of Nigeria. Italy’s foreign ministry identified the priests, assigned from the Vicenza diocese in northeast Italy. as Father Giampaolo Marta and Father Gianantonio Allegri. The name of the... Read more
Recently I overheard a woman speaking angrily on the way out of church. She was upset that the parish had recently reverted to Latin for the Agnus Dei and the Sanctus. Not the whole Mass, mind you; just those two brief and familiar Latin settings. “Why should we go backward?!” the woman exclaimed. I’ll tell you why: Latin is a universal language. As Catholics, we are not just this small group, this ladies’ altar society, this community of believers. No,... Read more
I am a Catholic writer. I am a Catholic. I am Catholic. I am. And I am happy there, in the Church that Christ built, enjoying the fullness of faith. I am grateful for Christ’s presence on the altar at the Consecration, in the tabernacle all the time, in the Eucharist, in me. I remember that when our youngest son was still in school, he once told me that when he didn’t know why something was right or wrong, he... Read more
The Italian business owner who scaled the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica this week has finally come down, after spending two nights perched precariously atop the basilica, only to spend last night in a jail cell. Marcello Di Finizio was protesting policies of the European Union which may result in closure of his sea-side restaurant in the northeastern Italy town of Trieste. This was the fourth time he had climbed the 138 meters (453 feet) to the top of the... Read more
Seasons of Grace
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