Cuando estaba en la universidad había un estudiante ciego un año debajo de mí. Nunca tuve una clase con él y sólo le hablé una vez, pero todos en la universidad sabían bien quien era. Formaba parte del ministerio de música de la capilla teniendo que memorizar la música y la letra de todas las canciones que preparaban para la Misa. Caminaba por toda la universidad con gran facilidad usando uno de esos característicos bastones blancos utilizados por los ciegos.... Read more
While I was in college there was a blind student one year below me. I never had a class with him, and only spoke with him once, but everyone on campus knew him. He was part of the chapel’s music ministry, having to memorize the words and notes of every song they prepared for Mass. He walked around campus with great ease using one of those distinctive white canes used by the blind. One day after Mass as I walked... Read more
The Catholic Bishops of the United States have started to arrive to a windy and cold Baltimore in anticipation of their annual fall meeting which starts Monday. As per the website of the Bishop’s Conference, the assembly will begin with an address by Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and President of the USCCB and also an address by the Papal Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. The body of bishops will then adjourn to an on-site... Read more
Honduras has the second highest murder rate in the world. There are 63.75 homicides per 100,000 people and most of this violence is concentrated in the city of San Pedro de Sula. Honduras also has the highest incidence of firearm-related deaths in the world. For years, I have heard Hondurans speak of the violence that has overtaken their country. Horror stories of murder, kidnapping, suffering, and loss. Conditions have continued to worsen. Thousands find no other choice other than to... Read more
Hace unos meses tuve la oportunidad de visitar las tumbas de varios de mis antepasados. Enterrados en un cementerio histórico hoy considerado monumento nacional justo fuera de donde antes estaba la muralla de la ciudad de Lima, este cementerio fundado en 1808 es el lugar donde la mayoría de mis antepasados descansan en el Perú. Imponentes mausoleos, ángeles de mármol de Carrara y avenidas de nichos sin fin se unen para crear una ciudad de los muertos que más parece... Read more
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit the graves of several of my ancestors. Buried in what is now a national monument right outside of where the old city wall of Lima once stood, this cemetery founded in 1808 is the resting place for the majority of my ancestors in Peru. Imposing mausoleums, weeping angels made of Carrara marble, and endless niches rising above the ground come together to create an enormous maze in this city of the... Read more
Yesterday, three armed men attacked the house of Cardinal Emeritus Norberto Rivera of Mexico City, killing one security guard at the residence. News sources report that the intent of the armed men may have been robbery and it happened in the middle of the day. The men gained access by pretending to deliver a letter to the Cardinal. Rivera was present in the house at that time but was not hurt, and the armed men got away. The Mexican Bishop’s Conference... Read more
Ten years ago today I quietly processed out of the sacristy of Saint Peter Basilica wearing a white alb into the southern side of the majestic church. As my classmates and I advanced toward the altar on the day of our diaconate ordination, over one thousand people gathered to be part of the momentous occasion. Bishop William Callahan, a past spiritual director of the seminary and at that time auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee, ordained us by calling down the Holy... Read more
“Jesús es radical,” expresó el Papa Francisco durante su homilía esta mañana al canonizar a seis, entre ellos el Papa Pablo VI y Monseñor Oscar Romero. “Él lo da todo y lo pide todo: da un amor total y pide un corazón indiviso… Jesús no se conforma con un porcentaje de amor: no podemos amarlo al veinte, al cincuenta o al sesenta por ciento. O todo o nada.” El Evangelio del joven rico que partió triste después de que Jesús... Read more
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Blessed Miguel Pro, pray for us!
On an early morning a few years ago I walked from my hotel to the Jesuit parish in Mexico City where the remains of Blessed Miguel Pro are buried. Mass had just finished, so I walked up to the silver urn beneath his picture on the right side of the main altar. During my brief visit, I was struck by the courage of this young priest who valiantly defied the persecutors of the Church and willingly died though he knew... Read more