Book Review of Joel Manby’s “Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders” Over the course of my career, I’ve read hundreds of books on leadership. Their frameworks differ, their stories vary, and their applications range across industries. Yet, the best of them share a common thread: whether stated explicitly or not, they are rooted…
Earlier this year, just like every year, the Church celebrated the feast day of St. Thomas the Apostle. Thomas, of course, is especially famous because he refused to believe in Christ’s resurrection until he, personally, saw the risen Lord (and put his fingers into the wounds He had suffered in the crucifixion). Once his requirements…
CMN, Vatican Media—Michael Bublé called meeting Pope Leo XIV on Friday “one of the greatest moments of my life,” adding that as he prepares to headline the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert for the poor, he hopes his example will encourage more people to speak openly about their faith. The Grammy-winning singer, known for his velvety…
CNA—St. John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history with 27 years in his pontificate, and he was the first non-Italian pontiff since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1523. Here are five ways St. Pope John Paul II changed the Catholic Church in lasting ways during the 27 years of his pontificate:…
Book Review: To Weep Like Mary: The Extraordinary Gift of the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, by Wincenty Laszewski As someone deeply familiar with the Marian apparitions at Medjugorje, I was fascinated to discover through this book the lesser-known apparitions in Kibeho, Rwanda (1981-1989), where Our Lady, calling herself “The Mother of the Word”, appeared…
CBJ-Today, October 7th, is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a feast instituted in the 16th century in gratitude for one of the most remarkable, seemingly unlikely turn of events in human history—the Battle of Lepanto. Below please read a recounting of that battle culled from history and highlighting G.K. Chesterton’s poem, Lepanto.…
CNA—Teachers, coaches, and other public and private school leaders said their religious liberty was threatened in American schools at a hearing conducted by President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission on Sept. 29. Speakers said there must be a fight for schools to bring back the “truth” to protect students and religious liberty. Joe Kennedy, a…
CNA—Aug 15, 2025—The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president” Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua on Aug. 12 confiscated the iconic San José Catholic School in Jinotepe, accusing the school of having been a place where “coup-plotters tortured and murdered.” In a statement released by a media outlet aligned with the dictatorship, Murillo said that…
CNA—Pope Leo XIV has appointed Italian Archbishop Filippo Iannone as prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, a department the pope himself once led. The appointment, announced Sept. 26, marks Leo’s first selection of a head of a major Vatican office since his election in May. Leo chose Iannone, a respected Italian canon lawyer and…
CNA-Rome, Italy—The Italian Parliament this week took a major step toward making the Oct. 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi a national holiday. The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Italy’s Parliament, voted to pass the bill on Sept. 23, with 247 votes in favor of the proposal and two against. Eight people…
Technically, AI writing tools are not classified as robots because they aren’t physical things. However, in the following article, I sometimes refer to them as “robots” because it’s the best I can do, for now, to explain my thinking. This is not so much a web tip as a meditation on something we’re all facing…
A few years ago, I sat down on The Mentors Radio with FBI Special Agent Steve Friend, a fellow graduate of the University of Notre Dame, to explore the source of his courage. Corruption vs. long-established FBI protocols At the time, Steve had become a whistleblower after observing deviations from established FBI protocols in how…
CBJ Note: Annunciation Catholic School has been serving South Minneapolis since 1923and is, according to their website, the only International Baccalaureate PYP Catholic school in Minnesota. CNA—After a pair of out-of-state school shootings in 2022 and 2023 shocked the nation, Minnesota’s bishops implored state lawmakers to provide security funding for local nonpublic schools. Now, two…
CBJ: As you read further, you will discover first-hand courage in young children amid a horrific tragedy and the Enduring Power of family faith and prayer, nurtured by good Catholic education… CNN—Before Endre Gunter was taken to emergency surgery to treat a gunshot wound to the stomach, the 13-year-old boy asked a surgeon to pause…
CNA—Pope Leo XIV recalled what the “life and witness” of St. Augustine means for Christians on the day the Catholic Church celebrates his feast day, Aug. 28. “The life and witness of St. Augustine reminds us that each of us has received gifts and talents from God and that our vocation, our fulfillment, and our…
An Important Message from Principal DeBoer and Father Zehren Aug 27, 2025 Dear Annunciation Parish and School Family, We are navigating an impossible situation together at this time. No words can capture what we have gone through, what we are going through, and what we will go through in the coming days and weeks. But…
CNA, ed. CBJ—Most people think of St. Maximilian Kolbe as the heroic martyr who traded places with another prisoner in the Nazi’s horrific Auschwitz prison, resulting in a painful death by starvation, but there is much more of the story to tell. What would give someone the courage to do such a thing? And, why…
A new study found that 2025 graduates of Catholic law schools are not only more focused on ethics, service, and community, but they are also more likely to be practicing law than graduates of secular institutions. The study, commissioned by the St. Mary’s University School of Law and conducted by YouGov, asked a national sample…
Review of The Origins of You: How Breaking Family Patterns Can Liberate the Way We Live and Love, by Vienna Pharaon Vienna Pharaon’s The Origins of You is one of the most eye-opening, compassionate, and transformative books I’ve read in years. It is not just a book about self-help or psychology – it’s a map…
Detroit Catholic/CNA—At the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, the band is getting back together. The band of Christ’s 12 apostles, that is. On Feb. 8, Detroit’s mother church will publicly unveil its long-awaited “Journey with the Saints” project, a permanent installation of 14 “larger than life” statues accompanied by first-class relics of…
