Like everyone who lived through September 11, 2001, we remember the shock, the fear and the uncertainty of that day. But for our family, 9/11 became very personal. At the time, my wife Patty was a flight attendant for United Airlines. With only a few years of seniority, she often served as a fill-in crew…
Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people, including 438 firefighters, we remember in prayer those who lost their lives, those who lived through the hell of those days in New York City, and those fighting on the front lines to defend the…
On September 10, 2001, First Officer Steve Scheibner packed his suitcase and waited for the call confirming his assignment to fly American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. The call never came…. Only much later did he realize the fate of that first plane to reach the World Trade Center would have been…
Here’s a short list of a few, off-the-mainstream, insider stories from the horrific — truly horrific — fires that even now continue to burn in Los Angeles and southern California. Singing in the Ashes Peter and Jackie Halpin, a Catholic couple who lost their Altadena home of more than 30 years to the Eaton Fire,…
And just like that, Israel and Hamas agree on a ceasefire agreement…a week before a new U.S. President is sworn in. The SAME ceasefire agreement that was rejected just a few months earlier! It is interesting what can be achieved when there is clear leadership, and when other countries know clearly what they can (and…
VM/CNA—Pope Francis kicked off the first Saturday jubilee audience of 2025 by urging pilgrims to embrace hope as a divine strength that enables new beginnings, drawing inspiration from St. John the Baptist. Speaking to pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s audience hall on Jan. 11, the pontiff emphasized that hope is not merely a character trait…
Crisis—Our Lady of Guadalupe was there at Lepanto, hearkening to the Rosary recited by the soldiers processing round the decks, her quiet, pregnant power blazing at that apocalyptic battle with all the splendor of the star-crowned Woman of Revelation. Most Catholics wouldn’t consider the motherly image of Our Lady of Guadalupe a martial image. The…
CNA—The bells of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris rang for the first time since April 2019, when a devastating fire broke out in the spire and roof of the historic French church. Notre-Dame of Paris passed the major milestone today at about 10:30 a.m., just one month away from its highly anticipated reopening on Dec.…
July 17, 2024—Today the National Eucharistic Congress comes together at Lucas Oil stadium, Indianapolis, where the pilgrimage from the four corners across the United States of America converge! There are crowds of pilgrims lining up to enter the stadium to witness a Eucharistic revival, a historic moment in the life of the Church that took…
It took some time to convince people in the English colonies to seek independence from their king and Parliament. Even as late as the end of 1775, General Washington and his officers were drinking toasts to King George III. But by the spring of 1776, attitudes were changing—and one of the things that helped them…
God moves in mighty and mysterious ways. Although the secular media does not report it, and perhaps your parish (like mine) did not even mention it, nonetheless, there are four Eucharistic Pilgrimage going on right now as you read this! And YES, Catholics of all ages are flocking to walk part of the journey and…
CNA—In 1852, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majid II issued a decree ordering the governor of Jerusalem and his council, as well as all the churches, to make no changes in the holy places of the city. The decree became known as the Status Quo. Echoing the ancient rhythms Since that decree, members of the Christian…
CNA—A group of parishioners in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, is celebrating this month after acquiring a historic church from the diocese and preserving it as a chapel and place of worship. The Society of St. Joseph of Bethlehem (SSJB) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, announced earlier this month that the society had purchased St. Joseph’s Church, which…
Exerpt from Catholic Textbook Project; From Sea to Shining Sea textbook —Day after day, for nine days, the small man in a gray habit climbed to the summit of the little hill and looked anxiously out to sea. Day after day, he had been disappointed. Below him lay the bay like a long finger of…
CNA/ACI Prensa—On Jan. 6, the Catholic Church celebrates the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. On that day we commemorate the “manifestation” of the expected Messiah, who reveals himself to all the peoples of humanity, represented by the Three Wise Men who arrived in Bethlehem from the East. The Gospel according to St. Matthew…
After the death of Valens, the Roman Emperor Gratian realized he needed an able assistant. His choice was the young Spaniard, Theodosius. Theodosius was born in 346 near Toledo in the Roman province of Hispania. He was the son of Valentinian I’s leading general. A reputation for organization and bravery Theodosius’ reputation for organization and…
Oct. 10, 2023, CNA—A procession bringing Jesus in the Eucharist through the heart of the largest city in the U.S. attracted hundreds of participants on Tuesday evening. Participants marched reverently as the Body of Christ, housed in a golden monstrance, was carried aloft through the busy streets of Manhattan, passing right in front of the…
CNA—Israel is “at war,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday after a series of surprise rocket attacks and incursions from Hamas killed dozens and saw the country being invaded on a major holiday. The attacks, which were carried out on the observance of Simchat Torah, arose early on Saturday morning and had reportedly killed…
CTP—In the hot, humid weather of a Philadelphia summer, delegates wrangled, tempers flared over the one issue they could not resolve—how states should be represented in the national government. Finally, after delegates from Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland threatened to return home, Roger Sherman again stood up and again offered his plan—proportional representation in the…
Sponsored by the Catholic Textbook Project—Junípero Serra was born on the island of Mallorca off the Mediterranean coast of Spain on November 24, 1713. At the age of 16, he decided to become a priest, and a year later he entered the Franciscan order. For the first 19 years of his life as a Franciscan,…
