CNA—“O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!” This favored Christmas carol is no carol at all. It’s a hymn for the season of Advent — the liturgical season that is about so…
CNA—The O Antiphons are prayers that are recited or chanted in an ancient tradition leading up to Christmas Day. What is the hidden meaning of the O Antiphons? “Composed in the sixth or seventh century, the seven O Antiphons are drawn from the Book of the prophet Isaiah and the first letters of each antiphon…
CNA—Cross Catholic Outreach’s Box of Joy ministry has officially reached its 10th anniversary and marked the occasion with a trip by Catholic actor David Henrie and his family to Guatemala to deliver boxes to children there. Henrie, who serves as brand ambassador for the nonprofit, flew to Guatemala with his wife, Maria, to hand-deliver the…
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…
CBJ, & CNA—As calendars get filled up and preparations are made, here are SIX resources to help you get ready to enter into the deeper meaning of Christmas. Advent Wreath at home Simple. Easy. Powerful because it helps keeps the focus on the somewhat penitential season of ADVENT. “Advent” comes from the Latin Ad Venire…
CNA—“We are being sent forth on mission to make Christ known to others and to be Christ to others,” Christina Wheatley of Jeffersonsville, Indiana, told CNA on the eve of the National Eucharistic Congress this week. Wheatley was among the first pilgrims to arrive in Indianapolis for the five-day event, which kicked off Tuesday with…
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…
CNA—For 70 years, Kathleen Anderson’s congenital heart disease had eroded her health and brought her to her knees in prayer. As she finally prepared to undergo a heart transplant, she paused to pray and hoped to find healing and respite when she emerged from surgery. Although she awoke with a healthy new heart in her…
ACI Prensa—Along with other saints, every May 10 the Church honors St. John of Avila, the patron saint of the Spanish clergy. This renowned founder of schools and centers of formation and study recorded in one of his writings what he considered to be the best gift we can give to our heavenly mother, the…
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron issued a spiritual call to arms to Detroit’s Catholics this Lenten season, explaining how by accepting ashes, they have engaged in a 40-day campaign to overcome sin. The archbishop gave his traditional preaching during the midday Ash Wednesday Mass on Feb. 14 at St. Aloysius Parish, a few blocks from Detroit’s…
ACI Prensa, CNA—In the history of the Catholic Church various saints and blesseds have described what hell is like, based on visions and messages they received during their lives. Hell’s structure St. Teresa of Ávila, a doctor of the Church, related in her Autobiography that when the Lord showed her hell, she experienced that she…
CNA—Christmas is a time of reconciliation. God himself chose to become a man, coming into the world to save fallen humanity and reconcile it with himself. Christmas represents a dramatic break with conventional patterns and changes paradigms. Such is also the case of Zubair Simonson, a former Muslim who converted to Catholicism and shared his…
We at Catholic Business Journal found these wonder-filled Advent reflections from Father Matteo, the Prior General (in Italy) of the Camaldolese Congregation of the Order of Saint Benedict, and written to the wide, international congregation of Camaldolese monks, nuns, lay oblates, friends and guests, to provide simple yet deep spiritual anchors to help you and…
“You cannot do anything with your hands if you do not do it with your knees,” Pope Francis CNA—The presence of Jesus in every tabernacle points us to how we can serve our suffering brothers and sisters who share in Christ’s passion today, Pope Francis told American priests this week. In an audience with the…
The canons regular priests of the Norbertine Abbey of St. Michael the Archangel, located in Santiago Canyon, California, invite us Catholics to pray for the dead in a 9-day Novena beginning November 2, 2003, All Souls Day. Praying for the dead is an important work of mercy, and a meaningful reminder of own mortality. In…
There are times when you observe things that simply take you aback; knock you for a loop. Actions or occurrences in our everyday lives that hit a nerve; sometimes for the good, like a gratuitous kindness, and sometimes for the bad, like palpable selfishness. These lived reminders are usually stark memorable and instructive – they…
As precursor to a film on The Camino, below please find a conversation with four bishops who have walked The Camino many times — Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico. Together, along with moderator Kathryn…
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI delivered these words, as Pope, during a pastoral visit to the Shroud of Turin in 2010— Dear Friends: This is a moment to which I have been looking forward. I have stood before the Holy Shroud on various occasions but this time I am experiencing this Pilgrimage and this moment with…
CNA—Pope Francis highlighted “the beauty of Mary’s heart” in his Angelus address on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The pope said on Dec. 8 that the Blessed Virgin Mary’s encounter with the Angel Gabriel, described in St. Luke’s Gospel, revealed her deep humility. “Within the domestic walls, a person reveals him or herself better…
Sean Stephenson delivered a talk to inmates at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California, several years ago that absollutely inspires, no matter where you are. No matter what circumstances or challenges you face right now. He cuts through all the muck and challenges of life to squarely focus on going forward. Need inspiration? Sean’s talk…
