At this time of year, in the weeks before Christmas, our house is usually bustling with activity as we move decorations from their basement storage to places of prominence on the main floor. My personal favorites are the nativity scenes. You might accuse us of being “crèche obsessed” as we have one in the front…
Each day from Dec. 17 through Christmas, the Catholic Business Journal will post the “O Antiphon” for that day. Below is the first of these antiphons, followed by a wonderful article by Fr. Juan Diego of the Norbertines. Enjoy! —ed. O ANTIPHON — December 17: O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi provsti, attingens a fine…
“Gazing afar off, behold I see the power of God coming, and a cloud covering all the land. Go out to meet him and say: tell me if you are the one who is to reign over the people Israel.” So sounds the cry of the world before Christ, a cry placed on the lips…
A quick glimpse at what’s happening in China now. As we cull this news, I wonder how many Chinese know of St. Francis Xavier, the Jesuit sent as a missionary to the Far East by St. Ignatius himself (the founder of the Jesuit order). “Go set all on fire” Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552), whose Feast…
Dear and distinguished friends, Allow me first of all to thank Doctor Stephen Frost for the invitation he has extended to me to speak to you. Along with Doctor Frost I also thank all of you: your commitment to fighting the psychopandemic propaganda is commendable. I am well aware of the difficulties you have had…
The U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference (USCCB) on Nov. 15 elected Archbishop Timothy Broglio, a former Vatican diplomat and the long-serving (since 2008) and much-beloved and respected Archbishop for the Military Services, as the new president of the USCCB. National Catholic Reporter refers to the position as “essentially the nation’s chief Catholic chaplain.” Archbishop Broglio received…
November 22, 2022
The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of…
Ukraine—CNA—After the liberation of the Mykolaiv district in Ukraine from the Russian army last week, residents began to return to their homes with the hope of saving at least some of their possessions. Together with the parish priest, Society of Christ Father Oleksandr Repin, and other nuns, Benedictine Sister Faustina Kovalska went to the site…
Chuck Gaidica has been in the TV business for more than 40 years, telling the stories of Detroiters as a well-known figure in the community. But on a blustery fall evening at Holy Trinity Parish in Port Huron, Michigan, about 60 miles northeast of Detroit, the award-winning newsman reported on a story on which he…
The Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce, who came of age in the 1930s and observed with horror the emergence of Mussolini’s Fascist regime in his native country, warned that “the widespread notion that the age of totalitarianisms ended with Hitlerism and Stalinism is completely mistaken.” Del Noce explained: The essential element of totalitarianism, in brief,…
Rome-CNA—Natalia Tsarkova, official portrait artist to the popes for more than 20 years, likes to work from real life. “I am so meticulous about details. I have to see and touch and feel everything,” she said. But for her latest painting, a portrait of Benedict XVI in his life as pope emeritus, some objects could…
Rochester, NY—CNA—Bishop Robert Barron has pledged to reconsecrate a Catholic Minnesota cemetery vandalized on Halloween night with satanic and vulgar graffiti. “On this feast of All Souls, when the Church honors our beloved dead, I would like to express my outrage at this desecration and my assurance of prayers for the families of those whose…
We’ve talked in earlier articles about the Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). In that 26-page document, the bishops enumerate a number of business activities that make a company unfit for investment. The investment activities that the USCCB identify as unfit for investment include, but are not limited…
Nineteen-year-old Angela Baird died Nov. 6, 1997, after a tragic hiking accident, barely two months into her sophomore year at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. On the surface, there might seem to be little extraordinary about her death other than that her family and friends will dearly miss the energetic girl with the…
In the Word for Today it references the book War on the Saints, where Jessie Penn-Lewis writes: “The chief condition…for the working of evil spirits in human beings is PASSIVITY….Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pe 5:8) Have…
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new case, Gonzales v. Google, seeking to hold Google and its subsidiary, YouTube, legally responsible for injuries to victims of terrorism promoted on their sites. This case has implications far beyond terrorism, potentially making these companies responsible whenever their web search algorithms steer viewers to dangerous content. …
WSJ—Even as Xi Jinping was being crowned as China’s unchallenged dictator, the Vatican said Saturday it has renewed its agreement with the Chinese Communist Party. This is the second renewal since the deal was brokered in 2018, though there’s little progress on religious freedom to show for it. Its main contribution has been to mute…
Vatican News/CNA—Two Catholic priests killed by Nazis while ministering to the dying amid the Boves massacre were beatified as martyrs on Sunday in northern Italy. See two very short videos at the end of this article featuring actual footage of these inspiring priests. In the face of grave danger, Father Giuseppe Bernardi and Father Mario…
CNA—Pope Francis on Monday called on entrepreneurs to be “prophets“ and to continue to transform the economy. “We are living in an era of notorious economic and social imbalances,” the pope told members of two Spanish associations of entrepreneurs at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Oct. 17. It was “urgent to propose a suitable economy…
A review of ICARUS 2.0—Lt. Col. Peter Smith USAF (Ret) is one of the very few combat pilots to survive an ejection over 400 mph. ICARUS 2.0 is his story of survival and a checklist of learnings that can be used by all when facing uncertainty. After a daylight training mission over the Gulf of…
