CNA—Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland in Oregon on Tuesday thanked Pope Francis for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent affirmation of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the human person. “I would like to express gratitude to the Holy Father for the recent statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the…
These past weeks, you have had occasion to look at this particular Iconic Image of Christ, which I am guessing you probably have not seen before. I chose this Icon with the hope of it being an occasion of beauty as well as grace for you as you journeyed through Lent anew. To see an…
Being in the second tier of qualification (over age 60) to get the Covid vaccine, Pat and I got our second Moderna shot just a few days before the snowstorm hit Texas. As with many others, we both had a substantial negative reaction to the second shot, but fortunately that only lasted for 24 hours.…
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! It’s a special day for us here in the Archdiocese of New York because Saint Patrick is the patron saint of our archdiocese. He’s also the patron saint of Ireland and Nigeria. What a tribute to the fact that he was an evangelist who brought the…
For the past few weeks you have been looking at the iconic image of Christ in its beauty, and you have considered the words of St. John of Kronstadt which point out Who this is and how He looks at you…. What do you see when you look at Him? This week, the image…
Just as in any art or science there are rules to follow, so it is with the art of the icon, both for the success of the art piece as well as for the spirit of the artist. Since we have chosen to focus on the Icon of the Holy Face this Lent, I would…
I am ready for Lent this year. Please don’t misunderstand me. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Something within always resists Ash Wednesday’s sober call to repentance and a reorientation of my life. But, after facing the challenges of the pandemic this year, I admit that business as usual has not been…
We have seen varying degrees of public hysteria since the beginning of Covid 19 and more than a little government overreach. Some of that may begin to subside now with reduced new cases and rollout of the vaccines, but with the vaccines we are also starting to see some new abuses in the form of…
This week I invite you to quietly look deeper… After my first and surprising experience of icons in Russia, the next experience was also amazing and drew me even closer to an understanding of the Icon. It is by entering into the process that one draws more closely to the icon subject, regardless of whether…
I never thought I’d watch Mass from the front seat of my car. I never thought I’d receive Holy Communion standing in the parish parking lot. But there I’ve been, Sunday after Sunday for months on end, in the parking lot at St. Kilian Catholic Church in Mission Viejo, California. From the start, I knew…
CNA—Benedict XVI addressed conspiracy theories about his resignation as pope, Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq, and Joe Biden in an interview with an Italian newspaper published on Monday. The pope emeritus told Corriere della Sera that he stood by his decision despite criticism from his friends in an interview released on March 1, a day…
This week I invite you to quietly look upon the face of this icon of Christ… Take note of the size of the eyes, the fineness of the nose, the delicacy of the mouth, because in the upcoming weeks we’ll be taking a closer look at each of these features of the face. There is…
On October 16, 2002, Pope St. John Paul II issued his Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (“The Rosary of the Virgin Mary”). In it, he gave us the luminous mysteries of the rosary. These mysteries, he explains, are those that are manifested in our Lord’s public life. Whereas the joyful mysteries have…
A Tennessee group that describes aborting unborn babies as “healthcare” received a $50,000 grant from a U.S. Catholic bishops’ agency in 2019, according to a new report from the Lepanto Institute. The grant came from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, an anti-poverty agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Lepanto Institute recently…
Speaking with Catholic World Report, Naumann flatly said that Biden “should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic” while acknowledging that his abortion views stand in direct opposition to the Catholic Church. “Mr. Biden professes to be a devout Catholic, yet is 100% pro-choice on abortion. How do you think America’s bishops ought to respond…
This year, with COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in many parts of the country and world constraining most of our communications to video, phone calls, email and text, our interpersonal communication truly lacks the “fullness of interpersonal communication” that St. Pope John Paul II introduced in his general audiences regarding Theology of the Body (1). How much…
As a California attorney, I take regular continuing education classes. With Covid on everyone’s’ minds, I decided to learn something about vaccine laws. Some of what I learned was eye-opening, including the truth about three common Covid vaccine myths. Myth 1: Covid Vaccines are FDA approved. Reply: The vaccines have only been authorized so far…
Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s injunction issued late last night (2-5-21) in South Bay United Pentecostal Church, et. al striking down California’s blanket ban on indoor worship. “This is a very significant step forward for basic rights. This decision makes clear we can now return to…
We are all wondering where we are going to go from here. New President, new administration, Covid response apparently working somewhat. We do have that sense that finally, even with the terrible projections, we may actually be “going” somewhere. And I have been thinking of that. Wondering what it is going to require of me.…
I have not written my monthly Catholic Business Journal article since December 2020. It has taken some time for me to understand my difficulty to complete this article. For me, it was not because of Covid-19, which has had a paralyzing effect on many. In my case, I was anticipating the outcome of the Presidential…
