In the radiance of the Resurrection, the Church relates to the emotions of the first witnesses: grief, fear, bewilderment, and then exultation. In each generation, believers experience all of these in various ways. On Good Friday our local custom is to meditate on the Seven Last Words, using meditations written by Blessed John Henry Newman.…
CNA—Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix did not mince words when he called on a gathering of the nation’s Catholic leaders to stand up to the heresies of the modern age by defending the dignity of the human person, body and soul, as an integral part of defending the faith. Speaking at the National Catholic Prayer…
CNA—The following is a previously unpublished essay from Pope emeritus Benedict XVI: On February 21 to 24, at the invitation of Pope Francis, the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences gathered at the Vatican to discuss the current crisis of the faith and of the Church; a crisis experienced throughout the world after shocking revelations of…
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the US Bishops’ Conference, shared his shock and sadness over the Notre Dame blaze, calling the cathedral “a world treasure.” In a statement to the people of Paris, DiNardo said the cathedral has “long been a symbol of the transcendent human spirit as well as our longing for God.”…
The more science shows of the universe, the more its beauty almost takes one’s breath away. There is nothing about it that could be called vulgar or in bad taste, for those are categories applicable only to what humans on our little planet do with things. It is possible to mock the harmony of the…
Sermon for the Salutations to the Holy Cross with His Eminence, Metropolitan GerasimosHoly Cross Greek Orthodox Church—April 4, 2019—This past January, during a visit to Rome and other parts of Europe, I had a rare and truly privileged opportunity that I will never forget for the rest of my life: a face-to-face encounter with Jesus…
Review of Sam Zell’s Am I Being Too Subtle? — I enjoyed reading Sam Zell’s Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight talk from a business rebel . Zell, a Chicagoan, is a self-made billionaire who founded Equity Group Investments and helped create today’s $1 trillion public real estate industry. While a distinct personality, he shares…
As a schoolboy, George Washington copied out in elegant script the 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation. Later on, our first President tried to figure out how a head of state who was not a monarch should conduct himself with his fellow citizens. His solution was to be a gentleman, obedient to…
On February 18, 2019, Bishop Borys Gudziak was appointed by Pope Francis as the Metropolitan and Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia. A native of the U.S., for the last six years, Bishop Borys served as eparch of the Eparchy of St. Volodymyr in Paris, serving the Ukrainian Greek Catholic faithful in France,…
CNA—Newly appointed Archbishop Wilton Gregory made an uncompromising commitment to transparency during his introduction to the faithful of Washington, DC, at a press conference Thursday. “First of all, I believe that the only way I can serve this local archdiocese is by telling you the truth,” said Gregory at his formal introduction as the next…
Thirty-five years ago I admired the neo-Gothic buildings of a Catholic college in Westchester County. But I was surprised to find that the confessional in the beautiful chapel was being used as a broom closet. There had been some misunderstanding about aggiornamento, or bringing the practice of the Faith up to date. That was the College…
Going through Lent, we have been reading 40 Days, 40 Ways A New Look at Lent by Marcellino D’Ambrosio (Dr. Italy). A paragraph in Day 20 particularly caught my attention: “Modern media invades every nook and cranny of our lives. In various schools and seminars around the world, future advertising execs, graphic artists, and filmmakers…
A friend of mine, a mother and teacher, has spent the last 40 years caring for young people: her hundreds of grade-school students, her children, and her many grandchildren. She’s spent those same 40 years volunteering in the cause of life. Over the decades she’s helped open 11 prolife clinics; led and served on the…
The double life of Emmy Award-winning journalist Spencer Christian and the saving grace of an intact family, great teachers and concerned mentors is an inspiring story worth telling, and reading. In his book, You Bet Your Life, author Spencer Christian shares his dual journey to national fame as an Emmy-winning journalist on Good Morning America,…
There is a law that the time required to complete a task matches the time available. The feast of the Annunciation fits conveniently in the Lenten cycle this year, as the season comes unusually late. Our Lady conceived when she said “Yes” to the Creator. Many today are saying “No.” In some parts of our…
After two more horrific, senseless and random killing sprees worldwide — one in New Zealand and the other in the Netherlands — the media and the world once again ask the questions, “Who is doing this?” and “How can we prevent it?” Just recently, in New Zealand, a self-proclaimed “eco-fascist” murdered 50 Muslims attending a…
The holy patron of our archdiocese [the Archdiocese of New York] was a contemporary of Saint Augustine. While Augustine of north Africa became one of the greatest Doctors of the church, Patrick of Roman Britain humbly called himself uneducated, even though he was schooled in France by Saint Germaine of Auxerre and possibly Saint Martin…
Beneath the soil of every continent lie buried the ruins of fallen civilizations. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Mayans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Minoans, Romans: all of them, faded memories of past grandeur and glory. History records the collapse of at least thirty-two major civilizations that once thrived and prospered before our time. No great civilization is built in…
For this article, I’ve been asked to “dig deeper” and to share some of my inner, personal motivations for Lent this year. It’s a challenge I am happy to embrace, even though imperfectly, because throughout my career and even now I have been — and continue to be — inspired by and learn so much…
In the history of Christianity, few people spoke more gracefully and truthfully than John Henry Newman. In the nineteenth century, this English teacher and preacher embraced the Faith. And then, with the grace of his conversion, he explained how, throughout history, God’s grace and truth had been sensed, intimated and expressed, even by those who…
