Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a leading theologian of the 20th century and the first pope to resign from office in nearly 600 years, has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced. His death was announced in Rome on Dec. 31. His funeral Mass will be held on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s…
“First, we make habits, then they make us,” observed a number of famous poets and authors through the ages (too many to mention and each in their own phrasing). Here are five (5) sure-fire ways to improve the odds of truly achieving your 2023 goals: 1. BE SPECIFIC. You won’t know if you achieve a…
The contemplative is the stay-at-home mother within the Church,” reflects Sr. Mary Josefa (Kathleen ’07) Holcomb, O.S.B.. “The stay-at-home mother has a role that is not seen, and probably not appreciated, by many in the world … but how many families need that mother’s presence! The Church is a family, too. It needs the presence…
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…
Pro-Democracy, former media tycoon and courageous Catholic Jimmy Lai sentenced to 69 Months in Communist Prison—December 2022 CNA / WSJ—The godfather of an arrested Hong Kong Catholic entrepreneur and pro-democracy advocate says he hopes Jimmy Lai’s courageous example will inspire more calls for justice amid an ongoing crackdown on human rights in now-Communist Hong Kong.…
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…
Beginning to think about Christmas gets a power boost as we get into Advent and the four Sundays before Christmas day. Sharing the daily Bible readings of the Mass and the stories in the various daily devotionals we read gets Pat and me in a reflective mood. There is no question that the world changed…
There is a commonly held belief that Christmas, besides celebrating the birth of our Lord, brings what is known as a Santa Claus rally in the stock market. Since we’re approaching that time of year, I thought it might be interesting to delve into the numbers and see if this perception is truly fact or…
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. …
