This week, we celebrate as a liturgical solemnity the Immaculate Conception. This is a key day for us, as Catholics, both as Americans and as members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, because the Blessed Virgin is the patroness of the U.S. and patroness of the Brooklyn Diocese.
Editorials
The New Liturgical Year – The Year of Saint Luke
Once again, we begin another liturgical year with this first Sunday of Advent. And with this new liturgical year, we begin reading again from another one of the four Evangelists as our primary guide in St. Luke’s Gospel.
Catholic Immigrants in US Church History
The 19th century is, in many ways, a century of immigrants in the United States of America.
Immigration – A New Testament Perspective
Last week, we looked at what Divine Revelation, as expressed in the Old Testament, had to say about migration and immigration. This week, we turn to the New Testament, primarily the Holy Gospels according to Saint Matthew and Saint Luke, to see how immigration is perceived.
Biblical Roots of Migration
When we examine things theologically, we examine them through God’s Reason, his Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ our Lord. All issues in the created world can and indeed must be studied through a theological perspective.
Advocate of Immigrants
In his 1999 apostolic exhortation, “Ecclesia in America,” Pope Saint John Paul II, wrote: “It is appropriate to recall that the foundation on which all human rights rest is the dignity of the person. God’s masterpiece, man, is made in the divine image and likeness. Jesus took on our human nature, except for sin; he […]
The Salvation of Souls
With all of the dialogue, with all of the interventions, with all of the relations from the bishops and delegates in the Vatican Synod on the Youth that is currently ongoing this month, what the average Catholic in the pew and, indeed, what the average Catholic priest in the parish needs, more than anything and more than ever, is to know what exactly the goals and objectives of the Catholic Church are and are not.
The First Modern Pope
This past Sunday saw the canonization of Pope Paul VI. Paul, as has been said in this column before, was a truly prescient man. His biographer, Peter Hebblethwaite, described Paul as “the first modern Pope” and indeed he was. He was the first pope in recent history who suffered direct attacks for his consistent defense of natural law as well as calumny against his own person.
A Reason for Hope
This past week, the Vatican’s Synod on Youth began and there have already been several interventions made by prelates. In particular, some of the English-speaking Bishops have made some excellent points.
A Source of Unity
His Holiness, Pope Francis, has asked Catholics throughout the world to pray the Rosary daily throughout the month of October. This is hardly groundbreaking as October is traditionally the month of the Holy Rosary.