Father Mann

Battling the Savage Beast of Depression

by Father Frank Mann RECENTLY, I headed to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to check out the extraordinary exhibition titled, “Savage Beauty.”  It turned out that I was one of the countless droves of enthusiastic folk found sweating their way through a two-hour line to enter the much anticipated event. The enthralling exhibit, the […]

Unique Conduits of God’s Grace

by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk A CATHOLIC physician once related to me a powerful story about one of his patients, who had just received a diagnosis of advanced, metastatic cancer and had a relatively short time left to live. The patient mentioned to the doctor that he was Catholic but had drifted away from the Church […]

Father William J. Byron, S.J.

Business Strategies Can Benefit Church

by Father William J. Byron, S.J. The National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management held its seventh annual meeting in June. It aimed to bring business executives and church leaders together to discuss the application of “best practices” from business to the management needs of the Catholic Church. The previous six meetings were held at the […]

Conscience Must Factor Into Budget

by Stephen Kent ONCE, WHILE working as the editor of a daily newspaper, I was involved in the annual budget get-together with the publisher and all department heads. It had come to that point in the proceedings when the advertising manager said that he could no longer squeeze another dollar from an already reluctant market. […]

Be Patient With God

by Father John Catoir I spoke to a group of first communicants recently, and at the end of Mass, I asked the entire congregation to give them a hand of applause. Everyone stood up and applauded. I told children that they owed a debt of great gratitude to their parents, who not only feed, shelter […]

“Gay Genes,” Sexual Attractions and The Call to Chastity

by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk People often surmise that same-sex attraction is inborn, and that homosexuals are “naturally gay” or “born that way.”  They suppose that if God made them that way then it must not be a sin to act on their sexual desires. The possibility of a “gay gene” is sometimes offered as a […]

Hemrick

Language Is the Music of Our Souls

Father Eugene Hemrick BETWEEN 380 and 400 international priests enter the U.S. priesthood yearly, according to the study “International Priests in America: Challenges and Opportunities” (Liturgical Press), by the late Dean R. Hoge and Dominican Father Aniedi Okure. Although American-born priests still outnumber international priests substantially, the study said, priests among second-generation immigrants, together with […]

Seven Reasons to Remain a Catholic

by Therese J.Borchard In a previous column, I listed some reasons to be Catholic, a ready response to throw at people who question why I would be part of such a flawed religion. But by far the best resource on this subject is a book hot off the press from my longtime mentor and co-editor […]

What Does it Mean To Be Holy?

By Father John Catoir Accepting God’s will is the goal of a healthy spiritual life. Acceptance of God’s permissive will is an advanced stage of personal holiness. Holiness is not the reward of a lifetime of loving service; we give a lifetime of loving service because we are holy. Holiness is not what happens to […]