QUICK REMINDER FOR those of us who attend Mass regularly. Many people are going to join us on Dec. 24 and 25 who don’t normally come to church. They will take our parking spots, our usual pews, our hymnals and our coat hooks.
What fantastic news!
Guest Columnists
Why 42 Had to Be Impeached 20 Years Ago
TWENTY YEARS AGO this month, I found myself seriously double-booked, so to speak.
The Advent of Christmas
IN THE LINER notes of an album, musicians usually thank their colleagues, staff, and family for their talent and support. But on the back cover of Grammy nominee Matt Maher’s new record “The Advent of Christmas,” the singer-songwriter expresses an unusual sentiment of gratitude: “Thanks to the red cardinal that kept showing up during the making of this record.”
A Christmas Prelude
This time of year, we reflect on one Marian visitation unique to the western hemisphere and to the Americas – Our Lady of Guadalupe. … Perhaps now is the time for the Americas to revisit the Blessed Mother’s message.
Advent – An Invitation To Practice Hospitality
Yes, as we go through life waiting for history’s final moment, we have a responsibility to welcome one another, to take care of each other, especially those who are most vulnerable. They are the face of Jesus Christ among us.
Music to Inspire the Human Heart and Spirit
by Msgr. Steven A. Ferrari
“IT’S NOT THE news that any of us hoped that we would hear; it’s not the road we would have chosen.” These are the opening lines of Ellie Holcomb’s song “Find You Here.”
Proclaiming Christ in the Face of Secularism
The beautiful feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Piux XI in 1925 – two years prior to Blessed Miguel’s death – to combat the rise of secularism. Today, we continue to face an insidious secularism that threatens our acknowledgement of God and His plan for our salvation.
Vatican Autocracy and US Bishops
As the U.S. bishops gathered in Baltimore on the weekend of Nov. 10-11, it seemed certain that, after a day of prayer, penance and reflection on the Church’s sexual abuse crisis, they would take two important steps toward reform. An episcopal code of conduct, holding bishops accountable to the standards applied to priests in the 2002 Dallas Charter, would be adopted. And the bishops would authorize a lay-led mechanism to receive complaints about episcopal misbehavior, malfeasance, or corruption; allegations found credible would be sent to the appropriate authorities, including those in Rome.
A Century After the Armistice
I’m just old enough to remember when my elders still called Nov.11 “Armistice Day:” the armistice in question that which stopped the shooting in the Great War. As a military matter, World War I may have ended a century ago, on November 11, 1918, allowing my Grandfather Weigel and millions of other doughboys to be demobilized. The devastating cultural effects of the Great War are still being felt today, though.
Roots of Catholic Anger
After a month out of the country, working in Rome at Synod-2018 and helping mark the 40th anniversary of John Paul II’s election at events in Brussels and Warsaw, I came home to find Catholic anger over the latest phase of the abuse crisis unabated and intensified in some quarters. That this crisis is not acknowledged for what it is by the highest authorities in Rome is a subject for another reflection at another time. The question today is: What are the roots of today’s Catholic anger and disgust?