A CHAPTER IN a remarkable American and Catholic life will close on June 6, when Abbot Thomas Frerking, O.S.B., concludes more than two decades of service as leader of the monastic community at St. Louis Abbey. His story deserves to be better known.
Guest Columnists
Inviting Jesus to Mold My Heart
Six years ago, I entered the minor seminary at Douglaston for the Diocese of Brooklyn. It took me five years to respond to the call that I felt in my heart. I was 23 years old and the one desire I had was to do God’s will in my life.
Justin Trudeau and the Dictatorship of Relativism
You’ve probably never heard of the Waupoos Family Farm. I hadn’t either, until I met folks involved in it during a recent visit to Ottawa. Their story vividly illustrates the dictatorship of relativism at work.
The Holy See, China and Evangelization
In a recent interview, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, suggested that certain critics of a deal between the Vatican and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were misconstruing the Holy See’s motivations: “There are those who’ve accused us of only wanting diplomatic relations as a sign of some sort of success. But the Holy See, as the pope has said many times, is not interested in diplomatic successes.”
Renewed By the Spirit, Find Your True Vocation
For the last three years, I have received countless invitations to speak at parishes, academies, youth groups, high schools and college Newman clubs on the topic of vocations. It has been, and continues to be, a great joy to meet so many people in this ministry.
The Life-Changing Power of Joy
As a reward for beating cancer, I went on a pilgrimage to Italy with other young adults from my parish. During that trip, I realized that I had been changed by cancer, and that my attitude had to change.
In the Hands of the Lord
I was in the fifth grade at St. Teresa School in Woodside when I first felt an attraction toward the priesthood.
The Call to Holiness
IN THE CONTEMPORARY crisis of faith, Pope Francis speaks to all of humanity through his latest apostolic exhortation, “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad”). It is his understanding of holiness, based on Ignatian spirituality. It furthers the principle he holds so dear to his ideology, that reality is greater than ideas.
Freedom Is Never Free
WHEN I FIRST visited Lviv, the principal city of western Ukraine in 2002, the transportation from plane to airport terminal was an old bus towed by a Soviet-era tractor; today, the airport is a model of cleanliness and efficiency. In 2002, the Old Town was shabby and begrimed; today, it’s become a major tourist destination, and while there is still more clean-up to do, the charms of an old Habsburg city are beginning to reveal themselves. To sit in a downtown restaurant and speak with the city’s mayor about his plans for further development, it’s easy to forget that you’re in a country at war.
Eileen Egan: A Woman of Uncompromising Faith
Eileen Egan was a person who, having seen the horrors of wars, did not just attend to their victims, but spent the rest of her life seeking the only solution that aligns with the Gospel.