POPE FRANCIS WAS elected five years ago on March 13, 2013. Two firsts about him captured people’s imaginations: the first Jesuit and the first Latin American ever elected pope.
Guest Columnists
Rethinking the Idea of ‘Mission Territory’
IN HIS JUNE 1908 apostolic constitution, “Sapienti Consilio,” Pope Pius X decreed that, as of Nov. 3 that year, the Catholic Church in the United States would no longer be supervised by the Vatican’s missionary agency, the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide). American Catholicism had grown up. The U.S. Church would now be a mission-sending Church, not “mission territory.”
Responding in Love
“BECAUSE GOD first loved us, we respond in love, freely choosing to follow Christ.” And so begins the section on vowed life in You Are Sent, the constitution of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. I first read that sentence when I was an S.S.N.D. novice, but in reflecting on my vocation journey, I discover that my heart knew those words long before entering the convent.
I first read that sentence when I was an S.S.N.D. novice, but in reflecting on my vocation journey, I discover that my heart knew those words long before entering the convent.
A Deeper Look at Black History
We have long rested in the idea that Americans are more tolerant of racial differences today … After years of Black History Month observances, are we any closer to establishing the “beloved community” of which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke, or manifesting the kingdom of God that Jesus preached?
Conscience and Grace: A Lenten Meditation
THE SCRIPTURE readings for Lent in the Church’s daily liturgy invite two related reflections. The weeks immediately preceding Easter call us to walk to Jerusalem in imitation of Christ, so that at Easter, we too might be blessed with baptismal water and sent into the world on mission. The preceding weeks, those immediately following Ash Wednesday, propose a serious examination of conscience: What is there in me that’s broken? What’s impeding my being the missionary disciple I was baptized to be?
No Wind, Earthquake or Fire – Just a Silent Pull
by Michael Francis Falce
“THEN THE LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord – but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake – but the Lord was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire – but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)
‘Showman’ Is My Latest Favorite Film
by Father John Catoir
Sweeping biographies about great leaders like Lincoln, Gandhi and Churchill are at the top of my list of favorite movies. I also love musicals. Up until recently, my favorite musical was ‘My Fair Lady.” However, ‘The Greatest Showman’ has recently moved into first place.
Make a Plan to Stay on Course For Lent
by Effie Caldarola
WHEN MY SON and his male cousins headed to college, my daughter’s gift to them was a colorful book called “A Man, a Can, a Plan,” by David Joachim and the editors of Men’s Health.
Pork Roll, Lent and Catholic Identity
A FEW WEEKS before Ash Wednesday, an Associated Press squib with Lenten implications appeared in the Washington Post sports section:
Living Life Fully as Wife, Mother, Lay Franciscan
by Margaret Birth
I WAS A TEENAGER when an Episcopal priest, Father Ralph Byrd, introduced St. Francis of Assisi to about 150 of us retreatants by showing us the movie, “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.” He said it had transformed his life. The movie is a dramatized biography, largely inspired by St. Bonaventure’s Major Life of St. Francis. From then on, I was captivated.