I was at St. Joseph’s Church, one of the most beautiful churches in Astoria, where there is a lovely statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when I fell in love with the Miraculous Medal Novena.
Guest Columnists
Now What?
What is the thoughtful Catholic voter to do when neither presidential candidate is even minimally committed to human dignity, the common good, subsidiarity and solidarity, as the social doctrine understands those concepts?
Prince’s Unique Journey to God
It seems that Prince loved himself, but in the way that God urges all of us to love ourselves, by perfecting our talents and using them to serve the common good. To do this, Prince ultimately became a man of prayer
Reflections of a Mom On Mother’s Day
I worked a lot of hours and have no regrets… What I have learned is that I could have managed my stress better, set boundaries and switched off work issues when I was with the family…
Good Catholics, Good Citizens
The Catholic love affair with the United States of America is heading into rough and uncharted waters – not only in this 2016 election cycle, but also for the foreseeable future.
Modern Challenges For Women and Girls
Despite the women’s movement, more equality, less discrimination and more opportunity in the workplace, I think the challenges facing girls remain, perhaps in different forms and certainly with new technology.
The Most Important Day of Your Life
DURING TALKS AROUND the country in recent years, I’ve been asking Catholic audiences how many of those present know the date of their baptism. The high-end response is a little under 10 percent. The average is about 2-3 percent.
Trying to Foster a Culture of Encounter
Getting personal, as in engaging and knowing one another, underlies Pope Francis’ urging for a culture of encounter. He speaks against the tendencies to intellectualize, judge, dismiss and demonize the poor, the unemployed, the undocumented migrants, etc. They are categories of social construction with statistics, theories, precedents, antecedents and solutions that delineate costs and benefits. Too often they are devoid of faces, stories, pains, dreams. That need not be the case.
The Best Nuncio We’ve Had Thus Far
The announcement that Archbishop Christoph Pierre will succeed Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò as apostolic nuncio to the U.S. is an opportunity to pay tribute to a courageous churchman who has served Catholicism, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis in an exemplary way during his tenure in Washington.
A Timely Look at Marriage, Church Law
Msgr. John Alesandro has written a timely book on Church law about marriage and the family. It was inspired as Pope Francis was inviting bishops of the world to a Synod on the Family.