I’d like to say a word for the angels. Especially the ones whom I lovingly call the “blue-collar workers” of the heavenly host. 

The good news today is that Catholics are still reading, listening, and watching Catholic materials. The better news is that the numbers who are reading, listening, and watching have been going up.

Every year at the end of August and the beginning of September there is a national gathering of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors (NCDVD). This meeting brings together all of the vocation directors of the United States as we look ahead to a pastoral year of prayer, hope, and excitement. 

For Americans across the country, the annual Labor Day holiday signals the changing of the seasons, one last chance to take in good weather around a cookout or at the beach. 

As Christians, we all know how central light is to the story of our faith. The creation story opens with “Let there be light.” And Matthew introduces Jesus with a quote from the prophet Isaiah: “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light” (4:16). When we look up at the stars or face the glorious rising sun, it is this sacred story that we are wrapped in.

On Saturday, July 15, I traveled to St. Fidelis Parish in College Point to attend a Mass of Resurrection for a man named Albie. I never met Albie in person, but I knew about him from my Dominican sister friend, Sister Ruth Lautt, OP. Sister Ruth coordinates the St. Fidelis Street Ministry that offers every first Saturday of the month to bring food and clothing to people in need.

This past month, I have read with interest many accounts of World Youth Day and the experiences shared by my younger sisters and brothers in Christ as hundreds of thousands of them experienced their pilgrimage to Portugal.

Thousands of young people from around the world have anticipated the first days of August. We are all descending on the city of Lisbon for World Youth Day. Started by Pope St. John Paul II in 1984, World Youth Day is the celebration of the Church’s commitment to its youth and provides time and space for encounters with Christ. 

I am on my way to attend World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal. I am going on behalf of the Pontifical Mission Societies, to share with other young Catholics the work of the Missions and how we can help, even if we cannot go to all 1,150 territories ourselves. 

“Auntie, you’re a stormtrooper, and you have to chase me.” Jackie, my four-year-old niece and a Star Wars fan, said this to me as we played in the yard. She handed me a stick that would serve as my blaster, while her own longer stick became a lightsaber.