As the nation observes Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins Sept. 15, the Church has much to celebrate. Historically, the Spaniards evangelized much of what is now the U.S., extending in a great arc from St. Augustine in Florida, where the first Mass was celebrated in 1565, to the San Juan straits in what is now Washington state.
This summer, I was chosen to participate in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The trip was sponsored by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
More pro-life legislation has been enacted on the state level in recent years than at any time since Roe v. Wade, and even at the federal level, legislation has been introduced that would put the abortion limit in the U.S. at 20 weeks rather than at birth.
Let me suggest that here, in the midst of summer, the reader give some thought to summers past. Recall good summer memories. Everyone has them – being swept ashore with the surf, floating in an inner tube on a lake, splashing around in the pool, catching lightning bugs, chasing butterflies.
During my first year at Marymount School of New York, I taught a New Testament class to the seventh graders. One of my favorite projects was having students write a rap about Jesus. I decided to partake in the project as well. Here is mine:
Two weeks after attending the trial of David Paul Hammer in the U.S. District Court of Pennsylvania, I asked his attorney, Ron Travis, what, if anything, we could do as we awaited the verdict – death, or life in prison without parole – from Judge Joel Slomsky.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, said that the owners of Hobby Lobby, the Green family – devout Christians – are free to run their business according to their religious beliefs.
Life is filled with all kinds of loss. There are the deaths of loved ones, the loss of jobs, various disappointments, illnesses which suddenly occur. In September, I lost two good friends. Two months later, after a routine doctor visit and blood test, I was informed that I had chronic mylogenous leukemia. What a shock that was!
The answer to the question posed in the headline needs more words than I can fit into a single article. In the Brooklyn Diocese, simply stated, Catholic education is thriving inside and outside the classroom.
On June 27, 2009, the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a group of educators, religious and corporate volunteers set to work cleaning out the long-closed St. Barbara’s elementary school in Bushwick, as a first step in the creation of what would become the new Pope John Paul II Family Academy (PJPFA)
