Good things happen to nice people. As far as philosophies go, that one must rank near the top. It’s a philosophy that makes the world a better place. For people like Kahlil Calixte, being nice inserts him into stories he’ll be talking about for years to come.
By now you have probably seen, or at least heard about, the videotapes on which Planned Parenthood officials speak bluntly about trafficking in the organs and tissues of aborted babies.
It has been a rough few months for the Church. We are told that disagreeing with the dominant culture by affirming age-old truths is discriminatory and bigoted. Are this summer’s legal decisions harbingers of dark days ahead for those committed to expressing their religious convictions in their daily lives?
The Brooklyn Queens Diocese supports a Lay Ministry Program in conjunction with local parishes. It’s a wonderful opportunity to deepen your faith and to understand the many aspects of the Catholic Church, and most importantly, the Bible. One of the goals of this three-year program is to prepare participants to be lay ministers within their parishes. These new lay ministers will join existing parish ministries or start their own ministry, fulfilling the needs of their parish.
Recently, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said the pope should “leave science to the scientists.” His sentiment is echoed by those who deny climate change and contend that the Church should stay out of the debate – following the release of “Laudato Si’” and the conversation that the pope’s encyclical letter on the environment has generated.
One of the things I love most dearly about Jesus in the Gospels is His earthiness. As Christians, we’re sometimes tempted to make this God stuff a bit fussy and pretentious. We occasionally lapse into a piety that lacks authenticity. Or we think faith is all about contrition rather than gratitude and joy.
Pope Francis speaks for the church I grew up in when he calls for an organized moral response to the injustices of modern capitalism.
Of all the injustices Pope Francis could address in the June 18 encyclical on ecology and climate, lack of access to clean water is emblematic.
Pope Francis’ concern for those suffering on the margins and for small Catholic communities that have kept the faith alive through war or repression will take him to Bosnia-Herzegovina in early June.
When the graduating class of St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, files into St. John’s University on Saturday, June 6, another academic year will be concluding. But here at the Prep, education and faith always continues! We have an expression that we use frequently – “High school is four years, But St. Francis Prep is forever!”
