Giving to the poor is good for our health
We need to give to the poor, not because they need it, though they do, but because we need to do that in order to be healthy. That’s an axiom which is grounded in Scripture where, time and again, we are taught that giving to the poor is something that we need to do for our own health.
Learning to love the questioner
Late afternoon sunshine brought gold and charcoal shadings. I felt dusty and worn. We’d started early, when it was relatively cool, but the heat grew quickly and we’d wandered through several hot places in the north of Galilee this July day.
Pope to lead Vatican prayer vigil for peace in Syria
VATICAN CITY - On the evening of Sept. 7, days before U.S. lawmakers vote on President Barack Obama's proposal for a military attack on Syria, Pope Francis will lead thousands in St. Peter's Square in a prayer vigil for peace.
Pope names veteran diplomat as Vatican's No. 2
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has stuck with a long-standing tradition by appointing a seasoned member of the diplomatic corps to replace Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as the top Vatican official.
Romanian priest who died in communist prison to be beatified
WARSAW, Poland - A priest who died of cold and hunger in a communist prison will be beatified as a martyr in Romania.
World of ‘spiritual pygmies’
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Sept. 8 (Wisdom 9:13-18; Psalm 90; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33)
Is human reasoning really so bad? The author of Wisdom seemed to think so — he insisted that it is worthless! As we look around at our world of technological marvels and progress, our first impulse might be to take issue with his statement. But Wisdom seemed to have our own age in mind.
An addiction to comfort
Fifty years ago, Kay Cronin wrote a book entitled Cross in the Wilderness, chronicling how, in 1847, a small band of Oblate missionaries came from France to the American Pacific Northwest and, after some bitter setbacks in Washington State and Oregon, moved up the coast into Canada and helped found the Roman Catholic Church in Vancouver and in significant parts of British Columbia’s mainland.
Retired Pope's secretary says 'mystical experience' story is untrue
VATICAN CITY - Archbishop Georg Ganswein, retired Pope Benedict XVI's longtime personal secretary, said a story about the pope resigning after a "mystical experience" was completely invented.
A healthy dose of humility goes a long way
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Sept. 1 (Sirach 3:17-20, 28-29; Psalm 68; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24; Luke 14:1, 7-14)
Why faith feels like doubt and darkness
God is ineffable. This is a truth that’s universally accepted as dogma among all Christians and within all the great religions of the world. What does it mean?
Vatican orders slight change in text for baptism
VATICAN CITY - To emphasis that the sacrament of baptism formally brings a person into the church of God and not just into a local Christian community, the Vatican has ordered a slight change of wording in the baptismal rite.