“Riding one day in the plains below Assisi, he met a leper whose loathsome sores filled Francis with horror. Overcoming his revulsion, he leapt from
In yesterday’s column (Part I), I told you about a Franciscan Friar, Brother Anthony Pham Dinh Tuyen OFM Conv, beginnings and escape from Vietnam as a young
Imagine finding yourself in a hostile land. It has a history of being violently hostile to everything Christian – person and property. What do you do
Herbert Butterfield, the influential twentieth-century historian, identified the Scientific Revolution as “one of the great episodes in human history,” which, along with the rise of
Facebook is a vastly overused, much maligned facet of social media. Of that there can be no denial. We’ve all read stories of mothers neglecting their
The Catechism of the Catholic Church upholds the biblical directive that parents are the first (and most important) teachers of their children. What we
\”You are looking into that school?\” Many of my parents\’ friends looked at me with narrowed eyes. \”Every student has to take 20 credits of
Efforts at living an upright, godly life and following the rules don’t always make life easy. We will inevitably encounter those who don’t appreciate compliance
Divine Mercy is a great mystery of our faith. The very God of the universe, the Lord God Almighty, has deemed to humble Himself for
The continuous setbacks and attacks on religious liberty that plague men and women of faith in the United States and across the world require responses and actions
\”Easter changes everything for us, too. We know that life is stronger than death. Love is stronger than hatred. Hope stronger than despair. We know
Lent, what a season! For some it brings dread, for others it is a time to strengthen their walk with God, and still others it
On the day I graduated from medical school, I took an oath that includes the famous words: “First do no harm.” I am happy to
Those of us who defend Church teaching on human sexuality often focus on the immorality of contraception: condoms, diaphragms, spermicides, birth control pills, birth control
It began because I\’d put off housecleaning. (It\’s bad for me spiritually to do this because then I get vexed by time constraints in addition
It might be premature to announce that we\’ve hit rock bottom, but how much lower can we go? We have become a nation of addicts
\”Neither praise nor threats will distance me from God.\” – Blessed Clemens von Galen (1878-1946) . The Nazis hated and feared Clemens August Graf von Galen
The love God has for his people is intense, all-consuming, a torrential force of love that is poured out from His heart and on to
If you are like me, the first time you heard that the laity could be members of a religious order, what went through your
Two people can look at the same thing and see two very different things. For instance, what do you think of when you see the
Pope Francis has been in office for just over 100 days. Nearly every day this charismatic man delights us with his actions and words, filling
The Church is back in Ordinary Time on its liturgical calendar. For a lot of people (including myself) there are a lot things about the
