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Today’s Rome is home to about 900 churches, with twenty-four—referred to as tituli—tucked away in the Eternal City’s historic center. These two dozen houses of worship are among the world’s oldest and most fascinating, but pilgrims who travel to Rome may miss visiting them because they are unaware of their...
A Focus on the Erosion of Lives and Relationships Due to Alcohol Addiction First of a five-part series What would it be like to have an active volcano one hundred yards from your home? You never know when the volcano will erupt and destroy everything you own and everyone you...
Catholics Making Time to Shape Up Soul and Body The number of obese US adults is going the wrong way. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported a new high in America’s obesity rate, with 42.4 percent of the nation’s adult population now qualifying as obese. Despite the...
Americans live in the land of opportunity. Our rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are practically written in blood in the Constitution. We are surrounded by things that exist for the sole purpose of making us happy: food, drink, entertainment, vacations, endless apps on our electronics, and...
Mary of Magdala Blazes the Trail to Easter Mary Magdalene was one of the named women in the group who traveled with Jesus from Galilee. Many modern scholars believe her ministry during Jesus’ life on earth was as significant as Peter’s, albeit in different ways. Jesus said to her, “Mary!”...
Unlike previous Holy Weeks, the landscape for 2020’s prayerful remembrances last April was bleak and barren. Pope Francis celebrated the Eucharist without a congregation due to restrictions caused by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The photos and video from inside virtually empty St. Peter’s Basilica spoke volumes about the global impact...
All of us climb on our soapbox to express a viewpoint we feel passionate about. “Responsibility” in all forms—personal, moral, and social—to name a few—gets me on my soapbox. It’s a trait sorely lacking in society today, in my opinion. Case in point, COVID-19 vaccine incentives. I’m not talking about...
The story of a necklace many Catholics wear begins with an apparition of our Blessed Mother to a young nun. Nearly 200 years ago, a young nun named Catherine Labouré experienced an apparition from our Blessed Mother resulting in the casting of medals that have enriched and benefited Catholics worldwide....
Maria sat in the parish office, in tears and inconsolable. A third doctor had just told her that her best option was to abort her baby. Second and third opinions didn’t give her the answer she hoped for and desperately needed to hear. She wanted God’s help. She came to...
Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will...
Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 The changes we have experienced over these many months have been mind-boggling. The coronavirus, the ...
Doña Alba is a longtime parishioner of Visitation Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) Church in Philadelphia. A native of Puerto Rico, she makes the best arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) you’ve ever tasted. For six years, I enjoyed plate after plate of delicious Puerto Rican food from Doña Alba’s kitchen—just...
A popular adage attributed to John Lydgate, a fifteenth-century monk and a prolific English poet, could be a helpful life lesson: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the...
The newspaper appears on your doorstep early Saturday morning. A bag of food is passed through a narrow window into your waiting hands. Miraculously, your sidewalk is shoveled and the driveway is cleared after a monster snowstorm. You open the closet door to find a crisp, pressed shirt ready to...
Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, beautiful as the white moon, pure as the blazing sun, fearsome as celestial visions? Song of Songs 6:10 These words surely can be said about the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In her image to St. Juan Diego, she is...
My paternal grandmother was very dear to me. Many things contributed to our bond: I was named after her, she was the closest woman I had to a mother as I grew up, and she introduced me to the Catholic faith. She didn’t drive, and my grandfather—who did drive—passed away...
Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 Q. Sister, how did you discover your vocation? A. In 1959, in order to graduate from...
For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—[says] the Lord— plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope. When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:11–12 Q. Sister,...
Through the years, countless employees were coached to ask the faithful inquiring at the parish office, “Are you a registered parishioner?” Historically, church membership has been complicated. When ethnic parishes thrived, people were assigned membership by country of origin, culture, and language. Sadly, race was sometimes a factor. Parish membership...
What are your plans for the Easter season and beyond? Of course we celebrate our Savior’s rising from death on Easter Sunday. But in the days after, do we embrace the vocation Jesus Christ offers to us by way of his life, passion, crucifixion, and resurrection? I refer to the...
Typically at this time every year, I am preparing to attend the annual Catholic Media Association Conference. It’s a time to mingle with and learn from colleagues and be inspired by speakers, educational sessions, and the awards program, where I learn if any of the previous year’s Liguorian content has...
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. John 3:16 Q. Sister, how did you discover your vocation? A. When I was a small child, after meeting some of my cousins...
Not all Catholic videos are worth viewing. I was buying a new suit. I wanted to make sure it was black and not navy blue, so I asked another shopper about the color. I’m color blind. I often have to ask someone about colors. Blue, pink, purple, and black can...
As I noted in my January column, this year we will explore in detail the apparitions of our Lady. My hope is that this practice of reflection and prayer with the Blessed Virgin will awaken a deeper understanding of the meaning of these events in you and bring to light...
This month marks a full year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Many, myself included, never would have predicted that this virus would still be a topic of international concern today. Yet here we are, more than halfway through a new school year with parents...
When my girls were younger, I established rules for when they would be paid for successfully finishing a particular chore. I never favored a “no obligations” allowance, so they understood that money they acquired from me in their youth would have to be earned. I classified some chores as their...