Welcome Ceremony The White House, Washington Wednesday, 23 September 2015 Good morning! Mr President, I am deeply grateful for your welcome in the name of all Americans. As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families. I look forward to […]
There is intense discussion currently about changing the U.S. immigration system so that thousands or even millions more people can easily become citizens. Oftentimes underlying this talk is the belief that the U.S. will always be prosperous and poor nations will always be poor, so the only way to help is by letting the poor […]
Godzilla’s Parents It was a lizard’s DNA Invigorated by an A- Bomb test and grown a size so huge There could be from it no refuge A beast emerging from the sea Supercharged at Bikini, An accident without designer, No thanks to Teller, Oppenheimer I saw it on a movie screen, The biggest lizard ever […]
Born Francesco Forgione in 1887, he was given the name Pio when he joined the Capuchins, and was popularly known as Padre Pio after his ordination to the priesthood. He became famous for his stigmata. On 16 June 2002, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II. Born in Pietrelcina, a farming town in the […]
ST. THECLA is one of the most ancient, as she is one of the most illustrious, Saints in the calendar of the Church. It was at Iconium that St. Paul met St. Thecla, and kindled the love of virginity in her heart. She had been promised in marriage to a young man who was rich […]
By Steven Mosher and Jonathan Abbamonte Will the Chinese Communist Party loosen the stranglehold it has had on reproduction since the late seventies? There has been much speculation that the 13 th Five-Year Plan, to be released next month, will significantly relax the well-known One Child Policy. If the regime does back away from its […]
By Marta Petrosillo ROME—“We Christians are determined to stay on in Syria and continue to give our witness.” Grim-faced and speaking with determination, Chaldean Archbishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria, addressed media here today. The archbishop commented on the mass exodus of Syrians, spurred on in recent weeks by the welcome shown by some European […]
ST. THOMAS, the glory of the Spanish Church in the sixteenth century, was born in 1488. A thirst for the science of the Saints led him to enter the house of the Austin Friars at Salamanca. Charles V listened to him as if an oracle, and appointed him Archbishop of Valencia. On being led to […]
ONE day, as Our Lord was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw, sitting at the receipt of custom, Matthew the publican, whose business it was to collect the taxes from the people for their Roman masters. Jesus said to him, “Follow Me;” and leaving all, Matthew arose and followed Him. Now the […]
EUSTACHIUS, called Placidus before his conversion, was a distinguished officer of the Roman army under the Emperor Trajan. One day, whilst hunting a deer, he suddenly perceived between the horns of the animal the image of our crucified Saviour. Responsive to what he considered a voice from heaven, he lost not a moment in becoming […]
MANY centuries ago, St. Januarius died for the Faith in the persecution of Diocletian, and to this day God confirms the faith of His Church, and works a continual miracle, through the blood which Januarius shed for Him. The Saint was Bishop of Beneventum, Italy, and on one occasion he travelled to Misenum in order […]
Recently a prominent CEO told a mixed group of business leaders that, regardless of their religion, they simply had to read the Bible. Why? Because success in business depends not so much upon understanding financial reports as it does upon understanding people. And when it comes to a book that reveals what makes people tick, […]
Friends One Flesh Everyone needs someone to say always forever. Everyone needs someone to say never alone. Everyone needs someone to say here together. Everyone needs someone to say this is home. I’ll be that someone who tells you forever, That someone who sees you’re never alone. That someone who says here now together, That […]
Joseph was born in Cupertino, Italy in 1603. The son of pious parents, he early attained to the love of God. His boyhood and youth were passed in greatest simplicity and in innocent pastimes. But after the Virgin Mother of God had freed him from a long and painful illness – one which he had […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 2nd Reading: James 3:16–4:3 Responsorial: Psalm 54:3-6, 8 Gospel: Mark 9:30-37 Saying Yes to Jesus and No to Sin “Where do the conflicts among you come from? (James 4:1) Our minds have the capacity to do amazing things. They can […]
Reading Laudato Si was like falling in love. For my husband and me, it brought back memories of the exciting early mornings of twelve years ago. Newly enraptured with Catholic teaching, we would rise early with a pot of coffee and our books – him with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and me with […]
More scientific progress? In the wake of news videos about slicing up and testing the remains of aborted babies, leave it to leading scientific researchers to continue to push the envelope. The Hinxton group (a group of stem cell researchers, policy wonks, and bioethicists) is calling for reopening the debate over altering the DNA of […]
The air is turning cooler, football is on TV and the kiddos are back in school. While for some that may be a sigh of relief, we quickly realize that back to school doesn’t really free up much of our time. Soccer practices, homework, dance class, school parties and religious education begin to fill up […]
ST. LAMBERT was a native of Maestricht, in present day Netherlands. His father intrusted his education to the holy Bishop St. Theodard, and on that good man being assassinated, Lambert was chosen his successor. A revolution breaking out which overturned the kingdom of Austrasia, our Saint was banished from his see on account of his […]
St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) of whom Pope Clement VIII said: “The Church of God had not his equal in learning,” was born of a noble family at Montepulciano in Tuscany, Italy. He lived a very full life conspicuous for exemplary piety. Brilliant and unusually devout, as a young man he attended the Jesuit College in […]
Every abortion in Canada is paid for with our tax dollars (without our consent or any public consensus). It is a moral outrage! Then in late July 2015, the abortion pill RU-486 was quietly approved by Health Canada. Although women will need a prescription to obtain it, a whole new phase of early abortion is about […]
CYPRIAN was an African of noble birth, but of evil life, a pagan, and a teacher of rhetoric. In middle life he was converted to Christianity, and shortly after his baptism was ordained priest, and made Bishop of Carthage, notwithstanding his resistance. When the persecution of Decius broke out, he fled from his episcopal city, […]
She was born in Genoa in 1447, the last of five children. Rich, exceedingly beautiful, and of noble lineage, Catherine had as a child rejected the solicitations of the world, and begged her divine Master for some share in His sufferings. At sixteen years of age she found herself promised in marriage to a young […]
