Saturday, December 20, 20140309With elf stockings on their heads, a bounce in their steps and joy in their hearts, hundreds of volunteers helped distribute countless gifts during the Catholic Charities Christmas Distribution event at Santa Clara Regional Community Center on Dec. 13.
Wednesday, December 17, 20140223It is Advent season, and we have been warned to stay awake and to keep our eyes alert for a special coming of someone who will show us the path that leads to eternal life.
Thursday, December 11, 20140155Youth ministry is not about planning activities for young people, but about opening one's eyes to their culture, walking alongside them and helping them discover the path God wants them to take, Pope Francis said.
Monday, December 8, 20140150In the heart of Rome's high-end shopping district, sparkling with Christmas lights and shiny baubles in the windows of famous designers, Pope Francis prayed that people would spend time in silence and in service as they prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth. Celebrating the feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec. 8, Pope Francis prayed for...
Thursday, December 4, 20140137As Advent got underway, Pope Francis included in his morning Mass homilies specific graces Catholics should pray for as they prepare for Christmas.
Monday, December 1, 20140178Devotion to Mary is an essential part of our Catholic faith. For Catholic children learning the Hail Mary is an important spiritual rite of passage. There are many traditions about the Blessed Virgin. She has revealed herself in numerous apparitions. Some, including those at Lourdes, at Fatima and Tepeyac, have been accepted by the...
The old song told us that we could go to the east or go to the west, but someday we would find our happiness in our own backyard. The validity of this thought came to me in a very graphic way recently when I traveled to St. Louis and back on the occasion of the 50th birthday celebration of my niece, Anne.
Monday, December 1, 20140149A day after hearing Turkish leaders demand the West show more respect for Islam, Pope Francis prayed alongside a Muslim cleric inside Istanbul's most famous mosque. Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Istanbul's 19th-century Catholic cathedral, which ordinarily holds fewer than 600 people, but was filled to overflowing for the Mass. It was...
Giving thanks is embedded in our Catholic and our American DNA. Eucharist comes from the Greek word for grateful, or giving thanks, thus our “Sacrament of Sacraments” is one of thanksgiving. In America, Thanksgiving as a feast celebrating thanks by sharing, is part of our earliest tradition.
