There are many sides to Pope Francis, but the one I saw most prominently while in the Holy Land was his loving fatherhood. Read about it in my latest for Fathers for Good: Spiritual Father: Pope Francis went as a Read more
James Foley in a 2011 interview
While in captivity, James Foley sent a letter home, via a released fellow hostage who memorized it and passed it on to his family. His captors confiscated all of his written letters, but the oral one made it through and has since been published by his family.
First, I’m touched that Foley’s fellow hostage was able to retain it, considering his own (more…)
Today the Catholic Church celebrates the Queenship of Mary, a feast day often misunderstood by non-Catholics and even Catholics themselves.
The primary reason is that folks mistakenly believe that Catholics worship Mary and that we hold her equal with Christ. That’s absolutely untrue. We worship only (more…)
Did you know that the Catholic Church was established in Korea by the laity? Until recently I’d assumed that Korea had been evangelized by religious who were sent by their orders to bring the Faith into mission territory. Not so, Read more
Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem, where Mary was assumed into heaven.
As we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I’m taken back to my time in the Holy Land, and especially to my visit to the Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem. The church has traditionally marked the place at which Mary “went to sleep” and was then assumed, body and soul, into heaven.
I remember the exceptional peacefulness of the site, in particular the lower church in which there’s a life-size statue of the Blessed Mother as she may have looked at her falling into sleep, or dormition. Kneelers surround the statue, and as I knelt there, I could sense the sadness of the (more…)
This past Wednesday, August 6, I posted the link to my latest column for Aleteia about Mary’s Gourmet Diner, a privately-owned establishment in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The owner, Mary Haglund, allows (I mean, allowed) her employees to offer a 15 per cent ‘praying in public” discount to patrons who stop to give thanks for their meals before digging in. The employees offered the discount at their own discretion and to no particular religious denomination. The point was to encourage folks to be thankful for the (more…)
Some folks are embarrassed to pray in public. The story of Mary’s Gourmet Diner may change your mind. Here’s my latest at Aleteia: The Diner Receipt that Went Viral Don’t be embarrassed to pray quietly in public while we still Read more