Life can change in a split second. My wife Pat and I experienced this first-hand a few weeks ago while visiting friends. How could I summarize? Shock. Utter shock. No time to think. No safety net. No “alternative plan.” No way to do anything but surrender to the moment. And yet… unimaginable Mercy. Here’s the…
Book Review: The Family That Prays Together Stays Together: Discover the Promise and Power of the Rosary with Fr. Patrick Peyton, by Fr. Willy Raymond, C.S.C. Father Willy Raymond’s book, The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, is a testament to the transformative power of the Rosary. It is also a tribute to another, world-renown…
Book Review of “My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping and Surviving as an Alzheimer’s Caregiver” by Martin J. Schreiber “My Two Elaines” by Martin J. Schreiber is a moving and insightful account of one man’s journey through the challenging and often heartbreaking landscape of Alzheimer’s disease. As a former governor of Wisconsin, Schreiber is no stranger…
My wife, Pat, and I just returned from an important trip to Rome – a trip of gratitude, to give thanks for God’s guidance in acquiring a “Building For Life” with assistance of the Knights of Columbus Church Loan Program. The new headquarters for the Austin-based John Paul II Life and Family Center (JPII Life…
CNA—New Bishop James Ruggieri became a Third Order Franciscan not long before his ordination in Portland, Maine, on Tuesday — a marker of why Pope Francis appointed him. Love for the poor and homeless Ruggieri, 56, profiled by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, in April, is known for driving a food truck…
In light of the soon-to-begin pilgrimage route from the West, named the Serra Route, that will end in Indianapolis at the National Eucharistic Convention, we re-post this important article on Fr. Serra penned by the Archbishop of San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone: To the protesters who tore down his statue in Los Angeles [in July…
Bianca Jagger just issued a thundering warning about Nicaragua’s human rights abuses: “Just like the Castro Regime did in Cuba during the 1960s,” she wrote in the U.K.’s Independent, Nicaragua has put “harsh restrictions on religious freedom, practices, and church processions. Catholic education has been forbidden.” She even compares the country’s current purge of the Catholic…
Sometimes you find Faith where you least expect it. That’s my takeaway after visiting Southeast Asia in recent weeks. I spent time in Vietnam, Singapore, Laos, and Cambodia. The faithful find themselves in different and often difficult situations in each place, yet even so, I was impressed by what I saw. Vietnam Consider Vietnam, once…
CNA—Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, provided both diagnoses of and prescriptions for the most pervasive spiritual maladies of our times in an interview with EWTN News Rome correspondent Colm Flynn. One of the most popular bishops in the United States and founder of the Word on Fire evangelization ministry, Barron told Flynn the spiritual…
In the Bible, the book of Ruth illustrates the difference between those who step out in faith and take risks, and those who give into fear, play it safe, and miss God’s best for them. God rewards faith, not fear! What Challenge was the St. John Paul II Life Center Facing? On December 21, 2023,…
What is it that would move a young person to seek to live a deeply spiritual life? To dedicate his or her life to Jesus Christ, even to the point of forsaking all else in order to pursue him, and him alone, in a life of service to God’s Church in Holy Orders or religious…
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a document (Understanding Abortion Pills: Q & A on Chemical Abortions) to explain its concerns about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval and deregulation of a chemical abortion pill, which is the subject of an ongoing U.S. Supreme Court case. A lawsuit filed by the pro-life…
CNA—A broad coalition of 151 Catholics including medical professionals, bioethicists, and scholars released a joint letter this past week expressing concern about new guidelines issued by a major neurological society regarding “brain death” — a hotly contested topic in the medical community and among people of faith. American Association of Neurology changes guidelines on brain…
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron issued a spiritual call to arms to Detroit’s Catholics this Lenten season, explaining how by accepting ashes, they have engaged in a 40-day campaign to overcome sin. The archbishop gave his traditional preaching during the midday Ash Wednesday Mass on Feb. 14 at St. Aloysius Parish, a few blocks from Detroit’s…
Last night I had the good fortune of attending our archdiocesan Pallium Lecture. It “is an annual event designed to foster conversation and engage the broader culture through the Catholic intellectual tradition,” per the Milwaukee Archdiocese website. Over the history of the event, the speakers have included Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Barron, among many other…
Vatican News—Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, has released another critique of the Synod on Synodality, arguing that the ongoing discussion and discernment process offers “two opposing visions” of the nature, organization, and role of the Church. On the one hand “On the one hand, the Church is presented as founded…
ACI Prensa—Four bishops from the Mexican state of Guerrero recently met with members of organized crime in an effort to seek peace in a region shaken by violent clashes and death. During a Feb. 14 press conference, Bishop José de Jesús González of the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa said that the prelates of the area “began…
OSV News—With the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers set to square off in Super Bowl LVIII, two faith-based nonprofits each stand to win big — thanks to a friendly wager between the Catholic bishops in the teams’ respective cities. Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop James V. Johnston of Kansas…
“Will you be my Valentine?” For many people, this question is an expression of love that is often said on the February holiday known as Valentine’s Day. Flowers are delivered, chocolate hearts fly off the shelves, and cards are signed, sealed (sometimes with a kiss), and delivered. Even though Valentine’s Day is seen as a…
On January 22, the Catholic Church in the United States observes a “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children”. As a past president and former board member of Wisconsin Right to Life, this day is especially meaningful to me. And, somewhat oddly, it inspired me today to share some rather different investment…
