For many years, since the pontificate of St. John Paul II, it is been the custom of the Popes to go on a Lenten retreat with members of their curial staffs during the week immediately following Ash Wednesday. Pope Francis has followed this custom with the exception that he has requested the retreat
I recently returned from a required visit to Rome which every bishop must make on a regular interval. The visit is called an ad limina visit because it is one to the "threshold of the apostles." On the visit, the bishop celebrates Mass at this threshold which is the tombs of the foundational
As Ash Wednesday is upon us. There is something quite unique about this day. It marks the beginning of Lent as a solemn penitential season of forty days for the Church. Yet, there is almost something mystical that surrounds Ash Wednesday! Churches are filled with people anxious to receive ashes
We live today in the midst of a world that is filled with words coming to us from all sides. The days of getting news and hearing a message from the television or newspapers are long over. We possess, through electronic devices we carry in our pockets, instant communication from the world and to
One of the saints that is special to Pope Francis is St. John Bosco. Pope Francis has made mention of him on several occasions. Just last year in his Wednesday audience, the Pope pointed to the upcoming Feast of St. John Bosco on the next day, January 31, and referred to the tremendous influence
We are already more than a week into the new year. As we planned for this significant year of 2020, we have made resolutions to improve ourselves as we journey through it. We know from experience that many of those resolutions will not come to pass. What is important for the new year is not so
The center of our celebration at Christmas is the reality that God became one of us, born of the Virgin Mary in a stable at Bethlehem under the poorest of conditions. The Nativity scene, captured in so many different ways and manners of art and seen at this time on so many Christmas cards and other
This year, December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, falls on the Second Sunday of Advent. Because of the priority of the Sundays of Advent, the Solemnity, while not a Holy Day of Obligation this year, is transferred to Monday, December 9. The Mass for the Second Sunday of Advent
The date for Thanksgiving in our nation is fixed for the fourth Thursday of November which causes the celebration this year to be as late as possible on November 28. Because of this, we have more time to spend in preparation for this uniquely American holiday free from the rushing around that
November, which begins with the Solemnity of All Saints immediately followed by the Commemoration of All Souls, is the month in which we remember all those who have gone before us. In a special way during this month, we are reminded of the purpose of our journey in this life which is to be united
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