The Hope of Advent
I held it together until the morning after our beloved family puppy had gone missing. Up until then, I was all action: printing “lost dog” flyers, helping my husband canvass neighborhoods where she’d last been seen, and consoling our three children who were understandably yearning to find her.
Extra, Extra! Read All About It – In More Ways Than One
Times change. The institutions that seemed to be enduring without extinction are, in fact, showing a new face. The free press is a necessary piece of the social political structure in a democratic representative society. Newspapers and broadcast news were traditionally the trusted sources of information, and a window to the events of the world. Everything evolves, and as change can be unnerving to some, it must be looked at as inevitable and, in some cases, exciting. I remember the big three networks as the only source of major broadcast news, with a few local channels in large cities. Cable TV and talk radio began the downward spiral of influence for these legacy institutions. The introduction of the news channels with their 24-hour cycle brought constant coverage which also led to fatigue.
Saint Faustina: The Apostle of Purgatory
St. Maria Faustina, through her devotions, meditations and prayers, allowed numerous holy souls in purgatory to reach heaven. Her conversations with Our Lord and Our Lady as recorded in her diary, including her own beautiful prayers and, of course, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, show this important work of mercy – praying for the dying souls and those in purgatory.
Peace is Found in Unity – Which Comes from God
St. Paul said that we are going to win. Our Lady promised that in the end her Immaculate Heart will triumph. Like most of us I look around and wonder how this will come about. Doom and gloom are fed to us daily. By watching the news and following the flow of pessimism that rules the day it is easy to understand why despair is on the rise. A priest once suggested that I stop watching the news. It is said that “no news is good news.” I often think of former Vice-President Spiro Agnew’s famous depiction of the press, referring to them as the “nattering nabobs of negativism.” Obviously, we cannot totally ignore world events, but obsessive focus on things that we cannot directly affect is counterproductive. Strong devotion leading us to proper action is how we effect change.
The Rule of God and the God of Rulers
We saw the new motion picture “Reagan” last week. It brought me back to the time of my own political coming of age in the 1970s. The first presidential election in which I participated was in 1976. The United States was reeling from the disruption of both a presidential and vice-presidential resignation. The country was in the hands of two appointed men in the executive branch of our nation. In 1972, by an overwhelming majority, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew were reelected. Two years later, Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller held the offices of president and vice-president. The political and social turmoil of the time was redefining the United States.
Pray, Hope and Sleep Peacefully in the Arms of God
We were sitting having dinner the other evening. Outside on the deck on a patio chair was one of our neighborhood cats. She was curled up, peacefully asleep, unaware of the turmoil that defines our present day. I commented to my wife that this reminds me of the Scripture passage when Our Lord states:
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one hour to his life?” (Mt 6:26)
A Sign from Our Lady? News from the Pilgrim Virgin Tours
There have been a number of reports of supernatural manifestations stemming from the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, during her visitations to parishes, particularly in the dioceses of Youngstown, OH this past week, and Rockville Center, NY in May.
In Memoriam: Father Charles Fanelli
On July 17, 2024, the World Apostolate of Fatima USA/Our Lady’s Blue Army lost a long time member when Fr. Charles Fanelli passed away.
Heroic Forgiveness and the Sacraments
Last month I was in Krakow, Poland, with my wife, who is Polish-born. We arranged and accompanied the Magnificat Choir from St. John Cantius Parish in Chicago on their sacred music pilgrimage. While there, we attended Sunday morning Mass at beautiful St. Mary’s Basilica. For his homily, the priest read the letter from the Polish Bishop’s conference decrying the attempts by the European Union to mandate the legalization of non-Catholic practices such as abortion across the region. All this, of course, to bring the country out of the “dark ages” of Christian morality! As the bishops stated in that letter, “true democracy is for everyone to have the right to life.” Do these efforts to impose a secular rule on society sound familiar? Evil is everywhere and never rests. The extent of this can never be underestimated.
Finding Fatima Through The Lord of the Rings: Part 2 – Through the Fires
As I established in the first part of this series, Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien discouraged his audience from reading The Lord of the Rings as an allegory. This doesn’t mean that similarities between his fantasy and Catholicism shouldn’t be made, though. In fact, doing so only serves to strengthen our understanding of our Faith.
