From Season to Season

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you; consider how their lives ended, and imitate their faith. —Hebrews 13:7 The past several years have seen a decline in the number of priests and, sadly, the actions of some priests have eroded the reputations and respect of priests everywhere. However, the priesthood—and religious life—remain great gifts for the Church, and there have been countless priests and religious who have courageously and faithfully offered their lives in prayer and service. The recent “Year of the Priest” (2009) and the current “ Year for Consecrated Life ” have provided us with opportunities to pray for and celebrate faithful priests and religious and to also pray for and promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. The Church’s calendar of saints also provides us with frequent opportunities to offer prayers of thanks for the witness of so many holy priests, deacons, and religious from past generations. Included alongside the saints...

On August 25, we celebrate the memory of Saint Joseph Calasanz , an Italian priest who founded a teaching order that is now known as the Piarists. St. Joseph believed that education was a basic human right and he was one of the first to insist that education should be free and available to everyone, especially the poor. Today, Saint Joseph Calasanz is honored as one of the patron saints of teachers. Today, the Piarist Fathers and Brothers minister around the world, including here in the United States. One of their missions is the Piarist School in Floyd Co unty (Southeast Kentucky). This school serves as a tuition-free high school that makes a college-prep education available to youth from one of the poorest parts of the United States, regardless of their faith tradition. The Piarist Fathers and their associates are trying to buy and renovate new property for the growing school. To learn about the school, the mission of the Piarists, and the Piarist School Outreach, click here ...

Several weeks ago, I was asked to begin writing a weekly series of reflections on the Sunday Gospels for  Aleteia  and, I'm happy to report, it seems to be going well. Here is a snippet from this Sunday's reflection: Like the women and men in that crowd, our lives are filled with choices. This holds true of our faith-life, as well. Although we might not think much about it, choices are a difficult reality because with every choice comes consequences. By committing ourselves to one choice—like extending or accepting a marriage proposal, being open to the gift of children, entering religious life, or simply making prayer a part of our daily lives—we are also choosing let go of other options. This happens in countless ways—big and small—throughout our lives. The most serious choice we can make in life, however, is our decision to follow Christ. And this choice, like every other, also has consequences for the way we live our lives.   Jesus im Kriese Seiner J...

We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to his decree. —Romans 8:28   When many of us think of saints, our minds most often go to European or American models of holiness. However, recent years have seen an explosion in the number canonizations and beatifications of women, men, and children from Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. The small country of Madagascar (off the southeastern coast of Africa) has given the Church three new models of holiness since 2002, including Saint Jacques Berthieu , a French Jesuit missionary who was martyred in Ambiatibe in 1896, Blessed Jan Beyzym , a Jesuit missionary from Ukraine who died in Marana in 1912,   and Blessed Raphaël-Louis Rafiringa , a native-born Christian Brother who died in Fianarantsoa in 1919. But honored alongside these male religious is a remarkable laywoman and Church leader who was beatified more than a decade before her male counterpa...

A few days ago, I began reading Uncommon Gratitude: Alleluia for All That Is , a book co-authored by Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B., and Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. While the premise of the book is fairly straightforward, it provides a perspective on life that hasn't been explored often before:  Life itself is an exercise in learning to sing alleluia here in order to recognize the face of God hidden in the recesses of time. To deal with the meaning of alleluia in life means to deal with moments that do not feel like alleluia moments at all... alleluia is not a substitute for reality. It is simply the awareness of another kind of reality--beyond the immediate, beyond the delusional, beyond the instant perception of things. One of the oldest anthems of the church, alleluia simply means "All hail to the One who is." It is the archhymn of praise, the ultimate expression of thanksgiving, the pinnacle of triumph, the acme of human joy. It say...