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...

Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong. —1 Corinthians 1:26-27 In 1896, Mark Twain published his last completed novel. This unexpected work was also his favorite. It was entitled Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte . Twain later recalled, “I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best.” Years before, in the 1850s, he had found a leaf from a biography of Joan of Arc, an event which began a lifelong fascination with her story. The book is a huge departure from Twain’s comedic writings, but it’s certainly worth reading. Mark Twain’s book is just one example of how a nineteen year old French girl, who lived an extraordinary (and extraordinarily unusual) life, and who died a horrific death, has held the imagination of so many fo...