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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Preceded by young people and clergy waving tall palm branches, Pope Francis began his Holy Week liturgies by encouraging people to ask themselves which personality in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection they resemble most. "Where is my heart? Which of these people do I resemble most?" Pope Francis asked April 13 as he celebrated the Palm Sunday Mass of the Lord's Passion. Pope Francis holds palms at the start of Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 13. (CNS/Paul Haring) Joined by thousands of young people for the...

Teaching the truths about homosexuality, chastity, adultery, and how God wants us to live our lives is not always an easy thing to do. Nor is living that life. But God asks that we do our best nevertheless, for our ultimate goal is eternity with Him. We cannot plead ignorance. We cannot justify that we chose otherwise. God's word is the truth, and though some may try to silence those who tell the truth, it doesn't change the facts. April 11, 2014 (ALL.org) - Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, a Dominican nun who has recently come under fire for a presentation...

Two years ago this month, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a sweeping mandate for reform and renewal of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), on April 18, 2012. The LCWR is a superiors’ conference made up of about 1,100 sisters who are on leadership teams in about 80% of the U.S. women’s apostolic orders in the United States. Yet, to date, there are no signs of any reforms taking place; rather, a just-released book by the LCWR repeats its criticism of the mandate and presents a defense of the organization. Spiritual Leadership for Challenging...

Vatican City, Apr 12, 2014 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis has appointed Lady Margaret Scotford Archer as president of a group of scholars dedicated to studying issues in the social sciences in order to offer reflection and advice to the leadership of the Church. According to an April 12 press release from the Holy See, “the Holy Father has named the most illustrious Professor Lady Margaret Scotford Archer President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.” The new president was born in Grenoside, U.K., and holds a Ph.D. from the University of London. She is currently a professor...

Paul Jarzembowski speaks with CNA on April 10, 2014 Credit: Marco Gandolfo/CNA Vatican City, Apr 14, 2014 / 05:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At a recent gathering discussing preparations for World Youth Day in Krakow, a coordinator for the event emphasized how each year many youths receive the courage to answer their vocational call. “Year after year, the first thing we’ve seen is vocations. There are a lot of people who feel the call to serve the Church at this gathering,” Paul Jarzembowski expressed during an April 10 interview with CNA. “Perhaps it’s the call of the Holy Father, perhaps it’s...

Mother Maria Goretti Lee's community of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres Credit: Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres Vatican City, Apr 14, 2014 / 10:23 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A missionary order founded in the middle Ages in France is sending their burgeoning number of vocations from Asia and especially South Korea to evangelize countries throughout the world. “Our congregation has about 4,200 sisters, and we are serving 37 countries and we will expand 3 countries more this year” Mother Maria Goretti Lee, Superior of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, told CNA on March 18. “We send...

Ecce Homo by Antonio Ciseri The reading of the Passion according to Saint Matthew yesterday featured one of the most mysterious verses in the whole New Testament.It was this: While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: ‘Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.’ (Matthew 27:19). Pilate’s wife appears, and disappears, in this one verse. Moreover, this verse is found only in the gospel of St Matthew, and in none of the other synoptic gospels. What on earth...

VATICAN CITY (RNS) While millions of pilgrims are expected to attend the Catholic Church’s first-ever double canonization at the end of April, the Vatican is preparing its most ambitious TV and social media campaign for the millions who don’t make it to Rome.View down Via della Conciliazione to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Harris via Flickr City officials are expecting more than 5 million people to attend the ceremony when Pope Francis declares his predecessors Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII saints in St Peter’s Square on April 27.For the first time viewers will...

Imitating Jesus Christ, Incarnate Godby John A. Hardon, S.J.We believe, that the Son of God assumed human flesh, body and soul, and dwelt among us, like one of us, in order to redeem us. We believe that His divine nature was substantially united to our human nature. We believe that Jesus Christ is God who became man and will remain man for the endlessTo be a Christian not only in name but in reality, one must believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, that He is true God and true man. To be a Christian means to believe that...

My native place of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has its large share of loony dissent. Some of it is so strange that you wonder if you are actually imagining it. That said, I am not making this up. From the Minneapolis Star Sickle comes this big puppet liturgical horror for Palm Sunday at the über-weird St. Joan of Arc parish, in the running for the weirdest parish in these USA. QUOTE Actors and musicians presented Palm Sunday Family Mass with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre [apt mane] at Saint Joan of Arc...

Featured Term (selected at random:CATHOLICITY Universality of the Church founded by Christ. In the Nicene Creed the Church is said to be "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic." The Church's catholicity is first of all spatial, on account of her actual extension over the whole earth. This kind of catholicity may be actual, when the Church is actually extended everywhere; it is virtual in that Christ's intention was to have the Church present among all peoples. Actual catholicity is said to be physical if it embodies all persons of the earth, even if not literally every individual. It is moral if...

In past years on the blog, I have generally published the schedule of the Lord’s final week according to the Scriptures (on the Monday of Holy Week). Since I have done this in years past, I presume most of you have seen it by now. If you haven’t, you can read it here: A Chronology of Jesus’ Holy WeekFor this year, I thought I might look at some of the moments in the Passion Narrative (this year from St. Matthew) and highlight them.The first moment occurs in the Garden of Gethsemane and presents a very good stance for Holy Week,...

April 14, 2014Monday of Holy Week    Reading 1 Is 42:1-7 Here is my servant whom I uphold,my chosen one with whom I am pleased,Upon whom I have put my Spirit;he shall bring forth justice to the nations,Not crying out, not shouting,not making his voice heard in the street.A bruised reed he shall not break,and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,Until he establishes justice on the earth;the coastlands will wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the LORD,who created the heavens and stretched them out,who spreads out the earth with its crops,Who gives breath to its peopleand spirit...

The video of Father Ray Kelly's version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” was taped at a recent wedding in Ireland and has become an internet sensation. The priest from Oldcastle, Ireland, is a trained singer but he told reporters that the couple had no idea what was going to happen. Father Kelly changed the lyrics to make the song more suitable for a wedding. A look at video from the ceremony indicates that the audience loved it. According to BBC News, Father Kelly is currently working on his third album. "I keep saying this will be my last because this year...

Reading the comments to John’s excellent post about Bishop Paprocki, I sense a kind of amnesia. So, for the record: There is already lots of clarity about communion and pro-abortion politicians.And, lest we let ourselves off the hook while  scorning those awful no-good pro-aborts, there is also lot of clarity about how maybe many of us  shouldn’t be receiving communion, either.First, take the “Aparecida Document” edited by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who is now Pope Francis, and approved by Pope Benedict (it was the final report of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean meeting in 2007).Pro-abortion politicians should not receive...

Francis is like a walk through London. You never know what to expect. But are his latest words on marriage based on his "Jesuit creativity"?

I love coffee, and there are few things I enjoy more than a rich cup of the blessed brew. But my affection for this drink goes beyond preference and borders on necessity—for when the alarm goes off and I pry myself out of bed each morning, coffee is the only thing that can restore my humanity and keep me from drifting gently back to sleep in my chair.If you’re like most people, you’ll probably agree with my sentiments. After all, coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. But did you know that the popularity of coffee...

Here is something that could tie together the recent anti-Catholic catholic high school explosions with lefty groups such as the LCWR, Network, FutureChurch, NCAN, etc., and the Fishwrap, The Tablet, Commonweal, America, US Catholic, etc.This was found the blog of Daniel Greenfield (my emphases): What do the forced departure of Brendan Eich from Mozilla and #CancelColbert have in common? They are both examples of Fakectivism. [Fake-activism = Faketivism]Fakectivism is social media activism by small numbers of people that is integrated into the news cycle because it matches the media’s political agenda.Every Tea Party member knows that media coverage of actual...

The Passion which we read in today’s liturgy is too long to comment on in detail. We are only able to take a portion and examine it.It may be of some value to examine the “middle range” of problems and personalities. The usual villains such as the Temple leaders, Judas, and the recruited crowd which shouted “Crucify him!” are fairly obvious in displaying their sinfulness and are unambiguously wicked. But there are others who participate in the Passion accounts whose sinfulness, struggles and neglect are more subtle, but still real. It is perhaps in these figures that we can learn...

Today I saw on the front page of the Holy See’s daily that the Holy Father reconfirmed Msgr. Guido Marini as Master of Ceremonies for another term. Good sign. Pope Francis is keeping certain of Pope Benedict’s people pretty close.