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A unique “double asteroid” was photographed by a powerful telescope as it whizzed by Earth last month at over 43,000 mph. The asteroid, classified as 1999 KW4, is made up of two components — a larger body orbited by a smaller one separated by about 1.6 miles. It got as close as 3.2 million miles to Earth on May 25 — about 14 times the distance from Earth to the Moon, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said in a news release Monday. The double asteroid, which has an orbit well known to scientists, is not an impact threat to Earth,...

Red Simple THE PROTOMARTYR OF THE BENEDICTINE ORDER stands before us today in his strength and his beauty. The empire had fallen, and the yoke of the Arian Goths lay heavy upon Italy. Rome was no longer in the hands of the glorious races, which had made her greatness; these, nevertheless, kept up their honorable traditions. They offered a great lesson for future times of revolution to other descendants of not less noble families: in lieu of the ensign of civic honor once committed to their fathers, the survivors of the old patrician ranks made it their duty to...

Red Double JANUARIUS IS EVER PREACHING the Gospel to every creature; for his miraculous blood perpetuates the testimony he bore to Christ. Let those who say they cannot believe unless they see, go to Naples; there they will behold the martyr’s blood, when placed near his head which was cut off seventeen hundred years ago, to liquefy and boil as at the moment it escaped from his sacred veins. No; miracles are not lacking in the Church at the present day. True, God cannot subject himself to the fanciful requirements of those proud men who would dictate to him...

Red Commemoration BESIDE JOHN OF SAHAGÚN, the Apostle of peace, are grouped four warriors of our Lord’s army. Thus peace and war this day go hand in hand, yea, form but one in the kingdom of the Son of God. The three-fold peace, preached by Christ, namely, man’s peace with his God, with himself, and with his brethren, all fellow citizens in the Holy City—is to be won only at the cost of combat with Satan, the flesh, and world, which is the “accursed city.” Together with the Church, let us blend in one united homage, our praises of...

Red Double JANUARIUS is ever preaching the Gospel to every creature; for his miraculous blood perpetuates the testimony he bore to Christ. Let those who say they cannot believe unless they see, go to Naples; there they will behold the martyr’s blood, when placed near his head which was cut off seventeen hundred years ago, to liquefy and boil as at the moment it escaped from his sacred veins. No; miracles are not lacking in the Church at the present day. True, God cannot subject himself to the fanciful requirements of those proud men who would dictate to him...

The National Science Foundation has committed $10 million to build robots that will act as “personal trainers” for children, in an effort to influence their behavior and eating habits. The NSF grant said the project is necessary due to “critical societal problems.”

As birth rates among young women plummet, small dog ownership has risen rapidly in America’s urban centers. America’s next generation of youngsters should be called “Generation Rex.”If you’re wondering why playgrounds around the city are so quiet and dog runs are packed, a new report has an answer: More and more US women are forgoing motherhood and getting their maternal kicks by owning handbag-size canines.Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that a big drop in the number of babies born to women ages 15 to 29 corresponds with a huge increase in the number of tiny...

For 26 days, D.J. Rodrian put normal life on hold while he led an exhaustive search for his lost dog, Titus. Rodrian slept many of those nights in a tent in his former neighborhood in the hope his beloved pet would return to the familiar spot. Hundreds of people responded to ubiquitous fliers and to Rodrian's website devoted to the search. Total strangers walked or drove the Menomonee Parkway, the Oak Leaf Trail, Currie Park, the Mount Mary College neighborhood and other areas, hoping to find the 8-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback. The happy outcome everyone hoped and prayed for was not...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Feb. 21, 2008 – Hearing a noise in the hallway, Dean gets out of his bed on the floor and trots to the door as he searches the cool February air for a clue. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Vaneta Vaughn, the top enlisted soldier with 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, scratches Dean, the battalion chaplain’s dog, behind his ear at Camp Taji, Iraq, Feb. 16, 2008. Dean deployed to Iraq with the soldiers as the battalion’s therapy dog. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

September 20, 2006 Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, priest and martyr, and Saint Paul Chong Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs Psalm: Wednesday 39 Reading 11 Cor 12:31-13:13 Brothers and sisters:Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in human and angelic tonguesbut do not have love,I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.And if I have the gift of prophecyand comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;if I have all faith so as to move mountains,but do not have love, I am nothing.If I give away...

June 3, 2006 Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, martyrs Psalm: Saturday 23 Reading 1Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,with the soldier who was guarding him. Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.When they had gathered he said to them, “My brothers,although I had done nothing against our peopleor our ancestral customs,I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.After trying my case the Romans wanted to release me,because they found nothing against me deserving the death penalty.But when the Jews objected, I...

February 6, 2006 Memorial of Saint Paul Miki, martyr, and his companions, martyrs Psalm: Monday 9 Reading I1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13 The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes,the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel,came to King Solomon in Jerusalem,to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenantfrom the City of David, which is Zion.All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomonduring the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month).When all the elders of Israel had arrived,the priests took up the ark;they carried the ark of the LORDand the meeting...

GOV. ARNOLD Schwarzenegger is making a high-profile trade trip to China this week. It's supposed to benefit you and me by opening up Chinese markets for California goods. But the guest list is a dead giveaway: Of the 80 businessmen, government officials and others accompanying the governor, about two dozen are big-bucks Schwarzenegger supporters who have together contributed more than $2.5 million to his campaign committees. For many of these Schwarzenegger donors, this China junket is more likely to help their own companies than California. And in some cases, that might actually do the rest of us harm. Consider venture...

September 20, 2005Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, priest and martyr, and Saint Paul Chong Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs Psalm: Tuesday 41 Reading IEzra 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 King Darius issued an order to the officialsof West-of-Euphrates:“Let the governor and the elders of the Jewscontinue the work on that house of God;they are to rebuild it on its former site.I also issue this decreeconcerning your dealing with these elders of the Jewsin the rebuilding of that house of God:From the royal revenue, the taxes of West-of-Euphrates,let these men be repaid for their expenses, in full and without delay.I,...

 AGOSTINO ZHAO RONG (+ 1815)AND 119 COMPANIONS, MARTYRS IN CHINA (+ 1648 – 1930)1st. October 2000From the earliest beginnings of the Chinese people (sometime about the middle of the third millennium before Christ)  religious sentiment towards the Supreme Being and diligent filial piety towards ancestors were the most conspicuous characteristics of their culture, which had existed for thousands of years. This note of distinct religiousness is found to a greater or lesser extent in the Chinese people of all centuries up to our own time, when, under the influence of western atheism, some intellectuals, especially those educated in foreign...

      NOVEMBER 24ST. ANDREW DUNG-LAC AND COMPANIONS Christian missionaries first brought the Catholic faith to Vietnam during the sixteenth century. During the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Christians suffered for their beliefs. Many were martyred, especially during the reign of Emperor Minh-Mang (1820-1840). One hundred seventeen martyrs are in the group. They were proclaimed saints by Pope John Paul II on June 19,1988. The group was made up of ninety-six Vietnamese, eleven Spaniards, and ten French. Eight of the group were bishops, fifty were priests and fifty-nine were lay Catholics. Some of the priests were Dominicans. Others were diocesan priests...

October 19, 2004 Memorial of Saint John de Brébeuf and Saint isaac Jogues, priests and martyrs, and their companions, martyrs Psalm: Tuesday 45 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IEph 2:12-22 Brothers and sisters: You were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through...

June 3, 2004 Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs Psalm: Thursday 25 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I2 Tm 2:8-15 Beloved: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my Gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy: If we have died...

February 6, 2004Memorial of Saint Paul Miki, martyr, and his companions, martyrs Psalm: Friday 8 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading ISir 47:2-11 Like the choice fat of the sacred offerings,so was David in Israel.He made sport of lions as though they were kids,and of bears, like lambs of the flock.As a youth he slew the giantand wiped out the people's disgrace,When his hand let fly the slingstonethat crushed the pride of Goliath.Since he called upon the Most High God, who gave strength to his right armTo defeat the skilled warriorand raise up the might of his people,Therefore the women...

June 3, 2003Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, martyrs Psalm: Tuesday Week 25 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IActs 20:17-27 From Miletus Paul had the presbytersof the Church at Ephesus summoned. When they came to him, he addressed them,"You know how I lived among youthe whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia.I served the Lord with all humilityand with the tears and trials that came to mebecause of the plots of the Jews,and I did not at all shrink from telling youwhat was for your benefit,or from teaching you in public...