Catholic News & Perspective
January 2023
Opening the Word: The necessity of humility as a Christian
By: Father Joshua J. Whitfield “For blessedness starts with humility,” said St. Augustine. He was right, of course. As we consider these readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, as we consider our Christian walk generally, it’s good to recall this simple truth, the virtue without which no Christian walk is possible...
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Science, faith, and answering life’s biggest questions
By: David Mills “The first thing to realize, if you wish to become a philosopher,” wrote one of the 20th century’s major philosophers, “is that most people go through life with a whole world of beliefs that have no sort of rational justification.” That was Bertrand Russell, in a book called “The Art of...
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The Church’s long history of supporting immigrants
By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion When President Joe Biden recently visited El Paso, Texas, a city that borders Mexico and is the destination of literally thousands of immigrants attempting to enter this country, he met Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso. The bishop handed Biden a holy card. It was a picture of the Sacred Heart of...
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Opening the Word: The light of Christ dispels the darkness
By: Catherine Cavadini Our first reading from Isaiah this Sunday stops short of its most famous lines: “For a child has been born for us, / a son has been given to us … / His titles will be: Marvelous Counselor … / Prince of Peace.” Indeed, I cannot read these lines from Isaiah without the music of...
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A convert learning to love Mary
By: Samantha Stephenson My relationship with Mary had something of a rocky start when a Catholic neighbor girl tried to teach me the Hail Mary. At the age of 4, I had never heard the word “hail,” nor did I possess a discerning enough ear to tell the difference between “hail” and “hell.” We did not get very...
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‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’ and the power of theater
By: Russell Shaw If you have access to a radio station that carries the Saturday matinee broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera, you have a memorable experience waiting for you. On Jan. 28, the featured work will be Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” (1 p.m. ET). This is a deeply moving spiritual drama with...
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Opening the Word: Will you follow Jesus?
By: Father Joshua J. Whitfield After our Advent watching, our adoring Christ at Christmas, when God’s come close; in contemplating this incarnate God in the arms of his Blessed Mother, and venerating him with the Magi, this Sunday, the Church brings us to the banks of the Jordan, back to John the Baptist. Why? Because this whole saving...
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March for Life president: Overturning of Roe v. Wade ‘is not the end of our fight’
By: Jeanne F. Mancini In the months since the Supreme Court’s monumental overturning of Roe v. Wade, many people have asked me about the future of the national March for Life. Is there a need to march in Washington now that Roe is gone? My answer to that question is yes — and so much more. When hearing that...
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Catholic priests and the vow of obedience
By: Father Patrick Briscoe In the Dominican Order, although we friars live celibacy and poverty, we only make one vow: obedience. We profess this solemn vow kneeling before our superiors, with the constitution of our order held in our hands. The formula we recite as we make the vow begins, “I make profession and promise obedience to God,...
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Opening the Word: The splendor of Christ’s light
By: Catherine Cavadini “Charm with your stainlessness these winter nights, / Skies, and be perfect! Fly, vivider in the fiery dark, you quiet meteors.” These are the opening lines of a poem by a Trappist monk of late memory, Thomas Merton. I have chosen them for this little column on Epiphany even though the poem is titled...
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Papal calendar: 2023 holds important events for Pope Francis
By: Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will soon pack his bags for his first foreign trip of 2023, a year that promises to be as busy as ever. The pope, who celebrated his 86th birthday Dec. 17, can move quickly — in a wheelchair — and keeps saying in interviews that a functioning head and heart — not a...
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Love comes first, pope says in letter on teaching of St. Francis de Sales
BY: Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The most important question a Christian can ask when making any decision in life is “where the greatest love is to be found,” Pope Francis wrote in a letter marking the 400th anniversary of St. Francis de Sales, a doctor of the church. Thinking about the legacy of St. Francis, who was...
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