We hear and say phrases like people of faith, Christian faith, live by faith, etc., and there are several ways of talking about and describing faith.
I am deeply moved by the faith of the people who come, young and old and every age between, and by the great generosity of Jesus, who meets them there with a gift for each one personally, fitted to their heart and to their life situation in that exact moment.
“When I think of faith, I think of service,” said Isabella Martinez, a 17-year-old rising senior at Bishop Dunne Catholic School, as she reflected on her school’s Community Service Club. Martinez founded the club in the fall of 2023 to offer Catholic high school students like herself the opportunity to live their faith through service to their local community.
Absolute silence filled Lucas Oil Stadium as tens of thousands of people dropped to their knees to adore Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament as the long-anticipated National Eucharistic Congress officially got underway on the evening of July 17 in Indianapolis. More than 100 spotlights trained on a large, golden monstrance on an altar in the center of the stadium as a powerful holy hour — which took place before any talks, music or greeting by the evening’s three emcees — began the congress’s first revival night filled with prayer, powerful speakers and praise-and-worship music.
Pope Francis greets 100-year-old Lucilla Macelli before celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, marking World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly July 23, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
I was in an allegorizing mood last week when I visited the church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in the heart of Rome. Designed by the 17th century architect Francesco Borromini, San Carlo is a jewel of astonishing beauty on the corner of a busy intersection.
The monstrance holding the Eucharist gleamed in the midday sun July 16 as pilgrims on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s northern Marian Route turned a downtown corner and came into view of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the pilgrimage’s final destination.
It is a very moving experience to be in a stadium with 50,000 other Catholics, many from the Diocese of Dallas, including at least four priests (Fathers Edwin Leonard, Michael Likoudis, Kevin Wilwert, and Russ Mower) and to hear the familiar voices and instruments of David and Lauren Moore for the opening event on Wednesday night.
People came from all over on July 13 to help Father Fred Caldwell celebrate his birthday at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish. At 90, Father Caldwell is the oldest living diocesan priest for the Diocese of Dallas.
Political discourse in the United States has devolved into people shouting at and not listening to each other, showing a need to promote respectful dialogue despite political differences, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.