A three-year initiative of the U.S. bishops, the National Eucharistic Revival. is nearing its midpoint. It began in June 2022 with the feast of Corpus Christi. The first year focused on diocesan revival, inviting bishops, priests and diocesan leaders to deepen their relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. The Year of Parish Revival began in June 2023, with emphasis on reaching Catholics in the pews.
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This year, the Fourth Sunday of Advent falls on the same day as Christmas Eve (Dec. 24), with Christmas falling on Monday, Dec. 25. In this case, there are two distinct obligations to attend Mass: the Sunday obligation and the Christmas obligation. No single Mass fulfills both a Catholic’s Sunday obligation and the Christmas obligation. Because they are different liturgical days — even if they overlap on the calendar — they require attendance at different Masses.
In online conversations you cannot run away from strangers if your task is to evangelize and change hearts. If you only preach to people who already agree with you, you may only be maintaining the status quo.
Two years ago over the course of a Friday night Dec. 10-11, a series of tornadoes struck western Kentucky, killing 57 with additional fatalities in Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri and damaging and destroying several thousand residences as well as nearly 200 commercial buildings. Just one day before area residents officially observed the outbreak’s second anniversary, tornadoes ripped through middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky inflicting another weather disaster Dec. 9 just weeks before Christmas.
Sharing the pilgrimage experience with people with disabilities is a testament to the Catholic Church’s ability to accompany all of its members and to proclaim the Gospel by caring for others, Pope Francis said.
The sounds of Marian songs cascaded down from the bell tower as projected images of San Juan Diego’s tilma and Our Lady of Guadalupe blanketed the façade of the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The scene reflected the spirit of faith, devotion and community on display Dec. 12, marking the first celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe since the cathedral had been elevated to a national shrine by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
To connect with God, Christians must disconnect from the “pollution of vain words and chatter” that reach them through social media and instead seek silence in the desert, Pope Francis said.
On Nov. 30, priests from throughout the Diocese of Dallas gathered with Bishop Edward J. Burns and Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly at the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe to celebrate its recent elevation by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to national shrine status. During that prayerful celebration, Carl A. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author and former Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, gave a keynote speech to those gathered, about the special honor and responsibility the Diocese of Dallas has received.
VATICAN CITY — Away in a cave near Greccio, Italy, St. Francis of Assisi had the first Nativity scene — a live one — staged for the faithful on Christmas Eve in 1223. A 15th-century fresco now decorating the cave inspired the Nativity scene erected in St. Peter’s Square for the 800th anniversary celebrations.
For centuries, the veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe has stood as a profound testament to the convergence of religious dedication and cultural identity within the Latino Catholic community and the greater American Catholic church. Rooted in the Virgin Mary’s apparition to a peasant native of Mexico, Juan Diego, the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is more than a religious tradition as it now has become a vibrant cultural tapestry, lovingly woven by our Mother and her Son, that continues to be a guiding light for the lost ‘truth seekers’ who yearn for peace, truth, and beauty in the midst of a broken, chaotic world.