Pope Francis expressed his concern that Christians fleeing the Holy Land and the whole of the Middle East will leave no Christian presence in the land “where it all began.”
Hours before dozens of residents and guests gather at The Tradition Prestonwood for a Sunday celebration of Mass, Father Michael T. Barry moves about the room, quietly transitioning it from a community theater to a place of worship. It is a ritual the retired priest from the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois has done since arriving at the north Dallas senior living facility.
“I think my heart is going to explode,” said Montse Alvarado, describing the way she expects to feel when she gathers with tens of thousands of Catholics to adore the Eucharist at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium in July. “It feels like so much beauty at a moment when our country and our world is in the midst of war and so much pain, just to see this be our church’s response — wow, what a witness.”
At least two people have been killed and thousands have been evacuated due to the South Fork and Salt fires in New Mexico, which broke out June 17. Some 1,400 structures have been destroyed and more than 23,000 acres ravaged.
Pope Francis said that Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati “will be a saint soon.”
The All Saints Catholic School community gathered May 23 to break ground on a new pre-kindergarten facility to help accommodate growing interest from prospective student families.
It can be difficult to cultivate a regular habit of reading Scripture. Its literary world can seem so strange to us that we feel as though it would take forever before we could even just understand what is going on, let alone find spiritual consolation and inspiration. If you feel like that, know you’re not alone, and know there is much that can help.
As people of faith, we are all on a journey toward God. The reason we go to church or call ourselves Christians is our desire to be with God when our earthly journey is over. Our faith teaches us that there is life after death and that we shall live in eternity with God if we keep His commandments and remain in His ways. Our love for God draws us toward Him and fuels our desire to be with Him. Although our human imperfections make it difficult to remain faithful to God’s ways all the time, God’s mercies sustain our hope and give us reason to keep trying to stay in God’s paths regardless of our shortcomings.
When missionaries on the Diocesan Youth Mission Trip arrived in Costa Rica on June 5, they began their trip wide-eyed and unsure. Many of the high school students had never left the United States; some had never engaged in hard labor or gone without certain creature comforts. Stepping into an unfamiliar country with simple amenities and a slower pace of life, many of these high schoolers found themselves homesick, uncomfortable, and uncertain at the beginning of their trip.