Spiritual freedom on display

By Fr. James Martin, S.J. Pope Benedict’s resignation shows immense spiritual freedom. Rare is the person who can, and will, relinquish such power voluntarily. It is an example of what St. Ignatius Loyola meant by being “disponible,” available, free of any disordered attachments, in order to be able to follow the will of God. Pope…

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“The Little Flower”

Charles Anne was dying. The 23 year old seminarian suffered advanced pulmonary Tuberculosis in an era before antibiotics were discovered. In fact, Tuberculosis was not curable until 1946 when the antibiotic Streptomycin was invented. On the night he was convinced he was about to die, he did something very specific that saved his life.

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Our Lady of Guadalupe for atheists

I have many friends who are agnostic or even atheistic. The agnostic at least leaves the door open to the possibility of Mystery. The atheist doesn’t. I’d like to present a fascinating mystery for my readers who are atheists. The day was December 9th, 1531 …

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Jesus, are you really here?

By Tom Quiner [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jYHPskzYhM] I took the Bread and then I took the Cup. This happened at Mass this morning. What happened? I encountered Christ. The Catholic Catechism explains: “The signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of…

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Substance and smirks

There are Catholics like Joe Biden who claim to follow what is too often called the “spirit” of Vatican II while rejecting the very foundations that important Council proclaimed. Then, there are others, like Paul Ryan, who grasp the implications of what it means to infuse the values informed by their Catholic faith into their political participation on fundamental moral issues such as the Right to life.

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How do Catholics love Obama? Shall we count the ways?

By Deal Hudson & Deacon Keith Fournier How do Catholics love Obama? Shall we count the ways? They love Obama, they say, because he is ‘pro-life,‘ when such a claim even emits chuckles from the reporters at the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today. They love Obama, they say, because Obamacare has reached…

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Give the voiceless a voice

I have a question for you. When is the last time someone starved to death in America? I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, but I suspect if it did, it would be front page news with screaming headlines. By the same token, a million plus human abortions are performed in this country every year. It is not news …

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