By Randy Hain, Integrated Catholic – We celebrated the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola last week a few weeks ago. That prompted me to consider it a good time to return to one of my favorite prayer tools for Catholic professionals: the daily Examen… Over the years I have had numerous discussions with Catholic businessmen and women around the country about making time for prayer and reflection during the busy work day. People have been interested in how I keep the Jesuit Daily Examen on my calendar, so I am sharing it here along with suggested times.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Matthew 23:1-12 – 1 Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. 4 They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long …

By Mark Haas, Crisis Magazine – Indeed, Trump has played a major role in brokering recent peace deals in troubled regions—between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and India and Pakistan. He has also sought to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table. The question arises: Can such incredible work bring a man to Heaven?… Ultimately, the answer of Heaven must not begin with political leaders, nor with humanitarian accomplishments, but with Jesus Christ Himself. Our Lord declared in the Gospel of John: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Salvation is not attained through human achievement …..

By Nathan Morley, Vatican News – The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has confirmed a famine in Gaza City for the first time, raising its alert to Phase 5 — the highest level on its acute food insecurity scale… More than 500,000 people are facing catastrophic conditions, according to the IPC report released Thursday. An additional 1.07 million residents, or 54% of Gaza’s population, are experiencing emergency-level food insecurity, classified as Phase 4.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – In a Church that has been preoccupied for several years now with listening to everyone’s opinions and toying with mechanisms to engage an ever-larger group of often nominal Catholics in a chaotic exercise of self-direction, it is enormously refreshing to listen to Pope Leo’s repeated efforts to put the emphasis back where it really belongs—that is, on Jesus Christ and on doing not our will but His. Pope Leo seems to understand that we cannot proclaim the Gospel (or even raise our own children properly) without insisting that Jesus Christ alone is our Lord and Savior.

By John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist – Making original films for young men isn’t that hard, but you have to quit pushing gay race communism and appeal to masculine virtue… Executives at Walt Disney Studios are reportedly pressing Hollywood creatives for movie ideas that will bring young men back to the theaters. According to Variety, Disney is hoping to get Gen Z men, which it defines as ages 13 to 28, interested in original films.

By Julianna Frieman, The American Spectator – Cracker Barrel’s recent logo redesign has sparked a heated debate, with many critics quick to call it just another example of “woke” branding. The company removed its iconic barrel and chair-sitting man from the logo, opting instead for a cleaner, simpler look. It’s clear that the leadership behind this change embraces progressive politics, but is this redesign really just about provoking outrage from conservatives? Or is it part of a broader, more complex business and cultural trend?

Franciscan Media – The first canonized saint of the New World has one characteristic of all saints—the suffering of opposition—and another characteristic which is more for admiration than for imitation—excessive practice of mortification… She was born to parents of Spanish descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America …

By Susan Ciancio, Catholic World Report – On August 22nd, we celebrate the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Established by Pope Pius XII in 1954, this feast illustrates the fact that not only is Mary queen of heaven and earth but that, in this role, she is also our spiritual mother… Mary’s queenship has biblical roots, with one of the most outstanding being during the Annunciation, when “Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever” (cf. Lk 1:26-38).

By Nicolás de Cárdenas, ACI Prensa, CNA – Pope Leo XIV has called for a day of fasting and prayer for peace on Friday, Aug. 22, coinciding with the liturgical feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary… The Holy Father made the announcement Aug. 20 during his greeting to Italian-speaking pilgrims at the conclusion of the catechesis for the general audience, recalling that Our Lady, in addition to being queen, is “also invoked as Queen of Peace.”

By Hannah Hiester, Catholic Vote – The Democratic Party is dealing with a voter registration crisis across the country while Republicans continue to gain voters, a New York Times journalist explained in an X thread… Shane Goldmacher shared voter registration data from the 30 states, plus Washington, D.C., that allow partisan registration. In the thread, he noted that Democrats lost 2.1 million voters in those states between 2020 and 2024. Republicans gained 2.4 million voters in the same areas. …

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hit abortion pill dealers accused of promoting and mailing abortion drugs to Lone Star State residents with cease and desist orders last week for their apparent violation of state and federal laws… The letters single out the abortion dealers Plan C and Her Safe Harbor, as well as an “affiliate” of Aid Access named Remy Coeytaux for “promoting, selling, or facilitating the shipment” of the drug regimen responsible for most of the nation’s abortions ….

By Jarrett Stepman, The Daily Signal – President Donald Trump has pledged to “make D.C. safe again,” with a federal intervention to stop crime in the nation’s capital. To emphasize the point, Trump is doing a ride-along with law enforcement around Washington Thursday night… “I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police and with the military, of course. So we’re going to do a job. The National Guard is great. They’ve done a fantastic job,” Trump said to radio host Todd Starnes, noting that he hoped that by focusing on crime in the district, he would trigger more cities to follow his lead.

By M.C. Holbrook, Catholic Exchange – Today, we honor Mary as “Queen of Heaven”—again, a dogma that is not explicitly stated in Scripture, but one that is nonetheless logically concluded. So how is Mary’s queenship in heaven a logical conclusion? Pretty simple, really. All mothers of Israel’s kings held the royal title, “Queen Mother,” and as Mary’s son is King of Kings, this makes Mary, queen.  Still, the fact that Mary is called, “Queen of Heaven” doesn’t just give the rest of us a new and lovely title by which to refer to her.

Author Don Schwager , Servants of the Word – Matthew 22:34-40 – 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. …