By S.A. McCarthy, The American Spectator – Last week, The Atlantic’s Francis X. Rocca penned a damning indictment of America’s Catholic bishops, although I doubt he intended it as such. “The most urgent political concern for America’s Catholic leaders is no longer abortion; it’s immigration,” Rocca wrote. Noting that immigration concerns are addressed in Catholic teaching, he added, “But now immigration dominates U.S. Catholic leaders’ public messaging.”… So the slaughter of unborn children is second fiddle. The murder of Catholic college girls is just the price of doing business. The rape and murder of so many women at the hands of foreign invaders is — what? Acceptable?
By Matthew Walz, Catholic World Report – In 1846, John Henry Newman traveled to Rome to see if he could arrange to undertake seminary studies for the Catholic priesthood. He had converted a year earlier, and now, at 45 years old, he wished to be ordained a Catholic priest. He was, as we say nowadays, a “late vocation”—but one like no other. He had already published several books: Arians of the Fourth Century, Parochial and Plain Sermons in eight volumes, and his Oxford University Sermons, which he regarded as the “best, not the most perfect” of his books. Moreover, he had just completed a draft of what would become one of his own and, indeed, the Church’s most innovative pieces of theology ….
By Matthew McDonald, National Catholic Register – Many U.S. dioceses are expecting heavy increases in people joining the Catholic Church at Easter 2026, including some with record highs, a survey by the Register found… “Something’s happening,” said John Helsey, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, which is expecting a 57% increase in unbaptized people becoming Catholics at Easter — from 635 in 2025 to nearly 1,000 in 2026… In most places, this year’s increases aren’t a one-off but follow significant increases in recent years.
NEWS
Bishop Seitz Encouraging ICE Officers To Question Their Orders, by Tessa Gervasini
By Tessa Gervasini, EWTN News, (Catholic World Report) – In his pastoral letter Seitz wrote: The “current national campaign of mass detention and detention is a grave moral evil, one which must be opposed, with prayer, peaceful action, and acts of solidarity with those affected.”… In the Catholic Church, “a grave moral evil” could indicate mortal sin… When asked if agents may need to disobey orders, or even leave their jobs, to avoid mortal sin, Seitz said: “I think the first thing that is most important is that you can’t put your conscience on hold if you’re a disciple of Jesus Christ.”
Why Do U.S. Presidents Keep Risking Foreign Quagmires? by Ivan Eland
By Ivan Eland, The American Conservative – During the past three-quarters of a century, beginning in 1950 and continuing right through to the current war with Iran, U.S. presidents repeatedly have risked involvement in conflicts that resulted in military quagmires with disappointing endings. Why do presidents keep repeating the same mistakes in the name of “national security”?… By 1950, the U.S. government had taken then-poor South Korea out of the U.S. defense perimeter. The United States had withdrawn its forces after the Second World War ….
Patriarch Barred from Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, by Kelsey Reinhardt
By Kelsey Reinhardt, Zeale – On the day Christians worldwide call Palm Sunday—the opening of the most sacred week of the liturgical year—Israeli national police stopped Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre… Let me be precise about what this means. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands on the ground of the Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most sacred sit …
Holy Work: Michelangelo’s ‘Pietà’, by Brad Miner
By Brad Miner, The Catholic Thing – The greatest artist of the Renaissance is famous for something he may never have said: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” There are other versions of the quotation, as in the epigraph above, that are genuine, and they may seem to suggest that Michelangelo believed he merely liberated a form trapped in stone.
50,000 Troops Now Stationed in Middle East, by Sam Barron
By Sam Barron, Newsmax – More than 50,000 troops are stationed in the Middle East as the war in Iran heads into its second month… The number is 10,000 more troops than usual and comes after 2,500 Marines and 2,500 sailors arrived in the region, The New York Times reported… The Marines come from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit… The Pentagon also deployed 2,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East… Officials said President Donald Trump is considering whether to launch a larger attack as he weighs options to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Jean Louis Berlandier and the Pious Witness of America, by Russell M. Lawson
By Russell M. Lawson, Catholic Exchange – Jean-Louis Berlandier was a French Catholic who journeyed to America and lived in northern Mexico near the Texas border. From the 1820s to the early 1850s, he was the only great savant in the region: a physician, apothecary, botanist, meteorologist, ornithologist, and pious scientist, as his many manuscripts reveal. He served as a surgeon during the Mexican War. As a lay missionary, he worked tirelessly to heal the sick of the Rio Grande Valley.
The Paschal Mystery: Our Exodus from Death to Life, by Dr. R. Jared Staudt
By Dr. R. Jared Staudt, Catholic World Report – Do you feel stuck in the spiritual life, like something is holding you back? Did Lent fall short of bringing about deeper conversion?…. Holy Week, as the culmination of Lent, seeks to resolve these dangling tensions, as we celebrate the Paschal Mystery, the new Passover initiated by Jesus. It’s about experiencing liberation, the freedom that comes from being saved from deadly forces we can’t control. It only takes death.
Americans Oppose Mail-Order Abortions That Kill Millions of Babies, by S.A. McCarthy
By S.A. McCarthy, LifeNews – A strong majority of Americans of all political stripes support restoring regulations surrounding the abortion drug mifepristone, according to a new survey. A poll conducted by CRC Research found that more than two-thirds (67%) of Americans would support a decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require an in-person physician’s visit when prescribing and dispensing the abortion drug mifepristone. Over 70% of Republicans would support the move, along with a strong majority of both Independent voters (68%) and Democrats (63%).
Evangelize Like a First-Century Christian, by Julie V. Burkey
By Julie V. Burkey, Crisis Magazine – Catholics of a certain age can still recall the Faith of the 1940s, 50s, and early 60s. These decades were largely a continuation of previous centuries of steady Church growth with full pews at most Masses. The parish priest was greatly respected for playing many roles in service to both God and parishioners: confessor, counselor, intercessor, and, most importantly, celebrant at Holy Mass. The clergy served, and the faithful received.
St. Augustine: Holy Monday Homily by St. Augustine
By St. Augustine, OnePeterFive – Yesterday’s lesson in the holy Gospel, on which we spoke as the Lord enabled us, is followed by today’s, on which we purpose to speak in the same spirit of dependence. Some passages in the Scriptures are so clear as to require a hearer rather than an expounder: over such we need not tarry, that we may have sufficient time for those which necessarily demand a fuller consideration… And the Jews’ passover was near at hand. The Jews wished to have that feast-day crimsoned with the blood of the Lord. On it that Lamb was slain, who has consecrated it as a feast-day for us by His own blood. …
Lent: March 30th: Monday of Holy Week
By Catholic Culture – For those following the readings of daily Mass in Lent, the Biblical best has been saved for Holy Week. The book of the prophet Isaiah contains four separate descriptions of a “Suffering Servant”—a shadowy figure called by God to suffer and give his life for the people. Today we read the first description of the Christ-like Suffering Servant. Isaiah shows him as chosen by God and patiently preaching justice to the nations.
Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations: Extravagant Love for Jesus
Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 12:1-11 – 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” …
Finish Lent Strong, by Shaun McAfee
By Shaun McAfee, Catholic Exchange – Every year, Lent begins with a kind of spiritual adrenaline. On Ash Wednesday we hear the solemn words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and suddenly everything feels urgent. Churches are full. Prayer resolutions are bold. Fasting plans are ambitious. We promise God we will pray more, give more, sacrifice more. For a moment, it feels like we are finally becoming the disciples we should have been all along.
WATCH/READ! Bishop Joseph Strickland: The Hidden King and The Eyes That See
By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop Emeritus, Pillars of Faith – We are living in a time when there are more voices than ever – more information than ever – more images, more commentary, more analysis. And yet, there is a strange blindness. A blindness not of the eyes, but of the soul… People see events, but not their meaning. They see confusion, but they do not ask why. They see contradictions, but they explain them away. They see warning signs, but they refuse to follow where those signs lead… And perhaps most dangerously – they see what they want to see. …
Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations: They Took Counsel How to Put Him to Death
Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 11:45-56 – 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him; 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” ….
Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations: Extravagant Love for Jesus
Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 12:1-11 – 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” …
Founder’s Quote
Patriot Post – “Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure.” —Thomas Jefferson (1823)
Lent: March 30th: Monday of Holy Week
By Catholic Culture – For those following the readings of daily Mass in Lent, the Biblical best has been saved for Holy Week. The book of the prophet Isaiah contains four separate descriptions of a “Suffering Servant”—a shadowy figure called by God to suffer and give his life for the people. Today we read the first description of the Christ-like Suffering Servant. Isaiah shows him as chosen by God and patiently preaching justice to the nations.
