Catholic Church

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents - Making small sacrifices is not just for Lent, because sacrifices and penance are necessary. As Christ said: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” ~Luke 9:23... And this is true all year long. But when Jesus said to deny yourself, he didn’t mean to always go against what you want. Really. He meant there are things I want that will not make me more like him—a lot of things, actually. So following him often means dying to self by denying myself those things.

By Paul Smeaton, LifeSiteNews - A Catholic priest in Missouri addressed hundreds of angry protestors while defending a statue of St. Louis in the city named after the sainted king on a day when Catholic laity praying at the statue were physically attacked by protestors... Father Stephen Schumacher, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, joined Catholic laity in Forest Park on Saturday who placed themselves between the already vandalized statue and activists calling for it to be torn down.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - Let’s look at each of the eight stages. The names of the stages are from Alexander Tyler’s book and are presented in bold red text. My brief reflections follow in plain text... 1) From bondage to spiritual growth – Great civilizations are formed in the crucible. The Ancient Jews were in bondage for 400 years in Egypt. The Christian faith and the Church came out of 300 years of persecution. Western Christendom emerged from the chaotic conflicts during the decline of the Roman Empire and the movements of often fierce “barbarian” tribes. American culture was formed by the injustices that grew in colonial times. Sufferings and injustices cause—even force—spiritual growth. Suffering brings wisdom and demands a spiritual discipline that seeks justice and solutions...

By Alyssa Murphy, EWTN News - Archbishop Cordileone said the toppling of the statue had affected him greatly: “I’ve been feeling great distress and a deep wound in my soul when I see these horrendous acts of blasphemy…and disparaging of the memory of Serra who was such a great hero, such a great defender of the indigenous people of this land. Someone who was very much a part of my life growing up. I grew up very close to the first mission that he founded in San Diego. So it inflicted a very deep wound in my soul.”... The archbishop performed an exorcism for what he called “an act of sacrilege, an act of the evil one,” adding: “This is the activity of the evil one who wants to bring down the Church, who wants to bring down all Christian believers....