This week the Church celebrates one of her most important, yet misunderstood, solemnities – the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Unfortunately, many Catholics mistakenly believe this celebration refers to Christ himself rather than to our Blessed Mother.

Throughout the first quarter, my classmates and I have learned the history of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, who founded Brother Martin, and their current effect on us. Pairing with what we have learned about the Brothers in our religion class, the Eighth Grade Day of Reflection took place at St. Stanislaus College, a Brothers’ school in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Next Monday, May 27, is Memorial Day. This day, dating back to the carnage of the Civil War, has been set aside for more than 50 years as an official U.S. federal holiday to remember and honor those who have died in service.

The vocation of marriage promises great things: unity, companionship, adventure, beauty, deep intimacy, joy, gratitude. But, are our brains prepared to handle it these days?

On a recent Sunday, Evan let out some noise during the Mass, even as his Dad tried to quiet him. The autistic teenager’s sometimes increased volume levels are just a part of our community gathering to worship – just as is the squeaky walker going down the aisle or the kicking of a nervous foot against a kneeler.

It takes courage to stand before people different from yourself and speak. Especially if you intend on offering them suggestions for improvement.

Queridos hermanos: en este domingo el evangelista Lucas nos pone en contacto con su versión de las Bienaventuranzas, uno de los textos más impresionantes de la historia de la humanidad, por el que muchos han dado su vida y por el que otros han detestado al cristianismo y a Jesús de Nazaret. 

Who is Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa – the priest who will lead the United States bishops in an unprecedented, one-week spiritual retreat at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago in January?

As parents, we choose where our kids attend school. We also choose which school we evangelize them in. Our attitudes, responses and disposition evangelize our kids either in the faith or not. We have the chance to be Christ to them or someone else. 

Attention boutique owners! Now that I have got your attention, I have a dire request: Can you please keep dresses that are appropriate for tweens and teens to wear to church in your inventory?

I am a Jew. I was born that way.  I can’t say I am very religious. I don’t go to temple, not even during the sacred days of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur when many Jews find their spiritual way home for at least once a year. I can’t read Hebrew. I don’t know the current year of the Jewish calendar, and I married outside of the faith. And, as I was once picking up a Yahrziet candle to light in my father’s memory, an elderly devout Jew noted my otherwise lacking ways. He called me a Bad Jew. It’s just one of our labels. As Jews we sometime tag ourselves: Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed. Other times, we have self-inflicted names: Agnostic, atheist, non-practicing. Some of us have left altogether to embrace other religions, which comfort our souls.

There is a city in France, called Lourdes, and it truly is a life-changing place. For those who don’t know, Lourdes is the place where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Where she appeared is now the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, and it is open to people from all over the world. During a month-long trip to Europe, I was fortunate enough to join a Salesian college on their annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. While the journey to the city was interesting (a 26-hour bus ride is never fun), it was more than worth it. Once we arrived at our hotel, we had a free day to explore the area. A friend and I made our way to see the shrine, only a five-minute walk from the hotel. To say the sight was breathtaking would be an understatement. It was so easy to fall in love with Lourdes. Everywhere was gorgeous architecture, with large areas to relax and pray and a river that flowed throughout the city.

To my discredit, I’ve been something of an armchair environmentalist. I tinker with recycling and composting. Yet, I’ve lived as if the grim effects of global warming would impact my children’s children, not me. I’ll be long gone when the worst of it hits. Except, it looks like I may not be. The United Nations recently released a disturbing report on the threats – coming in the next 20 years – of climate change. Its findings are so dire and its call-to-action so dramatic that readers might be tempted to dismiss them or despair over them. Neither is an option for Catholics who have such powerful resources, theological and spiritual, for responding. But first the report. Numerous scientists from around the world on the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) base their conclusions on extensive and numerous studies. They argue that it is still possible to keep global temperature within a manageable range, but it will be very difficult. The U.S. has actually reduced its greenhouse emissions over the last decade while the world’s have increased. Yet, the U.S. remains the second-largest emitter (after China) and produces more than twice as much as the third-largest (India).

I had the great blessing in July of being in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, for the 5th Missionary Congress of the Americas. The congress happens every five years and has an even longer history as the Missionary Congress of Latin America. 

Yesterday, as my oldest child studied Spanish, she stated, “Did you know God speaks every language?” It is quite possibly one of the most beautiful things she has said. In that statement, she proved that God is universal, all loving, all understanding and all knowing.

Queridos hermanos: el evangelio de este domingo nos muestra un segundo paso de Jesús en su camino hacia Jerusalén, acompañado por sus discípulos. El maestro sabe lo que le espera; lo intuye, al menos, con la lucidez de un profeta: le espera la pasión y la muerte, pero también la seguridad de que estará en las manos de Dios para siempre, porque su Dios es un Dios de vida. 

Several weeks ago, when I first heard of the contents of the recent Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, I needed to find a quiet place. It was hard to stomach what I had just heard.

The purpose of Catholic education is to provide each student with a unique encounter with Christ by means of his or her formal schooling. Catholic education has the obligation to balance faith and reason by developing the whole child: mind, body and soul. Through this formation, Catholic education not only seeks to yield productive citizens of society but also, more importantly, to form faithful and merciful servants of the church.

Recent developments in our immigration policy have highlighted the dubious justice of our immigration laws. As the debate has raged (unfortunately) on how best to manage immigration, many have called for strict enforcement “of the laws already on the books.” Over the past two months, we’ve seen what that looks like. I believe that most Americans did not like what they saw. We saw images of children crying in the face of armed border patrol officers and heard the sounds of incarcerated 6-year-olds screaming and weeping after their forcible separation from their parents. Compounding the horror, we learned that our government had no plan for the reunification of children with their parents, and that some parents were deported while their kids remain in the U.S. under the care of the state.

Are you ready to delete your dreams and aspirations when you marry? How does that title strike you? It seems strange to even think people would have to delete their dreams in order to get married. Well, think of this. From the time when we were young children, we have been bombarded with experiences, interesting ideas, all of which contribute to our forming dreams for the future.