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Pastors Desk 01-27-2019

In 1835, Elijah Lovejoy saw a man lynched. It changed his life. He cut back on his career as a Presbyterian pastor and as a schoolteacher. He went back to his earlier training as a newspaper editor and began to write anti-slavery tracts. He delivered speeches and...

Vatican Corner 01-20-19

On January 10, 2019, the Vatican announced the creation of its first ever sports association: Athletica Vaticana. It is the next step in the Vatican’s longstanding promotion of sports as an instrument of dialogue, peace and solidarity. The idea for a Vatican track...

Pastors Desk 01-20-19

Johnny Carson (who hosted the Tonight Show for 30 yearsft, was interviewing an eight-year-old boy one night. The young man was asked to appear on the Late Show because he had rescued two friends from a coal mine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny...

Vatican Corner 01-13-19

The delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met with Pope Francis on September 13, 2018, and afterwards released a statement that they would adopt 4 measures as a first step to address the crisis of sexual abuse in the Church. Then the full body of...

Pastors Desk 01-13-19

The late Nelson Mandela (died December 5, 2013ft, will go down as one of the greatest leaders of this century. He was instrumental in ending apartheid and bringing about a multiracial society in South Africa. Mandela belonged to the Xhosa people, and grew up in the...

Vatican Corner 01-06-19

On December 21, 2018 Pope Francis again held a meeting with the Vatican employees and their families to exchange Christmas greetings. This gathering follows right after the long-held traditional meeting the pope holds with the officials of the Vatican’s administrative...

Pastors Desk 01-06-19

A survey was made among school children asking the question why they enjoyed reading Harry Potter novels and watching Harry Potter movies. The most common answer was, “Because you never know what’s going to happen next.” This sense of suspense and surprise prompt us...

Vatican Corner 12-30-18

On December 17, 2018, Pope Francis turned 82 years old. The day before, he began celebrating with a party and a surprise cake along with the children under the care of a Vatican free health clinic. There was singing and music and he joked with the children saying he...

Pastors Desk 12-30-2018

Pope Francis said that as a child, he heard a story of a family with a mother, father, many children and a grandfather. The grandfather, suffering from Parkinson’s illness, would drop food on the dining table, and smear it all over his face when he ate. His son...

Vatican Corner 12-23-18

At the Vatican on the morning of Friday December 7, 2018, preparations for the celebration of the birth of Christ started off with an exhibition of over 100 different nativity scenes. This was the 43rd edition of the exhibit and it featured a wide variety of artistic...

Pastors Desk 12-23-18

There’s a marvelous scene in the Old Testament that sort of illustrates in a very stark fashion something of what is occurring in today’s scriptures. It is the scene where the famous prophet Elijah, being pursued by his enemies, takes refuge in a cave and waits for...

Vatican Corner 12-16-18

This year the traditional nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square is not so traditional. For the first time it was made of sand, 720 tons. In November, heavy trucks brought the sand from the Italian seaside city of Jesolo near Venice, where every year since 1998 that...

Pastors Desk 12-16-18

Soren Kierkegaard the well-known philosopher of Denmark has a famous fable about geese. The geese in a certain farmyard decided to gather together every seventh day. At that time one of the ganders would mount the fence and preach to his fellow geese about their lofty...

Vatican Corner 12-09-18

The First Sunday of Advent occurs four Sundays before Christmas and is also the beginning of the new liturgical year. The English word Advent comes from the Latin word ad (“to” and venire (“to come”) and so it means “to come to” or “arrival.” Advent actually...