We know that the Church is universal and there is no required age or language to speak to the Lord, much less to thank him for daily bread. This little Korean boy understood it well! And under the gaze of his tender mother’s phone, he prays a blessing from the depths of his heart in Read More…

“Youth is not a period of life, it is a state of mind (…) a matter of the will,” says a poem by Samuel Ullman, quoted often by General MacArthur. The poem is certainly not wrong, but it may have omitted one important ingredient: prayer. And Sr. Inah knows all about this secret of longevity. Read More…

On October 30, 1867, at the convent of the Daughters of Charity in Nevers, forty-four novices took their solemn vows. These young girls would become professed members of the community, then receive their assignments and be dispersed among the houses of the congregation. The bishop called them one by one. Just one candidate remained fixed Read More…

Consecrated life is a special way of living the Christian vocation that each of us received at baptism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that: The religious state is thus one way of experiencing a “more intimate” consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christ’s faithful, moved by Read More…

A little while after I was married, I ran into a friend of my parents, Mr. Bernie Palos. He offered me some unusual advice. “Whenever you’re annoyed at your husband, pray a Hail Mary for him before you say anything,” he told me in his warm and kindly way. Then he added with a laugh, Read More…

St. Richard’s Hospice in Worcester, England, was the scene of a touching gesture earlier this year. A pilot drew a smiley face in the January sky, in front of the amazed eyes of Ray Stanton, 66, who has incurable cancer. Ray is a former transportation engineer and has a passion for aircraft. The smile was Read More…

The French are famous for their strikes. However, even in the midst of protests, there’s no shortage of kind-hearted French people, whatever goal they’re pursuing. So it was that on Wednesday February 14, the taxicabs of Nantes were on strike. To make their demands against what they perceived as unfair competition from VTCs (“Tourist Vehicle Read More…

Recently at a parish trivia night, during the round about the parish priests, the question was asked Who is Father Rennier’s favorite poet? The parishioners, I’m sure, wrote in the answer with a wry smile, because anyone who has heard my preaching for any length of time knows that I incessantly quote Gerard Manley Hopkins. Read More…

Maybe you’ve heard about Triumph of the Heart, a feature film about St. Maximilian Kolbe and his companions’ triumph over darkness, due for release in August 2024. Maybe you’ve even contributed to the viral Kickstarter campaign to spread the word about the film in an effort to “prove that real, authentic stories of Christian hope Read More…

Marriage symbolizes not only the union of two individuals before God, but a promise of a future together. However, for one young couple this future was short-lived after a water-skiing accident took the life of the groom, 23-year-old Nathaniel (Nate) Kuhlman, on the first day of their honeymoon. In what is an unthinkable tragedy, the Read More…

In a move that many have been expecting, head coach Jim Harbaugh, famed for leading the Michigan Wolverines to their first national championship since 1997, is making his way back to the NFL. Less than three weeks from the momentous victory, Harbaugh bid farewell to his alma mater to helm the Los Angeles Chargers, a Read More…

When 42-year-old Valerio Minato woke up on December 15, 2023, he said he felt “agitated.” For six years he had been trying to capture a photo showing the perfect alignment of the Monviso, a mountain in the Alps in Northern Italy, the Basilica of Superga, near Turin, and the moon. Having very few opportunities throughout Read More…