Pope St John Paul II passed on to his eternal reward on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005. Many of us have memories of keeping vigil, praying for the pope in his final hours
A ‘formula for life’: St John Paul II’s extraordinary devotion to the Eucharist
Category: Features
All Saints’ Day: History and traditions
This great feast is one of the Church’s most underappreciated, writes Paul Senz The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies…
Cultural Catholicism: What it can and can’t bring to the party, or the battlefield
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe When we moved to New Orleans, my husband and I were surprised to see the depth of Catholic influence in the culture here. Southern Louisiana isn’t quite a Catholic Disney World, but sometimes it comes close. Local meteorologists provide weather predictions for “All Saints’ Day” by name. In March, over 50 Catholic…
Permitting ourselves enemies comes with rules, for God’s sake and ours
Elizabeth Scalia Since October 7, I have been trying to understand something incomprehensible. There is a lot that has happened since that bloody date that is incomprehensible, but I don’t mean the planned slaughter of civilians and innocent children – hatred gone mad and become inhumane is not completely incomprehensible, for we see it daily:…
Stewardship: Five keys to respond to Jesus’ call
Stewardship describes our whole relationship with God, writes Susan M. Erschen What is ‘stewardship’? Stewardship is perhaps one of the most misunderstood words in the Church today. Some people think it is all about money. Others think it means only time, talent and treasure. Some wonder if it is just another word for fundraising or…
The rosary is a mighty tool for evangelisation
SueAnn Howell ‘Unleash the Power of the Rosary’, a panel discussion hosted by Paradisus Dei and the Dominican friars of the Province of St Joseph, offered a lively discussion about the rosary as a powerful tool for evangelisation that connects people to Jesus through Mary and guides them on a journey to the centre of…
How an artist responds to senseless violence
Ruadhán Jones
The Pianist, about a Polish Jew’s experience of WWII, was a bit of a passion project for its Polish-Jewish director, Roman Polanski. Since coming out in 2002, it has been hailed as a classic. It stars Adrien Brody as pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman, a real-life Holocaust survivor who wrote a memoir also called The…
How to conquer envy with God in 12 steps
When I was very young, I came across a story that has left an indelible impression on me. The story centres on two bedridden men who shared a hospital room.
Early Church Mothers?
In recent years, some have charged that the role of women in the early church was glossed over or, even worse, deliberately suppressed. The best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code is a case in point.
Exploring the young life of St John Paul II
On October 22, we celebrate the feast of St John Paul II. While his image as Pope is iconic, his early life is less well known, making Karol, an exceptionally popular biography of the even more popular Karol Wojtyła, later known as Pope St John Paul II, a very useful film, as well as a good one.