Feast of St. Edward the Confessor

As we have just happily witnessed, the world is fixed on the papacy–thanks in part to Pope Francis! I am happy to announce that today, Our Sunday Visitor, made my new book on the three most recent popes available for free download. A short excerpt:

… I would like to look at our three most recent popes, who have been particularly compelling agents of Christ. These three popes have been genuine gifts to the Church in bringing Jesus to the world. This is hardly to suggest that there were not other popes throughout history who serve…

The readings from God’s Holy Word in the Bible during this bright Easter season are most enlightening and encouraging.

A facet I enjoy a lot, especially evident in our selections at Mass, and in the Divine Office we clergy and religious daily pray, is the narrative, particularly in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul, Peter, James, and John, about the growth and structuring of the infant Church.

So, the apostles, disciples, and faithful women and men had to pray for guidance, then debate, and finally make tough decisions about such things as preaching the Gospel outside of…

Holy Saturday

This time of the year, these forty days of preparation for Holy Week and Easter, I often hear folks over fifty-five or so reminisce about how Lent “used-to-be.”

“Remember the tuna casseroles and grilled cheese sandwiches?”

“I used to long for Sunday when I could have a piece of the candy I had given-up for Lent.”

“Did I ever love the Stations of the Cross on Friday.”

“Remember how tough it was not to eat between meals?”

“I can still recall dad reminding us to make a good confession before Easter.”

“Mom used to love her sodality meetings, and dad his night of cards and…

Cardinal Dolan’s homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Podcast: Download (17.3MB)

Recently I read this moving piece on the plight of Christians in the Middle East. It is our duty to stand up for them as is eloquently outlined by Johnnie Moore, author and Professor of Religion and Vice President at Liberty University, on FoxNews.com:

I wept as I heard their stories, and I wondered why Christians around the world weren’t incensed by it all.  

Ironically, that meeting in Jordan was not convened by Christians, but by Muslims who cared about the plight of their Christian neighbors. 

At one point, Jordan’s strong and kind king said that “it is a duty rather than…

Sunday is always colorful, interesting, and inspirational at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, as thousands from all over the world crowded in for prayer, to light a votive candle, or to worship at one of a dozen Masses.

Last Sunday seemed even more so.  I started the day meeting the leadership of our Knights of Columbus, the largest volunteer organization in the country.  We spoke about our common efforts to protect the innocent, fragile life of the baby in the womb, but also about their sterling work to assist poor, mostly immigrant children attend our first-rate inner city Catholic schools, and their…

A string of good popes!

In recent memory, all of the occupants of the Chair of St. Peter have been virtuous, good, even saintly men.

Only the naïve will consider that statement a “no-brainer.” Why? Because this has not always been the case.

We have had more than one bad pope! There are books written on them! We have had drunks, philanderers, tyrannical, bloodthirsty rogues whose exploits would make a truck driver blush.

Come to think about it, the first one, St. Peter, was no gem, as he denied even knowing Jesus, three times, at the very moment the Lord could most have…

For the 47th World Communications Day, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI offered his message on spreading the word of God through social media.

Here is the full text:

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 47th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

“Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelization.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As the 2013 World Communications Day draws near, I would like to offer you some reflections on an increasingly important reality regarding the way in which people today communicate among themselves. I wish to consider the development of digital social networks which are helping to…

Wonderful news!  The Holy Father has declared two people with very close ties to the Archdiocese of New York to be “Venerable,” meaning that they lived lives of recognized heroic virtue, and  are now on their formal way to possible beatification and canonization.

One you probably know – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, buried below the altar at Saint Patrick’s.  The other new “Venerable” you may not be as familiar with, Sister Mary Angeline Teresa, the foundress of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirmed.

Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa was born in Ireland, and joined the Little…