Father Mike Schmitz discusses there are four elements in the soil: 1. Teachings of the Apostles: Magisterial teaching of the Church, Sacred Scripture, and Tradition. 2. Communal Life (Fellowship): It’s not just me praying to Jesus. We need to share life somehow. 3. Breaking of the Bread: This refers to …

by Mark Danis COVID-19 is waging war on humanity. Our individual responsibility to respond might cause some to recall a question from a young girl to her father in 1915, ironically, just before the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. “Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?” Twenty years from …

by Eileen Connelly, OSU Teachers, therapists and staff members at St. Joseph Orphanage (SJO) have been responding to the COVID-19 crisis with above and beyond dedication and compassion. Founded by the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in 1829, SJO is one of the oldest child and family service agencies in …

by Rebecca Sontag The first known garden to be officially dedicated to the Virgin Mary bore little resemblance to the idea of the “Mary Garden” we know today. It was not filled with purely ornamental flowers, decorative topiaries and manicured nooks punctuated here and there with lovely statuary. This particular …

Q: Since public Masses have been canceled, a friend encouraged me to practice “spiritual communion.” I wasn’t sure what that meant. Can you explain? A. The practice of “spiritual communion,” as a means of drawing close to Jesus even when we cannot receive the Eucharist, has deep roots in the …

O glorious Joseph! Who concealed your incomparable and regal dignity of custodian of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary under the humble appearance of a craftsman and provided for them with your work, protect with loving power your sons, especially entrusted to you. You know their anxieties and sufferings, because …

by Father Robert J. Hater The old black rosary hangs on the headboard of the bedroom once occupied by my father and mother. More than 60 years ago my father brought it home, a gift from a Marianist brother who gave it to him for Christmas. It’s been there ever …

This is a homily for the 3rd week of Easter.  Jesus appears to the disciples on the way to Emmaus, but it is only in the breaking of the bread that they truly see him. Meals are a means of encountering one another, and so I exhort you this week …

Jesus tells us that if we knock, the door will be opened to us, that all who come to him in prayer will get what they want. But this isn’t always the case, is it? Sometimes, our prayers are not answered. What does this say about God, and how do …

Visit the Vatican Museums, take an exclusive look at the Vatican Library, and catch up with a review of the news and events from the Museums over the past year.