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Susan Peek has a knack for bringing the lives of obscure saints to the forefront. For example, in  Saint Magnus, the Last Viking , she took us on a swashbuckling adventure. Today, Peek enthralls us with  A Soldier Surrenders, the Conversion of St. Camillus de Lellis . In this action-packed adventure, we follow the life of Camillus de Lellis, mercenary for the Turks, and a baptized Catholic! We see contradiction from the start. How can a Catholic fight Catholics on behalf of the Moslems? You can, if you are hungry and have no other means to support yourself. Camillus de Lellis is a strong-willed, and stubborn young man, who thinks that all he can do is fight, gamble and drink excessively. Why would God want anything to do with the likes of Camillus de Lellis? Well, apparently, God has other designs. Things happen throughout Camillus’ life, that we only come to understand why, when... Read more... 

What to say? With each new revelation that has come to light in the Catholic Church since this past June, I have been sent into an emotional tail spin. It is all rather horrifying and almost unbelievable that these things have been going on and others have been covering them up. I am glad these things are finally coming into the light. How grievious it must have been for our Lord when he was the only one that knew about these things and they were allowed to continue. Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns>

Today’s Gospel reading comes from Matt 23:13-22. In this very cryptic passage, Jesus asks a couple of piercing questions: Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?  Matt 23:17 You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?  Matt 23:19 Jesus asks these questions because He is not happy with the actions of the Scribes and the Pharisees. He sees them as hypocrites, as they do not “walk the talk.” Their actions differ from their speech. The Scribes and Pharisees speak of the promotion of piety, but do not act pious. They believe their words alone will suffice in garnering the desired prestige of the community. Their intentions are corrupt; thereby making their actions immoral. In this passage, Jesus points out that the source of all goodness comes from God, not from man’s piety. Jesus uses the metaphor of the temple being more sacred than the gold within the temple. He reinforces His argument, by noti

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The Crucifixion of St Peter , Caravaggio  [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 6:60-69 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition) When many of Jesus’ disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it

The second in a series of talks on Mystical Prayer. Given by David Torkington to members of the laity and the community at Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire, England. ....click to listen to this podcast 2. From Meditation to the beginning of Mystical Contemplation Each morning after his mother's death, David's father brought two cups of tea into his bedroom. Sitting on his bed, David's father told him the story of his love for his mother. It was for David a moving story in which he came to see how marriage is a unique analogy enabling him to understand Mystical Prayer like never before. It is this moving analogy that makes this talk not only profoundly meaningful, but deeply inspiring for everyone who has tried to give themselves to another in selfless love no matter what the cost.   

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Celebrating my 50th jubilee was an opportunity to review my life. One thing that stood out was how it didn’t go as I had planned. Yes, I always dreamed of being a teacher, but not a teaching Sister. Then I decided I would teach freshmen English at my high school, Notre Dame Academy, all my life. Two years later that school moved to Chardon. I never taught there, not even one day, not even as a substitute teacher! Then as I attended College preparing to be a high school English and math teacher, I was plucked out and sent to teach primary grades for three years. Click to continue

Today, we celebrate another Marian Feast Day, the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is on this day that we honor Mary, as Queen of Heaven. As the Mother of God, and the spouse of the Holy Spirit, she holds a special place in the hearts of the faithful. It is only right that, as the Mother of God, she should be crowned as Queen of Heaven, as Christ is the King! As Catholics, when we pray the Rosary, on Wednesdays and Sundays, we recognize the crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, when we recite the fifth Glorious Mystery. This glorious event deserves some meditation, on our part. As Bishop Barron articulates in this video, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant, in that she is the pure vessel that gives birth to Christ. She is the crowned figure mentioned in Revelation 12:1-3.  Read more...

                                Carta de SACERDOTE CATÓLICO AL NEW YORK TIMES Querido hermano y hermana periodista: Soy un simple sacerdote católico. Me siento feliz y orgulloso de mi vocación. Hace veinte años que vivo en Angola como misionero. Veo en muchos medios de información, sobre todo en vuestro periódico la ampliación del tema en forma morbosa, investigando en detalles la vida de algún sacerdote pedófilo. Así aparece uno de una ciudad de USA, de la década del 70, otro en Australia de los años 80 y así de frente, otros casos recientes… Ciertamente todo condenable! Se ven algunas presentaciones periodísticas ponderadas y equilibradas, otras amplificadas, llenas de preconceptos y hasta odio. Me da un gran dolor por el profundo mal que personas, que deberían de ser señales del amor de Dios, sean un puñal en la vida de inocentes. No hay palabra que justifique tales actos. No hay duda que la Iglesia no puede estar, sino del lado de los débile

A STORY WITH A MORAL TO REMEMBER CLICK HERE

Calvary Road , by Marty Barrack, is an interesting memoir/conversion story of Barrack’s conversion from Judaism to Catholicism. Roughly, the first 60% of the book is a memoir of Barrack’s life. We read about Barrack growing up in New York City and meeting the love of his life, Irene.  We learn about Barrack’s profession as a Customs officer. Very little touches on Barrack’s faith. I must admit, as I was reading the book, I kept questioning, “When do we get to the conversion part?”  With the title,  Calvary Road , I expected more conversion and less memoir. However, when I reached page 220, the conversion part kicked into high gear! From that point on, it was a page-turner. Once I came upon the conversion part, I understood why Barrack spent the first 60% of the book on his memoir. It is through Barrack’s memoir, that we see where God was at work in Barrack’s life, unbeknownst to Barrack. God placed him where he needed to be to experience his conversion. We see Barrack embrace t

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WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT ... YOU DO JUDGE OTHERS IT'S IN YOUR NATURE TO DO SO SO IS IT GOOD OR BAD TO JUDGE? CLICK HERE

This post is going to be too strong for some people but it's as honest as I get in my writing. I'm fed up with Catholics ignoring the scandals in our church. There's an old saying: if you do what you've always done, you will get what you always have. If we keep ignoring the scandal, keep refusing to question our leaders about these matters, we're going to have the same old, same old scandal and sin plagued church. I, for one, have had enough. My post for today on the Philadelphia Grand Jury report .

I stopped believing in coincidences long ago. Our God is not a god of chaos, but a God of order. My heart and my stomach are hurting from reading excerpts of the grand jury report out of Pennsylvania. Horror and betrayal are probably the words that most accurately describe my emotions. It seems like each time we think, “okay, it can’t get worse”, it does. It gets so much worse. And sad to say, this seems to just be the beginning. While we as a Church have spent the last day in anger and mourning, today we are celebrating the great Solemnity of the Assumption. Today is one of the few remaining Holy Days of Obligation on the Church’s calendar. We the faithful are commanded to attend Mass today to pay homage to Our Lady. This is not a coincidence. Read more at Messy Buns & Latin Chant

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate this day every year, for several reasons: Mary was conceived without Original Sin. In accordance with God’s plan for salvation, Mary should be a pure vessel bringing forth the Son of God, because Jesus is sinless. He deserved a tabernacle (womb) free from sin. Mary never sinned during her entire lifetime. Because she was born without Original Sin, she did not have the concupiscence (tendency to sin) like the rest of us. She was “full of grace” and could therefore resist all temptation, unlike us. Because Mary was free from sin, her body should not, and would not, experience corruption in the grave, as noted by Pope Pius the XII in his Apostolic Constitution,  Munificentissimus Deus : [Mary,] by an entirely unique privilege, completely overcame sin by her Immaculate Conception, and as a result she was not subject to the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and she did not have

From  The Gospel of John  (2003)  Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator, Christopher Plummer. [Today's gospel ends at 2:54] Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 6:51-58 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition) Jesus said to the crowd: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’  So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my f