How to observe the March 3 total lunar eclipse

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Amateur astronomers, take note: A wonderful celestial event known as a total lunar eclipse will occur in the skies above North America during the morning hours of Monday, March 3.  Lunar eclipses happen when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon align, in that order. When this alignment is precise, Earth’s shadow falls upon the Moon, obscuring itContinue reading “How to observe the March 3 total lunar eclipse”

The post How to observe the March 3 total lunar eclipse appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84; Catholic leaders praise civil rights leader’s work for justice #Catholic – WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic leaders were among those who praised the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and prominent civil rights leader, who died Feb. 17. He was 84. “For more than six decades, Reverend Jackson dedicated his life to advancing equality, dismantling systems of oppression, and amplifying the voices of the underserved,” said a statement from his family announcing his death. News reports said he died at his home in Chicago. A cause of death was not immediately shared by the family. A former aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Jackson later sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Although those bids were unsuccessful, he became the first Black candidate for U.S. president to get on the primary ballot in all 50 states. Although, as a politician, Rev. Jackson took some public policy positions at odds with church teaching — such as changing his original views opposing abortion to supporting it over the course of his life — Catholic leaders praised his work in the area of racial justice. Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, said in written comments to OSV News, “As an advocate for racial justice and a central figure in the civil rights movement, Rev. Jesse Jackson played a key role in securing equal rights for African Americans and offered prophetic witness to the dignity of people of all racial backgrounds.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “He inspired generations to pursue racial justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with God. My prayers are with his family and close collaborators — may his legacy continue to inspire, guide and uplift all who strive for a more just world and an end to racism,” Bishop Garcia said. Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, told OSV News that in 1991, Rev. Jackson “came through my small hometown in Connecticut.” The network she heads advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching as well as restorative justice, including addressing the sin of racism. “He literally walked his talk as he marched through our state, calling attention to the social and economic ills for people who were forgotten, overlooked, and marginalized,” she said. “He was a larger-than-life figure and a deeply faithful man who consistently and pointedly connected the realities of injustice in the present day to the often overlooked sins of systemic racism and institutionalized discrimination. “Jesse carried an indefatigable hope and a more perfect vision for the future. His faith informed his engagement in politics and the policy arena and undergirded his vision for justice that centered the dignity of all people.” Vaillancourt Murphy said Catholic Mobilizing Network’s “advocacy to end the death penalty, which recognizes the deep-rooted racism and institutionalized discrimination within the U.S. criminal legal system, has learned much from civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson.” “Racism is a sin, and engagement in racial justice efforts are required at the individual, social and systemic levels so that truth-telling can dismantle unjust systems and build up approaches to justice that are equitable, restorative, and life-affirming — more fitting of our faith convictions,” she said. “Jesse Jackson’s witness — a tireless and fervently hopeful pursuit of the good — provides a faithful inspiration in this work.” Gloria Purvis, a special adviser for integral human development and dignity at Providence College in Rhode Island and a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Initiative for Catholic Social Thought in Public Life in Washington, told OSV News that Rev. Jackson met with St. John Paul II multiple times, notably to advocate for Haitian refugees. “The preferential option for the poor, solidarity with the oppressed, the dignity of the human person, all of those things, I think, are the positive parts of his legacy that should be remembered and even though he was Baptist, he recognized the moral authority of the Holy Father,” Purvis said. In a post on X, Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said, “A few years ago, I shared a dinner with a number of US representatives, and among them was Jesse Jackson, Jr. When I shook his hand, I said, ‘tell your Dad I’m praying for him.’” “Though we differed on a number of issues, I always admired Jesse Jackson, who died today at 84,” Bishop Barron said. “A top lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jackson consistently advocated for the transformative power of non-violence. At a time when our social interaction is marked by terrible violence, this continues to be a welcome message.” “Moreover, throughout his long public career, Jackson called for the empowerment of young black men through education and the assuming of moral responsibility,” Bishop Barron said. “He knew that government programs were never sufficient for the lifting up of the black community; what was especially needed was the shaping of character. He was also one of the very best public speakers on the scene when I was coming of age. I particularly recall an episode of ‘Firing Line’ which featured a debate between William F. Buckley and Jesse Jackson: very different styles indeed, but both a delight to listen to. So on the day of his death, I will, once again, pray for Jesse Jackson.” Bipartisan tributes were also made to Rev. Jackson. Purvis said that “at this time in particular (when) to be able to empathize with other people’s struggles seems to be a difficulty,” Rev. Jackson’s legacy was “a practical enactment” of what Catholic social teaching calls solidarity, “the recognition that we are all responsible for one another.” President Donald Trump called Rev. Jackson “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts’” in a post on his social media website Truth Social. “He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!” Trump said, adding he was sending “my deepest sympathies and condolences” to his family. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called Rev. Jackson “a legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights champion and trailblazer extraordinaire.” “For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all,” Jeffries said in a post on X. “We are thankful for the incredible service of Rev. Jesse Jackson to the nation and his profound sacrifice as the people’s champion.” Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.  
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Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84; Catholic leaders praise civil rights leader’s work for justice #Catholic – WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic leaders were among those who praised the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and prominent civil rights leader, who died Feb. 17. He was 84. “For more than six decades, Reverend Jackson dedicated his life to advancing equality, dismantling systems of oppression, and amplifying the voices of the underserved,” said a statement from his family announcing his death. News reports said he died at his home in Chicago. A cause of death was not immediately shared by the family. A former aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Jackson later sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Although those bids were unsuccessful, he became the first Black candidate for U.S. president to get on the primary ballot in all 50 states. Although, as a politician, Rev. Jackson took some public policy positions at odds with church teaching — such as changing his original views opposing abortion to supporting it over the course of his life — Catholic leaders praised his work in the area of racial justice. Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, said in written comments to OSV News, “As an advocate for racial justice and a central figure in the civil rights movement, Rev. Jesse Jackson played a key role in securing equal rights for African Americans and offered prophetic witness to the dignity of people of all racial backgrounds.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “He inspired generations to pursue racial justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with God. My prayers are with his family and close collaborators — may his legacy continue to inspire, guide and uplift all who strive for a more just world and an end to racism,” Bishop Garcia said. Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, told OSV News that in 1991, Rev. Jackson “came through my small hometown in Connecticut.” The network she heads advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching as well as restorative justice, including addressing the sin of racism. “He literally walked his talk as he marched through our state, calling attention to the social and economic ills for people who were forgotten, overlooked, and marginalized,” she said. “He was a larger-than-life figure and a deeply faithful man who consistently and pointedly connected the realities of injustice in the present day to the often overlooked sins of systemic racism and institutionalized discrimination. “Jesse carried an indefatigable hope and a more perfect vision for the future. His faith informed his engagement in politics and the policy arena and undergirded his vision for justice that centered the dignity of all people.” Vaillancourt Murphy said Catholic Mobilizing Network’s “advocacy to end the death penalty, which recognizes the deep-rooted racism and institutionalized discrimination within the U.S. criminal legal system, has learned much from civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson.” “Racism is a sin, and engagement in racial justice efforts are required at the individual, social and systemic levels so that truth-telling can dismantle unjust systems and build up approaches to justice that are equitable, restorative, and life-affirming — more fitting of our faith convictions,” she said. “Jesse Jackson’s witness — a tireless and fervently hopeful pursuit of the good — provides a faithful inspiration in this work.” Gloria Purvis, a special adviser for integral human development and dignity at Providence College in Rhode Island and a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Initiative for Catholic Social Thought in Public Life in Washington, told OSV News that Rev. Jackson met with St. John Paul II multiple times, notably to advocate for Haitian refugees. “The preferential option for the poor, solidarity with the oppressed, the dignity of the human person, all of those things, I think, are the positive parts of his legacy that should be remembered and even though he was Baptist, he recognized the moral authority of the Holy Father,” Purvis said. In a post on X, Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said, “A few years ago, I shared a dinner with a number of US representatives, and among them was Jesse Jackson, Jr. When I shook his hand, I said, ‘tell your Dad I’m praying for him.’” “Though we differed on a number of issues, I always admired Jesse Jackson, who died today at 84,” Bishop Barron said. “A top lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jackson consistently advocated for the transformative power of non-violence. At a time when our social interaction is marked by terrible violence, this continues to be a welcome message.” “Moreover, throughout his long public career, Jackson called for the empowerment of young black men through education and the assuming of moral responsibility,” Bishop Barron said. “He knew that government programs were never sufficient for the lifting up of the black community; what was especially needed was the shaping of character. He was also one of the very best public speakers on the scene when I was coming of age. I particularly recall an episode of ‘Firing Line’ which featured a debate between William F. Buckley and Jesse Jackson: very different styles indeed, but both a delight to listen to. So on the day of his death, I will, once again, pray for Jesse Jackson.” Bipartisan tributes were also made to Rev. Jackson. Purvis said that “at this time in particular (when) to be able to empathize with other people’s struggles seems to be a difficulty,” Rev. Jackson’s legacy was “a practical enactment” of what Catholic social teaching calls solidarity, “the recognition that we are all responsible for one another.” President Donald Trump called Rev. Jackson “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts’” in a post on his social media website Truth Social. “He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!” Trump said, adding he was sending “my deepest sympathies and condolences” to his family. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called Rev. Jackson “a legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights champion and trailblazer extraordinaire.” “For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all,” Jeffries said in a post on X. “We are thankful for the incredible service of Rev. Jesse Jackson to the nation and his profound sacrifice as the people’s champion.” Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.  

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Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84; Catholic leaders praise civil rights leader’s work for justice #Catholic –

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic leaders were among those who praised the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and prominent civil rights leader, who died Feb. 17. He was 84.

“For more than six decades, Reverend Jackson dedicated his life to advancing equality, dismantling systems of oppression, and amplifying the voices of the underserved,” said a statement from his family announcing his death.

News reports said he died at his home in Chicago. A cause of death was not immediately shared by the family.

A former aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Jackson later sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Although those bids were unsuccessful, he became the first Black candidate for U.S. president to get on the primary ballot in all 50 states.

Although, as a politician, Rev. Jackson took some public policy positions at odds with church teaching — such as changing his original views opposing abortion to supporting it over the course of his life — Catholic leaders praised his work in the area of racial justice.

Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, said in written comments to OSV News, “As an advocate for racial justice and a central figure in the civil rights movement, Rev. Jesse Jackson played a key role in securing equal rights for African Americans and offered prophetic witness to the dignity of people of all racial backgrounds.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

“He inspired generations to pursue racial justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with God. My prayers are with his family and close collaborators — may his legacy continue to inspire, guide and uplift all who strive for a more just world and an end to racism,” Bishop Garcia said.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, told OSV News that in 1991, Rev. Jackson “came through my small hometown in Connecticut.” The network she heads advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching as well as restorative justice, including addressing the sin of racism.

“He literally walked his talk as he marched through our state, calling attention to the social and economic ills for people who were forgotten, overlooked, and marginalized,” she said. “He was a larger-than-life figure and a deeply faithful man who consistently and pointedly connected the realities of injustice in the present day to the often overlooked sins of systemic racism and institutionalized discrimination.

“Jesse carried an indefatigable hope and a more perfect vision for the future. His faith informed his engagement in politics and the policy arena and undergirded his vision for justice that centered the dignity of all people.”

Vaillancourt Murphy said Catholic Mobilizing Network’s “advocacy to end the death penalty, which recognizes the deep-rooted racism and institutionalized discrimination within the U.S. criminal legal system, has learned much from civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson.”

“Racism is a sin, and engagement in racial justice efforts are required at the individual, social and systemic levels so that truth-telling can dismantle unjust systems and build up approaches to justice that are equitable, restorative, and life-affirming — more fitting of our faith convictions,” she said. “Jesse Jackson’s witness — a tireless and fervently hopeful pursuit of the good — provides a faithful inspiration in this work.”

Gloria Purvis, a special adviser for integral human development and dignity at Providence College in Rhode Island and a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Initiative for Catholic Social Thought in Public Life in Washington, told OSV News that Rev. Jackson met with St. John Paul II multiple times, notably to advocate for Haitian refugees.

“The preferential option for the poor, solidarity with the oppressed, the dignity of the human person, all of those things, I think, are the positive parts of his legacy that should be remembered and even though he was Baptist, he recognized the moral authority of the Holy Father,” Purvis said.

In a post on X, Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said, “A few years ago, I shared a dinner with a number of US representatives, and among them was Jesse Jackson, Jr. When I shook his hand, I said, ‘tell your Dad I’m praying for him.’”

“Though we differed on a number of issues, I always admired Jesse Jackson, who died today at 84,” Bishop Barron said. “A top lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jackson consistently advocated for the transformative power of non-violence. At a time when our social interaction is marked by terrible violence, this continues to be a welcome message.”

“Moreover, throughout his long public career, Jackson called for the empowerment of young black men through education and the assuming of moral responsibility,” Bishop Barron said. “He knew that government programs were never sufficient for the lifting up of the black community; what was especially needed was the shaping of character. He was also one of the very best public speakers on the scene when I was coming of age. I particularly recall an episode of ‘Firing Line’ which featured a debate between William F. Buckley and Jesse Jackson: very different styles indeed, but both a delight to listen to. So on the day of his death, I will, once again, pray for Jesse Jackson.”

Bipartisan tributes were also made to Rev. Jackson.

Purvis said that “at this time in particular (when) to be able to empathize with other people’s struggles seems to be a difficulty,” Rev. Jackson’s legacy was “a practical enactment” of what Catholic social teaching calls solidarity, “the recognition that we are all responsible for one another.”

President Donald Trump called Rev. Jackson “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts’” in a post on his social media website Truth Social.

“He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!” Trump said, adding he was sending “my deepest sympathies and condolences” to his family.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called Rev. Jackson “a legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights champion and trailblazer extraordinaire.”

“For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all,” Jeffries said in a post on X. “We are thankful for the incredible service of Rev. Jesse Jackson to the nation and his profound sacrifice as the people’s champion.”

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
 

– WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic leaders were among those who praised the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and prominent civil rights leader, who died Feb. 17. He was 84. “For more than six decades, Reverend Jackson dedicated his life to advancing equality, dismantling systems of oppression, and amplifying the voices of the underserved,” said a statement from his family announcing his death. News reports said he died at his home in Chicago. A cause of death was not immediately shared by the family. A former aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Jackson

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Pope Leo XIV calls for ‘countercultural’ repentance on first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate #Catholic – ROME (OSV News) — Beneath the Roman pines of the Aventine Hill, Pope Leo XIV led a solemn penitential procession Feb. 18 to Rome’s oldest extant basilica, marking the first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate with a call for “countercultural” repentance for sins from individuals, institutions and the Church itself. Priests, bishops and cardinals chanted the Litany of the Saints as the procession wound from the Benedictine Basilica of Sant’Anselmo to the ancient Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina, where the pope offered Ash Wednesday Mass. “How rare it is to find adults who repent — individuals, businesses and institutions that admit they have done wrong,” Pope Leo said in his homily in the Basilica of Santa Sabina. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “Indeed, during Lent, a people is formed that recognizes its sins. These sins are evils that have not come from supposed enemies, but afflicts our hearts, and exist within us. We need to respond by courageously accepting responsibility for them,” he added. Pope Leo acknowledged that “this attitude is countercultural,” but it “constitutes an authentic, honest and attractive option, especially in our times, when it is so easy to feel powerless in the face of a world that is in flames.” In his homily, the pope pointed to young people as an unexpected sign of openness today. “Even in secularized contexts, many young people, more than in the past, are open to the invitation of Ash Wednesday,” Pope Leo observed. “Young people especially understand clearly that it is possible to live a just lifestyle, and that there should be accountability for wrongdoings in the Church and in the world.” He called on the faithful to “embrace the missionary significance of Lent,” not as a distraction from personal conversion, but “in a way that introduces this season to the many restless people of good will who are seeking authentic ways to renew their lives, within the context of the Kingdom of God and his justice.” Pope Leo received ashes sprinkled atop his head in the Italian custom before imposing them on the cardinals and some of the faithful present. “We perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war,” he said. “This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples, the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom, the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature,” Pope Leo added. The pope recalled that 60 years ago, on the Ash Wednesday following the close of the Second Vatican Council, St. Paul VI had warned of the modern world’s “fundamental pessimism” and its tendency to proclaim “‘the inevitable vanity of everything, the immense sadness of life, the metaphysics of the absurd and of nothingness.’” “Today, we can recognize that his words were prophetic,” Pope Leo added. The pope also reflected on the significance of the Lenten Station Church tradition, in which pilgrims pray at the tombs of Rome’s early Christian martyrs. The Basilica of Santa Sabina, where Pope Leo offered Mass, is the first church in the Roman Station Church pilgrimage. The basilica dates back to A.D. 422. “”The ancient and contemporary martyrs shine as pioneers on our journey towards Easter,” he said. “The ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten stationes — which begins today with the first station — is instructive: it refers both to moving, as pilgrims, and to stopping, statio, at the ‘memories’ of the Martyrs, on which stand the basilicas of Rome.” “Is this not perhaps an invitation to follow in the footsteps of the admirable witnesses to the faith, who can now be found throughout the world?” he added. Ash Wednesday marks the start of the 40-day Lenten season, during which Christians are called to prayer, fasting, and works of charity. Lent concludes with the Easter Triduum. “We recognize our sins so that we can be converted; this is itself a sign and testimony of Resurrection. Indeed, it means that we will not remain among the ashes, but will rise up and rebuild,” Pope Leo said. “Then the Easter Triduum, which we will celebrate as the summit of the Lenten journey, will unleash all its beauty and meaning. This will take place if we participate, through penance, in the passage from death to life, from powerlessness to the possibilities of God.” Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.
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Pope Leo XIV calls for ‘countercultural’ repentance on first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate #Catholic – ROME (OSV News) — Beneath the Roman pines of the Aventine Hill, Pope Leo XIV led a solemn penitential procession Feb. 18 to Rome’s oldest extant basilica, marking the first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate with a call for “countercultural” repentance for sins from individuals, institutions and the Church itself. Priests, bishops and cardinals chanted the Litany of the Saints as the procession wound from the Benedictine Basilica of Sant’Anselmo to the ancient Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina, where the pope offered Ash Wednesday Mass. “How rare it is to find adults who repent — individuals, businesses and institutions that admit they have done wrong,” Pope Leo said in his homily in the Basilica of Santa Sabina. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. “Indeed, during Lent, a people is formed that recognizes its sins. These sins are evils that have not come from supposed enemies, but afflicts our hearts, and exist within us. We need to respond by courageously accepting responsibility for them,” he added. Pope Leo acknowledged that “this attitude is countercultural,” but it “constitutes an authentic, honest and attractive option, especially in our times, when it is so easy to feel powerless in the face of a world that is in flames.” In his homily, the pope pointed to young people as an unexpected sign of openness today. “Even in secularized contexts, many young people, more than in the past, are open to the invitation of Ash Wednesday,” Pope Leo observed. “Young people especially understand clearly that it is possible to live a just lifestyle, and that there should be accountability for wrongdoings in the Church and in the world.” He called on the faithful to “embrace the missionary significance of Lent,” not as a distraction from personal conversion, but “in a way that introduces this season to the many restless people of good will who are seeking authentic ways to renew their lives, within the context of the Kingdom of God and his justice.” Pope Leo received ashes sprinkled atop his head in the Italian custom before imposing them on the cardinals and some of the faithful present. “We perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war,” he said. “This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples, the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom, the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature,” Pope Leo added. The pope recalled that 60 years ago, on the Ash Wednesday following the close of the Second Vatican Council, St. Paul VI had warned of the modern world’s “fundamental pessimism” and its tendency to proclaim “‘the inevitable vanity of everything, the immense sadness of life, the metaphysics of the absurd and of nothingness.’” “Today, we can recognize that his words were prophetic,” Pope Leo added. The pope also reflected on the significance of the Lenten Station Church tradition, in which pilgrims pray at the tombs of Rome’s early Christian martyrs. The Basilica of Santa Sabina, where Pope Leo offered Mass, is the first church in the Roman Station Church pilgrimage. The basilica dates back to A.D. 422. “”The ancient and contemporary martyrs shine as pioneers on our journey towards Easter,” he said. “The ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten stationes — which begins today with the first station — is instructive: it refers both to moving, as pilgrims, and to stopping, statio, at the ‘memories’ of the Martyrs, on which stand the basilicas of Rome.” “Is this not perhaps an invitation to follow in the footsteps of the admirable witnesses to the faith, who can now be found throughout the world?” he added. Ash Wednesday marks the start of the 40-day Lenten season, during which Christians are called to prayer, fasting, and works of charity. Lent concludes with the Easter Triduum. “We recognize our sins so that we can be converted; this is itself a sign and testimony of Resurrection. Indeed, it means that we will not remain among the ashes, but will rise up and rebuild,” Pope Leo said. “Then the Easter Triduum, which we will celebrate as the summit of the Lenten journey, will unleash all its beauty and meaning. This will take place if we participate, through penance, in the passage from death to life, from powerlessness to the possibilities of God.” Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.

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Pope Leo XIV calls for ‘countercultural’ repentance on first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate #Catholic –

ROME (OSV News) — Beneath the Roman pines of the Aventine Hill, Pope Leo XIV led a solemn penitential procession Feb. 18 to Rome’s oldest extant basilica, marking the first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate with a call for “countercultural” repentance for sins from individuals, institutions and the Church itself.

Priests, bishops and cardinals chanted the Litany of the Saints as the procession wound from the Benedictine Basilica of Sant’Anselmo to the ancient Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina, where the pope offered Ash Wednesday Mass.

“How rare it is to find adults who repent — individuals, businesses and institutions that admit they have done wrong,” Pope Leo said in his homily in the Basilica of Santa Sabina.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

“Indeed, during Lent, a people is formed that recognizes its sins. These sins are evils that have not come from supposed enemies, but afflicts our hearts, and exist within us. We need to respond by courageously accepting responsibility for them,” he added.

Pope Leo acknowledged that “this attitude is countercultural,” but it “constitutes an authentic, honest and attractive option, especially in our times, when it is so easy to feel powerless in the face of a world that is in flames.”

In his homily, the pope pointed to young people as an unexpected sign of openness today.

“Even in secularized contexts, many young people, more than in the past, are open to the invitation of Ash Wednesday,” Pope Leo observed. “Young people especially understand clearly that it is possible to live a just lifestyle, and that there should be accountability for wrongdoings in the Church and in the world.”

He called on the faithful to “embrace the missionary significance of Lent,” not as a distraction from personal conversion, but “in a way that introduces this season to the many restless people of good will who are seeking authentic ways to renew their lives, within the context of the Kingdom of God and his justice.”

Pope Leo received ashes sprinkled atop his head in the Italian custom before imposing them on the cardinals and some of the faithful present.

“We perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war,” he said.

“This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples, the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom, the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature,” Pope Leo added.

The pope recalled that 60 years ago, on the Ash Wednesday following the close of the Second Vatican Council, St. Paul VI had warned of the modern world’s “fundamental pessimism” and its tendency to proclaim “‘the inevitable vanity of everything, the immense sadness of life, the metaphysics of the absurd and of nothingness.’”

“Today, we can recognize that his words were prophetic,” Pope Leo added.

The pope also reflected on the significance of the Lenten Station Church tradition, in which pilgrims pray at the tombs of Rome’s early Christian martyrs. The Basilica of Santa Sabina, where Pope Leo offered Mass, is the first church in the Roman Station Church pilgrimage. The basilica dates back to A.D. 422.

“”The ancient and contemporary martyrs shine as pioneers on our journey towards Easter,” he said. “The ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten stationes — which begins today with the first station — is instructive: it refers both to moving, as pilgrims, and to stopping, statio, at the ‘memories’ of the Martyrs, on which stand the basilicas of Rome.”

“Is this not perhaps an invitation to follow in the footsteps of the admirable witnesses to the faith, who can now be found throughout the world?” he added.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the 40-day Lenten season, during which Christians are called to prayer, fasting, and works of charity. Lent concludes with the Easter Triduum.

“We recognize our sins so that we can be converted; this is itself a sign and testimony of Resurrection. Indeed, it means that we will not remain among the ashes, but will rise up and rebuild,” Pope Leo said.

“Then the Easter Triduum, which we will celebrate as the summit of the Lenten journey, will unleash all its beauty and meaning. This will take place if we participate, through penance, in the passage from death to life, from powerlessness to the possibilities of God.”

Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.

– ROME (OSV News) — Beneath the Roman pines of the Aventine Hill, Pope Leo XIV led a solemn penitential procession Feb. 18 to Rome’s oldest extant basilica, marking the first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate with a call for “countercultural” repentance for sins from individuals, institutions and the Church itself. Priests, bishops and cardinals chanted the Litany of the Saints as the procession wound from the Benedictine Basilica of Sant’Anselmo to the ancient Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina, where the pope offered Ash Wednesday Mass. “How rare it is to find adults who repent — individuals, businesses and institutions that

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Grieving D.C. Grandmother Who Lost Son to Violent Crime TORCHES Democrats in a Powerful Speech: “Get Off the Man’s Back… Let Him Do His Job!” – The radical left has turned our nation’s capital into a dangerous, lawless warzone but the victims of their disastrous policies are finally fighting back. The post Grieving D.C. Grandmother Who Lost Son to Violent Crime TORCHES Democrats in a Powerful Speech: “Get Off the Man’s Back… Let Him Do His Job!” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Grieving D.C. Grandmother Who Lost Son to Violent Crime TORCHES Democrats in a Powerful Speech: “Get Off the Man’s Back… Let Him Do His Job!” – The radical left has turned our nation’s capital into a dangerous, lawless warzone but the victims of their disastrous policies are finally fighting back. The post Grieving D.C. Grandmother Who Lost Son to Violent Crime TORCHES Democrats in a Powerful Speech: “Get Off the Man’s Back… Let Him Do His Job!” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Donald Trump smiles while a speaker addresses the audience at a formal event with U.S. flags in the background.

Donald Trump smiles while a speaker addresses the audience at a formal event with U.S. flags in the background.

The radical left has turned our nation’s capital into a dangerous, lawless warzone but the victims of their disastrous policies are finally fighting back.

The post Grieving D.C. Grandmother Who Lost Son to Violent Crime TORCHES Democrats in a Powerful Speech: “Get Off the Man’s Back… Let Him Do His Job!” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Responds to Reports of Tucker Carlson Being Detained in Israel –   United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has responded to reports that conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson was detained in Israel. The post U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Responds to Reports of Tucker Carlson Being Detained in Israel appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Responds to Reports of Tucker Carlson Being Detained in Israel –   United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has responded to reports that conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson was detained in Israel. The post U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Responds to Reports of Tucker Carlson Being Detained in Israel appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Mike Huckabee delivers a speech at a podium with American flags, while Tucker Carlson appears in an inset image.

Mike Huckabee delivers a speech at a podium with American flags, while Tucker Carlson appears in an inset image.

  United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has responded to reports that conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson was detained in Israel.

The post U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Responds to Reports of Tucker Carlson Being Detained in Israel appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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The Iranian Regime’s Days Are Numbered – Explosions Reported Across the Country – The days of the Mullahs running a terrorist regime in Iran are coming to an end.  Overnight, there was more action by the US military, indicating that the Islamic regime … Read more The post The Iranian Regime’s Days Are Numbered – Explosions Reported Across the Country appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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The Iranian Regime’s Days Are Numbered – Explosions Reported Across the Country – The days of the Mullahs running a terrorist regime in Iran are coming to an end.  Overnight, there was more action by the US military, indicating that the Islamic regime … Read more The post The Iranian Regime’s Days Are Numbered – Explosions Reported Across the Country appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Massive fire and smoke billowing from a building, indicating a significant incident or explosion.

Massive fire and smoke billowing from a building, indicating a significant incident or explosion.

The days of the Mullahs running a terrorist regime in Iran are coming to an end.  Overnight, there was more action by the US military, indicating that the Islamic regime … Read more

The post The Iranian Regime’s Days Are Numbered – Explosions Reported Across the Country appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 19 February 2026 – A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Moses said to the people: “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy. I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”From the Gospel according to Luke 9:22-25 Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”Jesus (…) indicates the way of the true disciple, showing two attitudes. The first is “to renounce oneself” (…). The other attitude is that of taking up one’s own cross. It is not just a matter of patiently enduring daily tribulations, but of bearing with faith and responsibility that part of toil, and that part of suffering that the struggle against evil entails. The life of Christians is always a struggle. The Bible says that the life of Christians is a military undertaking: fighting against the evil spirit, fighting against Evil. Thus the task of “taking up the cross” becomes participating with Christ in the salvation of the world. Considering this, let us make sure that the cross hanging on the wall at home, or that little one that we wear around our neck, is a sign of our wish to be united with Christ in lovingly serving our brothers and sisters, especially the littlest and most fragile. The cross is the holy sign of God’s Love, it is a sign of Jesus’ Sacrifice, and is not to be reduced to a superstitious object or an ornamental necklace. Each time we fix our gaze on the image of Christ crucified, let us contemplate that he, as the true Servant of the Lord, has accomplished his mission, giving life, spilling his blood for the pardoning of sins. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 30 August 2020)

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A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy
30:15-20

Moses said to the people:
“Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

From the Gospel according to Luke
9:22-25

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?”

Jesus (…) indicates the way of the true disciple, showing two attitudes. The first is “to renounce oneself” (…). The other attitude is that of taking up one’s own cross. It is not just a matter of patiently enduring daily tribulations, but of bearing with faith and responsibility that part of toil, and that part of suffering that the struggle against evil entails. The life of Christians is always a struggle. The Bible says that the life of Christians is a military undertaking: fighting against the evil spirit, fighting against Evil.

Thus the task of “taking up the cross” becomes participating with Christ in the salvation of the world. Considering this, let us make sure that the cross hanging on the wall at home, or that little one that we wear around our neck, is a sign of our wish to be united with Christ in lovingly serving our brothers and sisters, especially the littlest and most fragile. The cross is the holy sign of God’s Love, it is a sign of Jesus’ Sacrifice, and is not to be reduced to a superstitious object or an ornamental necklace. Each time we fix our gaze on the image of Christ crucified, let us contemplate that he, as the true Servant of the Lord, has accomplished his mission, giving life, spilling his blood for the pardoning of sins. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 30 August 2020)

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Wife Explains Her Love Language Is For Husband To Go Out And Earn All The Money And Then Come Home And Do All The Chores #BabylonBee – ONTARIO, CA — In a revelation intended to lay a foundation for a better marital relationship, a local wife explained to her husband that her love language is for him to go out and earn all the money and then come home and do all the chores.
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Wife Explains Her Love Language Is For Husband To Go Out And Earn All The Money And Then Come Home And Do All The Chores #BabylonBee – ONTARIO, CA — In a revelation intended to lay a foundation for a better marital relationship, a local wife explained to her husband that her love language is for him to go out and earn all the money and then come home and do all the chores.

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ONTARIO, CA — In a revelation intended to lay a foundation for a better marital relationship, a local wife explained to her husband that her love language is for him to go out and earn all the money and then come home and do all the chores.

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‘You Know, The Bible Says You Shouldn’t Judge People,’ Woman Tells Jesus At Great Throne Of Judgment #BabylonBee – HEAVENLY THRONE ROOM — As she stood before the great white throne of judgment upon whom sat One with the appearance of jasper and carnelian, recently deceased Tiffany Smith told Jesus that He really shouldn’t be so judgy.
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‘You Know, The Bible Says You Shouldn’t Judge People,’ Woman Tells Jesus At Great Throne Of Judgment #BabylonBee – HEAVENLY THRONE ROOM — As she stood before the great white throne of judgment upon whom sat One with the appearance of jasper and carnelian, recently deceased Tiffany Smith told Jesus that He really shouldn’t be so judgy.

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HEAVENLY THRONE ROOM — As she stood before the great white throne of judgment upon whom sat One with the appearance of jasper and carnelian, recently deceased Tiffany Smith told Jesus that He really shouldn’t be so judgy.

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Fishing Boats and City Lights – Fishing boats illuminate the Arabian Sea along India’s west coast with green lights designed to attract squid, shrimp, sardines, and mackerel in this nighttime photograph from the International Space Station, orbiting 259 miles above Earth. At lower right, the city lights of Hyderabad—renowned for its historic diamond and pearl trade—stretch westward toward the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, home to over 26 million people and the heart of Bollywood.
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Fishing Boats and City Lights – Fishing boats illuminate the Arabian Sea along India’s west coast with green lights designed to attract squid, shrimp, sardines, and mackerel in this nighttime photograph from the International Space Station, orbiting 259 miles above Earth. At lower right, the city lights of Hyderabad—renowned for its historic diamond and pearl trade—stretch westward toward the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, home to over 26 million people and the heart of Bollywood.

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Fishing boats illuminate the Arabian Sea along India’s west coast with green lights designed to attract squid, shrimp, sardines, and mackerel in this nighttime photograph from the International Space Station, orbiting 259 miles above Earth. At lower right, the city lights of Hyderabad—renowned for its historic diamond and pearl trade—stretch westward toward the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, home to over 26 million people and the heart of Bollywood.

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Assumption school eighth-grader in urgent need of kidney #Catholic – A Morristown, N.J.,  family is desperately seeking a living kidney donor for their son, an eighth-grade student at Assumption School. Thaddeus Giansanti was born with kidney disease and has undergone multiple surgeries including one to remove a non-functioning kidney when he was an infant. Parents Christa and Carlo are turning to the community for help to find a living donor for their son. Neither parent is a match for the 13-year-old who is now faced with a single declining kidney and is in urgent need of a transplant. According to his doctors, if Thaddeus does not receive a kidney transplant within a couple of weeks, he will need to be put on dialysis. A donor needs to be in good health, under 45 years old, have a BMI under 30, and have blood type O. If you are able to consider this, please use the links below. Kidney Transplant Living Donor Questionnaire Transplant donor form Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.  
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Assumption school eighth-grader in urgent need of kidney #Catholic – A Morristown, N.J.,  family is desperately seeking a living kidney donor for their son, an eighth-grade student at Assumption School. Thaddeus Giansanti was born with kidney disease and has undergone multiple surgeries including one to remove a non-functioning kidney when he was an infant. Parents Christa and Carlo are turning to the community for help to find a living donor for their son. Neither parent is a match for the 13-year-old who is now faced with a single declining kidney and is in urgent need of a transplant. According to his doctors, if Thaddeus does not receive a kidney transplant within a couple of weeks, he will need to be put on dialysis. A donor needs to be in good health, under 45 years old, have a BMI under 30, and have blood type O. If you are able to consider this, please use the links below. Kidney Transplant Living Donor Questionnaire Transplant donor form Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.  

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Assumption school eighth-grader in urgent need of kidney #Catholic –

A Morristown, N.J.,  family is desperately seeking a living kidney donor for their son, an eighth-grade student at Assumption School. Thaddeus Giansanti was born with kidney disease and has undergone multiple surgeries including one to remove a non-functioning kidney when he was an infant.

Parents Christa and Carlo are turning to the community for help to find a living donor for their son. Neither parent is a match for the 13-year-old who is now faced with a single declining kidney and is in urgent need of a transplant. According to his doctors, if Thaddeus does not receive a kidney transplant within a couple of weeks, he will need to be put on dialysis.

A donor needs to be in good health, under 45 years old, have a BMI under 30, and have blood type O. If you are able to consider this, please use the links below.

Kidney Transplant Living Donor Questionnaire

Transplant donor form

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

 

– A Morristown, N.J.,  family is desperately seeking a living kidney donor for their son, an eighth-grade student at Assumption School. Thaddeus Giansanti was born with kidney disease and has undergone multiple surgeries including one to remove a non-functioning kidney when he was an infant. Parents Christa and Carlo are turning to the community for help to find a living donor for their son. Neither parent is a match for the 13-year-old who is now faced with a single declining kidney and is in urgent need of a transplant. According to his doctors, if Thaddeus does not receive a kidney transplant

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Feb 18, 1930: Discovery of Pluto

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From 1905 until his death in 1916, Percival Lowell searched for a ninth planet, which he called Planet X. Lowell had predicted the planet based on irregularities in the orbit of Uranus. In 1929, Lowell Observatory Director V.M. Slipher hired self-taught astronomer Clyde Tombaugh to resume Lowell’s search for the planet. Tombaugh captured long-exposure photosContinue reading “Feb 18, 1930: Discovery of Pluto”

The post Feb 18, 1930: Discovery of Pluto appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 18 February 2026 – A reading from the Book of Joel 2:12-18 Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them! Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’" Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.   A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2 Brothers and sisters: We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.From the Gospel according to Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."“When you pray”, says Jesus, “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt 6:6). First of all, the Lord calls us to enter this hidden place of the heart, patiently delving into it; he invites us to make an inner immersion that demands a journey of emptying and divesting ourselves. Once we have entered, he asks us to close the door to bad thoughts in order to safeguard a pure, humble and meek heart, through vigilance and spiritual combat. Only then can we abandon ourselves with confidence to intimate dialogue with the Father, who dwells and sees in secret, and in secret fills us with his gifts. This vocation to worship and inner prayer, proper to every believer, (…) is not an escape from the world, but a regeneration of the heart, so that it may be capable of listening, a source of the creative and fruitful action of the charity that God inspires in us. This call to interiority and silence, to live in contact with oneself, with one’s neighbour, with creation and with God, is needed today more than ever, in a world increasingly alienated by the media and technology. From intimate friendship with the Lord, in fact, the joy of living, the wonder of faith and the taste for ecclesial communion are reborn. (Address of Pope Leone XIV to Italian Heremits partecipating in the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, 11 October 2025)

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A reading from the Book of Joel
2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’"

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

 

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."

“When you pray”, says Jesus, “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt 6:6). First of all, the Lord calls us to enter this hidden place of the heart, patiently delving into it; he invites us to make an inner immersion that demands a journey of emptying and divesting ourselves. Once we have entered, he asks us to close the door to bad thoughts in order to safeguard a pure, humble and meek heart, through vigilance and spiritual combat. Only then can we abandon ourselves with confidence to intimate dialogue with the Father, who dwells and sees in secret, and in secret fills us with his gifts.

This vocation to worship and inner prayer, proper to every believer, (…) is not an escape from the world, but a regeneration of the heart, so that it may be capable of listening, a source of the creative and fruitful action of the charity that God inspires in us. This call to interiority and silence, to live in contact with oneself, with one’s neighbour, with creation and with God, is needed today more than ever, in a world increasingly alienated by the media and technology. From intimate friendship with the Lord, in fact, the joy of living, the wonder of faith and the taste for ecclesial communion are reborn. (Address of Pope Leone XIV to Italian Heremits partecipating in the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, 11 October 2025)

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Filipino bishops urge faithful to begin ‘digital media fasting’ – #Catholic – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has issued guidance for Catholics to go beyond fasting from food this Lent by committing to a fast from social media.“In our present time, fasting must also address the new realities shaping human life. One of the greatest influences today is digital media,” said the Feb. 13 pastoral message from Archbishop Gilbert A. Garcera of Lipa, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. “Thus, we invite the faithful to undertake a digital media fasting as a contemporary expression of conversion and renewal.”The pastoral message delivered on behalf of the conference came before Ash Wednesday on Feb. 18, which will mark the start of Lent.The message noted fasting has historically meant abstinence from food, “an act of repentance and spiritual focus.” However, the bishops pointed out that engagement with social media, and other forms of online entertainment, serves as a significant source of distraction in today’s context that “weakens our interior life.”“True fasting, as Jesus teaches, is not an external performance but an interior conversion,” the bishops said. “Digital media fasting, therefore, invites a rediscovery of silence, prayer, contemplation, and authentic relationships. It is not meant to punish the body but to free the heart.”The bishops offered practical ways to carry out a social media fast this Lent, such as avoiding phone use before waking up and going to sleep, limiting screen time, observing 24-hour and weekend fasts, and replacing screen time with prayer, service, reading, or conversation.“Digital media fasting is not anti-technology,” the letter said. “Rather, it asks: How can Christ guide our use of media”The bishops stressed the need to approach Lent joyfully, and “not with gloomy faces,” noting the fruit of fasting from screen time is a closer relationship with God, greater mental clarity and focus, and renewed appreciation for creation at large.“In stepping back from digital excess, we reclaim interior silence, deepen relationships, and rediscover God’s presence in daily life,” the letter concluded. “Entrusting this pastoral invitation to the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, we encourage all dioceses, parishes, families, and communities to promote media fasting during Lent and beyond.”
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Filipino bishops urge faithful to begin ‘digital media fasting’ – #Catholic – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has issued guidance for Catholics to go beyond fasting from food this Lent by committing to a fast from social media.“In our present time, fasting must also address the new realities shaping human life. One of the greatest influences today is digital media,” said the Feb. 13 pastoral message from Archbishop Gilbert A. Garcera of Lipa, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. “Thus, we invite the faithful to undertake a digital media fasting as a contemporary expression of conversion and renewal.”The pastoral message delivered on behalf of the conference came before Ash Wednesday on Feb. 18, which will mark the start of Lent.The message noted fasting has historically meant abstinence from food, “an act of repentance and spiritual focus.” However, the bishops pointed out that engagement with social media, and other forms of online entertainment, serves as a significant source of distraction in today’s context that “weakens our interior life.”“True fasting, as Jesus teaches, is not an external performance but an interior conversion,” the bishops said. “Digital media fasting, therefore, invites a rediscovery of silence, prayer, contemplation, and authentic relationships. It is not meant to punish the body but to free the heart.”The bishops offered practical ways to carry out a social media fast this Lent, such as avoiding phone use before waking up and going to sleep, limiting screen time, observing 24-hour and weekend fasts, and replacing screen time with prayer, service, reading, or conversation.“Digital media fasting is not anti-technology,” the letter said. “Rather, it asks: How can Christ guide our use of media”The bishops stressed the need to approach Lent joyfully, and “not with gloomy faces,” noting the fruit of fasting from screen time is a closer relationship with God, greater mental clarity and focus, and renewed appreciation for creation at large.“In stepping back from digital excess, we reclaim interior silence, deepen relationships, and rediscover God’s presence in daily life,” the letter concluded. “Entrusting this pastoral invitation to the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, we encourage all dioceses, parishes, families, and communities to promote media fasting during Lent and beyond.”

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“In stepping back from digital excess, we reclaim interior silence, deepen relationships, and rediscover God’s presence in daily life,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said.

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Cardinal Parolin: The Vatican ‘will not participate in Trump’s Board of Peace’ – #Catholic – Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, announced on Feb. 17 that the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace,” an initiative promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump to address various conflicts around the world, such as the one in Gaza.The Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace due to its particular nature, which is clearly not that of other states,” the cardinal told reporters after a meeting in Rome with the Italian government at Palazzo Borromeo on the occasion of the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts, which in 1929 recognized the sovereignty of Vatican City State.When asked about Italy’s participation as an observer on the Board of Peace, Parolin stated: “There are some points that leave one somewhat perplexed. There are critical points that need to be explained.”“The important thing is that an attempt is being made to provide an answer. However, for us, there are some critical issues that need to be resolved,” the cardinal said, according to Vatican News, adding that “one concern is that, at the international level, it is primarily the U.N. [United Nations] that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have emphasized.”On Jan. 21, Parolin had told reporters that the Vatican was evaluating whether or not to participate in Trump’s Board of Peace, a question that has now been decided.Trump’s Peace Board seeks to address global conflicts, with a particular focus on the Gaza Strip, as an independent body separate from the United Nations. More than 25 countries have announced their participation, including Argentina, El Salvador, Paraguay, Belarus, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Egypt, and Morocco.Parolin also spoke on Feb. 17 about the war in Ukraine, saying that “there is great pessimism,” since “neither side seems to have made any real progress toward peace, and it is tragic that after four years we are still at this point.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Cardinal Parolin: The Vatican ‘will not participate in Trump’s Board of Peace’ – #Catholic – Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, announced on Feb. 17 that the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace,” an initiative promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump to address various conflicts around the world, such as the one in Gaza.The Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace due to its particular nature, which is clearly not that of other states,” the cardinal told reporters after a meeting in Rome with the Italian government at Palazzo Borromeo on the occasion of the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts, which in 1929 recognized the sovereignty of Vatican City State.When asked about Italy’s participation as an observer on the Board of Peace, Parolin stated: “There are some points that leave one somewhat perplexed. There are critical points that need to be explained.”“The important thing is that an attempt is being made to provide an answer. However, for us, there are some critical issues that need to be resolved,” the cardinal said, according to Vatican News, adding that “one concern is that, at the international level, it is primarily the U.N. [United Nations] that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have emphasized.”On Jan. 21, Parolin had told reporters that the Vatican was evaluating whether or not to participate in Trump’s Board of Peace, a question that has now been decided.Trump’s Peace Board seeks to address global conflicts, with a particular focus on the Gaza Strip, as an independent body separate from the United Nations. More than 25 countries have announced their participation, including Argentina, El Salvador, Paraguay, Belarus, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Egypt, and Morocco.Parolin also spoke on Feb. 17 about the war in Ukraine, saying that “there is great pessimism,” since “neither side seems to have made any real progress toward peace, and it is tragic that after four years we are still at this point.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, announced that the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace,” promoted by the U.S. president to address Gaza and other conflicts.

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Are you ready for Lent, for a Season of Grace, and the opportunity to be ‘Welcomed Home to Healing?’ #Catholic – “Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life … the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled…” Pope Leo’s Message for Lent 2026 BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY “Ready or not …” Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent are at our doorstep or, depending on when you are reading this, may have already arrived. As much as one may try to look ahead, things can still “sneak up” on us. I hope this article will be posted on “Mardi Gras,” the day before Ash Wednesday, and may help some readers make some “last-minute” preparations and/or Lenten resolutions, aka “What I am (are you) going to give up for Lent?” I also hope that some who may read this on Ash Wednesday or in the following days or weeks, might be assisted in getting their Lent started, restarted, or energized. On Sunday, Feb. 15, I saw that the Vatican had published (on Feb. 13) Pope Leo XIV’s “Message for Lent 2026: ‘Listening and Fasting.’” The link to the full text of the brief message that invites us to consider: “Listening” – especially to God’s Word; “Fasting” – especially offering an invitation, “to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor…”; and that we are “Together” – “…Lent emphasizes the communal aspect of listening to the word and fasting.” Before I was aware of Pope Leo’s message, I was preparing to share some thoughts and suggestions for a spiritually fruitful Lent, and I was happy to see on the Hallow app that Father Mike Schmitz was offering his “Top 10 Lent Tips.” I think you need to have a subscription to the Hallow app to see and hear Father Mike’s presentation and commentary. One of the recommendations that I was planning to make was to consider subscribing to the Hallow app because, for the past two years, I have found Hallow’s “Lent Pray 40 Challenge” to have been a very helpful resource in my own, personal Lenten journey. For those who don’t have Hallow and may not be interested in subscribing, I would like to share with you Father Mike’s “Top 10 Lent Tips,” as the list is available online. I will also offer some of my reactions and comments to Father Mike’s “Top 10.” In a “LinkedIn” post, Alex at Hallow shares Father Mike’s list: Top 10 tips from Father Mike Schmitz this Lent: Silence every day — just take 5 or 10 minutes to really be with the Lord Pray every day — listen to Him Spend time in God’s Word -— bring it more and more into your daily life Go to Confession — at least once, but really twice Daily Mass — try to find one that works with your schedule Spiritual reading every day — pick a book Fast — doesn’t have to be food, and it doesn’t have to be something bad, just something you might be a little too attached to Almsgiving — go serve the poor Invite someone to Mass — Lent is not something we are meant to do alone Go home and love your family Father Mike does not say that these 10 “tips” are listed in “order of importance.” He also does not say that he suggests or expects that someone should try to do “all 10” or “pick three” of the 10. Most readers and, I believe, most practicing Catholics are aware of the Church’s “Top 3” Spiritual practices during Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. In some ways, Father Mike’s “Top 10” are all “connected,” in some way to prayer, fasting, or almsgiving. I believe that this will be my “sixth time” in six years (six Lents) as bishop to say that my “Number One” Recommendation for Lent is Daily Mass. As I review Father Mike’s list, his numbers one through four are all very good suggestions and spiritual practices that can produce great fruit. If you are not already attending Daily Mass and you can find a way to attend Daily Mass every day during Lent, I am convinced that you will have a fuller and deeper experience of Holy Week, of the Sacred Triduum, and of Easter Joy. My No. 2 is Father Mike’s No. 4, “Go to Confession” – I am not sure if I have heard it suggested before, as Father Mike suggests, that you go to Confession (at least) twice during Lent – don’t leave it until the end, during Holy Week, but go early and, then, if you need to, go again approaching or during Holy Week. Here in our Diocese of Paterson, we offer “Welcome Home to Healing” during Lent, which means that you can go to Confession, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, at ANY and EVERY of the 107 parishes in our diocese (in Passaic, Morris, or Sussex Counties) on EVERY Monday during Lent between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. I have said before that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is making a comeback. In recent years, people are returning to this Sacrament of Healing and Forgiveness that is still too often misunderstood and underappreciated. I strongly encourage you and ask you to invite others to give this Sacrament “another chance” -if it’s been a while, a few years or many, many years; if you have had a bad experience in the past, please know that our loving and merciful God is “waiting for you” to approach this sacrament so that, after confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness, you can hear those beautiful words, “I absolve you from your sins. Go in Peace, your sins are forgiven.” There is a way to combine or unite Father Mike’s numbers one to three, by taking time each day in silent prayer and in prayerfully listening to God’s Word. There are many ways to do this, but praying with the daily Mass Readings (if you can’t get to daily Mass) is a powerful and very fruitful form of prayer. If you use the internet (Google), you can easily find the daily Mass Readings at “USCCB daily readings.”  I hope that these thoughts and suggestions might be helpful to you in some way. As Pope Leo reminds us, let’s be together and pray for one another during Lent. I will conclude with one beautiful form of prayer that I had almost forgotten to mention: The Stations of the Cross. As we pray for one another during Lent, let us remember those beautiful words that we pray during the “Stations”: “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.  
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Are you ready for Lent, for a Season of Grace, and the opportunity to be ‘Welcomed Home to Healing?’ #Catholic – “Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life … the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled…” Pope Leo’s Message for Lent 2026 BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY “Ready or not …” Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent are at our doorstep or, depending on when you are reading this, may have already arrived. As much as one may try to look ahead, things can still “sneak up” on us. I hope this article will be posted on “Mardi Gras,” the day before Ash Wednesday, and may help some readers make some “last-minute” preparations and/or Lenten resolutions, aka “What I am (are you) going to give up for Lent?” I also hope that some who may read this on Ash Wednesday or in the following days or weeks, might be assisted in getting their Lent started, restarted, or energized. On Sunday, Feb. 15, I saw that the Vatican had published (on Feb. 13) Pope Leo XIV’s “Message for Lent 2026: ‘Listening and Fasting.’” The link to the full text of the brief message that invites us to consider: “Listening” – especially to God’s Word; “Fasting” – especially offering an invitation, “to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor…”; and that we are “Together” – “…Lent emphasizes the communal aspect of listening to the word and fasting.” Before I was aware of Pope Leo’s message, I was preparing to share some thoughts and suggestions for a spiritually fruitful Lent, and I was happy to see on the Hallow app that Father Mike Schmitz was offering his “Top 10 Lent Tips.” I think you need to have a subscription to the Hallow app to see and hear Father Mike’s presentation and commentary. One of the recommendations that I was planning to make was to consider subscribing to the Hallow app because, for the past two years, I have found Hallow’s “Lent Pray 40 Challenge” to have been a very helpful resource in my own, personal Lenten journey. For those who don’t have Hallow and may not be interested in subscribing, I would like to share with you Father Mike’s “Top 10 Lent Tips,” as the list is available online. I will also offer some of my reactions and comments to Father Mike’s “Top 10.” In a “LinkedIn” post, Alex at Hallow shares Father Mike’s list: Top 10 tips from Father Mike Schmitz this Lent: Silence every day — just take 5 or 10 minutes to really be with the Lord Pray every day — listen to Him Spend time in God’s Word -— bring it more and more into your daily life Go to Confession — at least once, but really twice Daily Mass — try to find one that works with your schedule Spiritual reading every day — pick a book Fast — doesn’t have to be food, and it doesn’t have to be something bad, just something you might be a little too attached to Almsgiving — go serve the poor Invite someone to Mass — Lent is not something we are meant to do alone Go home and love your family Father Mike does not say that these 10 “tips” are listed in “order of importance.” He also does not say that he suggests or expects that someone should try to do “all 10” or “pick three” of the 10. Most readers and, I believe, most practicing Catholics are aware of the Church’s “Top 3” Spiritual practices during Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. In some ways, Father Mike’s “Top 10” are all “connected,” in some way to prayer, fasting, or almsgiving. I believe that this will be my “sixth time” in six years (six Lents) as bishop to say that my “Number One” Recommendation for Lent is Daily Mass. As I review Father Mike’s list, his numbers one through four are all very good suggestions and spiritual practices that can produce great fruit. If you are not already attending Daily Mass and you can find a way to attend Daily Mass every day during Lent, I am convinced that you will have a fuller and deeper experience of Holy Week, of the Sacred Triduum, and of Easter Joy. My No. 2 is Father Mike’s No. 4, “Go to Confession” – I am not sure if I have heard it suggested before, as Father Mike suggests, that you go to Confession (at least) twice during Lent – don’t leave it until the end, during Holy Week, but go early and, then, if you need to, go again approaching or during Holy Week. Here in our Diocese of Paterson, we offer “Welcome Home to Healing” during Lent, which means that you can go to Confession, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, at ANY and EVERY of the 107 parishes in our diocese (in Passaic, Morris, or Sussex Counties) on EVERY Monday during Lent between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. I have said before that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is making a comeback. In recent years, people are returning to this Sacrament of Healing and Forgiveness that is still too often misunderstood and underappreciated. I strongly encourage you and ask you to invite others to give this Sacrament “another chance” -if it’s been a while, a few years or many, many years; if you have had a bad experience in the past, please know that our loving and merciful God is “waiting for you” to approach this sacrament so that, after confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness, you can hear those beautiful words, “I absolve you from your sins. Go in Peace, your sins are forgiven.” There is a way to combine or unite Father Mike’s numbers one to three, by taking time each day in silent prayer and in prayerfully listening to God’s Word. There are many ways to do this, but praying with the daily Mass Readings (if you can’t get to daily Mass) is a powerful and very fruitful form of prayer. If you use the internet (Google), you can easily find the daily Mass Readings at “USCCB daily readings.”  I hope that these thoughts and suggestions might be helpful to you in some way. As Pope Leo reminds us, let’s be together and pray for one another during Lent. I will conclude with one beautiful form of prayer that I had almost forgotten to mention: The Stations of the Cross. As we pray for one another during Lent, let us remember those beautiful words that we pray during the “Stations”: “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.  

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Are you ready for Lent, for a Season of Grace, and the opportunity to be ‘Welcomed Home to Healing?’ #Catholic –

“Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life … the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled…”

Pope Leo’s Message for Lent 2026

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

“Ready or not …” Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent are at our doorstep or, depending on when you are reading this, may have already arrived. As much as one may try to look ahead, things can still “sneak up” on us. I hope this article will be posted on “Mardi Gras,” the day before Ash Wednesday, and may help some readers make some “last-minute” preparations and/or Lenten resolutions, aka “What I am (are you) going to give up for Lent?” I also hope that some who may read this on Ash Wednesday or in the following days or weeks, might be assisted in getting their Lent started, restarted, or energized.

On Sunday, Feb. 15, I saw that the Vatican had published (on Feb. 13) Pope Leo XIV’s “Message for Lent 2026: ‘Listening and Fasting.’” The link to the full text of the brief message that invites us to consider: “Listening” – especially to God’s Word; “Fasting” – especially offering an invitation, “to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor…”; and that we are “Together” – “…Lent emphasizes the communal aspect of listening to the word and fasting.”

Before I was aware of Pope Leo’s message, I was preparing to share some thoughts and suggestions for a spiritually fruitful Lent, and I was happy to see on the Hallow app that Father Mike Schmitz was offering his “Top 10 Lent Tips.” I think you need to have a subscription to the Hallow app to see and hear Father Mike’s presentation and commentary. One of the recommendations that I was planning to make was to consider subscribing to the Hallow app because, for the past two years, I have found Hallow’s “Lent Pray 40 Challenge” to have been a very helpful resource in my own, personal Lenten journey.

For those who don’t have Hallow and may not be interested in subscribing, I would like to share with you Father Mike’s “Top 10 Lent Tips,” as the list is available online. I will also offer some of my reactions and comments to Father Mike’s “Top 10.” In a “LinkedIn” post, Alex at Hallow shares Father Mike’s list:

Top 10 tips from Father Mike Schmitz this Lent:

  1. Silence every day — just take 5 or 10 minutes to really be with the Lord
  2. Pray every day — listen to Him
  3. Spend time in God’s Word -— bring it more and more into your daily life
  4. Go to Confession — at least once, but really twice
  5. Daily Mass — try to find one that works with your schedule
  6. Spiritual reading every day — pick a book
  7. Fast — doesn’t have to be food, and it doesn’t have to be something bad, just something you might be a little too attached to
  8. Almsgiving — go serve the poor
  9. Invite someone to Mass — Lent is not something we are meant to do alone
  10. Go home and love your family

Father Mike does not say that these 10 “tips” are listed in “order of importance.” He also does not say that he suggests or expects that someone should try to do “all 10” or “pick three” of the 10. Most readers and, I believe, most practicing Catholics are aware of the Church’s “Top 3” Spiritual practices during Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. In some ways, Father Mike’s “Top 10” are all “connected,” in some way to prayer, fasting, or almsgiving.

I believe that this will be my “sixth time” in six years (six Lents) as bishop to say that my “Number One” Recommendation for Lent is Daily Mass. As I review Father Mike’s list, his numbers one through four are all very good suggestions and spiritual practices that can produce great fruit. If you are not already attending Daily Mass and you can find a way to attend Daily Mass every day during Lent, I am convinced that you will have a fuller and deeper experience of Holy Week, of the Sacred Triduum, and of Easter Joy.

My No. 2 is Father Mike’s No. 4, “Go to Confession” – I am not sure if I have heard it suggested before, as Father Mike suggests, that you go to Confession (at least) twice during Lent – don’t leave it until the end, during Holy Week, but go early and, then, if you need to, go again approaching or during Holy Week. Here in our Diocese of Paterson, we offer “Welcome Home to Healing” during Lent, which means that you can go to Confession, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, at ANY and EVERY of the 107 parishes in our diocese (in Passaic, Morris, or Sussex Counties) on EVERY Monday during Lent between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

I have said before that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is making a comeback. In recent years, people are returning to this Sacrament of Healing and Forgiveness that is still too often misunderstood and underappreciated. I strongly encourage you and ask you to invite others to give this Sacrament “another chance” -if it’s been a while, a few years or many, many years; if you have had a bad experience in the past, please know that our loving and merciful God is “waiting for you” to approach this sacrament so that, after confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness, you can hear those beautiful words, “I absolve you from your sins. Go in Peace, your sins are forgiven.”

There is a way to combine or unite Father Mike’s numbers one to three, by taking time each day in silent prayer and in prayerfully listening to God’s Word. There are many ways to do this, but praying with the daily Mass Readings (if you can’t get to daily Mass) is a powerful and very fruitful form of prayer. If you use the internet (Google), you can easily find the daily Mass Readings at “USCCB daily readings.” 

I hope that these thoughts and suggestions might be helpful to you in some way. As Pope Leo reminds us, let’s be together and pray for one another during Lent. I will conclude with one beautiful form of prayer that I had almost forgotten to mention: The Stations of the Cross. As we pray for one another during Lent, let us remember those beautiful words that we pray during the “Stations”: “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

 

– “Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life … the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled…” Pope Leo’s Message for Lent 2026

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America the Unwell… A Nation Addicted to Sickness (VIDEO) – America is getting sicker by the day and no one in power seems willing to tell you why. The post America the Unwell… A Nation Addicted to Sickness (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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America the Unwell… A Nation Addicted to Sickness (VIDEO) – America is getting sicker by the day and no one in power seems willing to tell you why. The post America the Unwell… A Nation Addicted to Sickness (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Image depicting the impact of Big Pharma on health, featuring individuals struggling with obesity and illness, alongside medication and financial symbols.

Image depicting the impact of Big Pharma on health, featuring individuals struggling with obesity and illness, alongside medication and financial symbols.

America is getting sicker by the day and no one in power seems willing to tell you why.

The post America the Unwell… A Nation Addicted to Sickness (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Ahead of U.S. premiere, EWTN Studios launches behind-the-scenes series of Bernadette musical – #Catholic – After making its way across Europe where over 400,000 people viewed it, “Bernadette, The Musical” is making its debut in the U.S. on Feb. 19 at Chicago’s Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture.Ahead of the musical’s U.S. premiere, EWTN Studios announced a partnership with Castletown Media to release an exclusive four-part series, “Bernadette, The Musical: Miracle in the Making,” telling the behind-the-scenes story of how the original French production was adapted for U.S. audiences.The musical tells the true story of St. Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes — the 14-year-old girl who, in 1858 in Lourdes, France, encountered a series of apparitions believed to be the Blessed Virgin Mary.The behind-the-scenes series takes viewers through performers’ auditions, rehearsals, and spiritual reflections that helped the cast portray the true story of Bernadette. The series also dives into how the production was adapted for an American audience — including the creative choices, artistic collaboration, and translation decisions.“Being part of a project like ‘Bernadette, The Musical’ allows us to bridge the profound beauty of live theatrical expression with the boundless reach of digital storytelling. It’s a reminder that art in all its forms — physical and digital — connects humanity through story, wonder, and shared experience,” said Peter Gagnon, president of EWTN Studios, in a press release.Pierre Ferragu, lead producer of the musical, added: “Our collaboration with EWTN Studios brings this extraordinary story to life for a global audience, opening access for those who are unable to attend in Chicago while honoring the musical’s emotional and artistic integrity.”The first episode of “Bernadette, The Musical: Miracle in the Making” made its debut on EWTN’s streaming platform EWTN+ on Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and is now available on EWTN+, EWTN’s YouTube channel, and ewtn.com. The series broadcasts on the EWTN channel on cable and satellite March 3 through March 6 at 5:30 p.m. ET.In an interview with EWTN News, Ferragu shared that he hopes that by telling this story it’s “opening a door to anyone on a path of conversion — be it for very faithful, very devout and practicing Catholics, or people who are not religious at all.”“I hope everybody will take that story and explore that path of ‘Here is the story of Bernadette. What do I take from it? Did she lie? Did she tell the truth? What did she really see? What does that mean to me?’ And hopefully by bringing that story to the audience, we can plant a seed in every heart.”
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Ahead of U.S. premiere, EWTN Studios launches behind-the-scenes series of Bernadette musical – #Catholic – After making its way across Europe where over 400,000 people viewed it, “Bernadette, The Musical” is making its debut in the U.S. on Feb. 19 at Chicago’s Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture.Ahead of the musical’s U.S. premiere, EWTN Studios announced a partnership with Castletown Media to release an exclusive four-part series, “Bernadette, The Musical: Miracle in the Making,” telling the behind-the-scenes story of how the original French production was adapted for U.S. audiences.The musical tells the true story of St. Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes — the 14-year-old girl who, in 1858 in Lourdes, France, encountered a series of apparitions believed to be the Blessed Virgin Mary.The behind-the-scenes series takes viewers through performers’ auditions, rehearsals, and spiritual reflections that helped the cast portray the true story of Bernadette. The series also dives into how the production was adapted for an American audience — including the creative choices, artistic collaboration, and translation decisions.“Being part of a project like ‘Bernadette, The Musical’ allows us to bridge the profound beauty of live theatrical expression with the boundless reach of digital storytelling. It’s a reminder that art in all its forms — physical and digital — connects humanity through story, wonder, and shared experience,” said Peter Gagnon, president of EWTN Studios, in a press release.Pierre Ferragu, lead producer of the musical, added: “Our collaboration with EWTN Studios brings this extraordinary story to life for a global audience, opening access for those who are unable to attend in Chicago while honoring the musical’s emotional and artistic integrity.”The first episode of “Bernadette, The Musical: Miracle in the Making” made its debut on EWTN’s streaming platform EWTN+ on Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and is now available on EWTN+, EWTN’s YouTube channel, and ewtn.com. The series broadcasts on the EWTN channel on cable and satellite March 3 through March 6 at 5:30 p.m. ET.In an interview with EWTN News, Ferragu shared that he hopes that by telling this story it’s “opening a door to anyone on a path of conversion — be it for very faithful, very devout and practicing Catholics, or people who are not religious at all.”“I hope everybody will take that story and explore that path of ‘Here is the story of Bernadette. What do I take from it? Did she lie? Did she tell the truth? What did she really see? What does that mean to me?’ And hopefully by bringing that story to the audience, we can plant a seed in every heart.”

unitedyam

The behind-the-scenes series can be seen on EWTN+, EWTN.com, EWTN’s YouTube Channel, and on EWTN’s broadcast channel.

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Pima County Sheriff Shares DNA Test Results from Glove Found 2 Miles From Nancy Guthrie’s Home – The DNA found on the glove that was found a couples of miles away from Nancy Guthrie’s home was run through CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) and did not trigger a match. The post Pima County Sheriff Shares DNA Test Results from Glove Found 2 Miles From Nancy Guthrie’s Home appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Pima County Sheriff Shares DNA Test Results from Glove Found 2 Miles From Nancy Guthrie’s Home – The DNA found on the glove that was found a couples of miles away from Nancy Guthrie’s home was run through CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) and did not trigger a match. The post Pima County Sheriff Shares DNA Test Results from Glove Found 2 Miles From Nancy Guthrie’s Home appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

unitedyam

Suspicious figure wearing a ski mask and backpack captured by a night vision security camera outside a home, highlighting potential security concerns.

Suspicious figure wearing a ski mask and backpack captured by a night vision security camera outside a home, highlighting potential security concerns.

The DNA found on the glove that was found a couples of miles away from Nancy Guthrie’s home was run through CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) and did not trigger a match.

The post Pima County Sheriff Shares DNA Test Results from Glove Found 2 Miles From Nancy Guthrie’s Home appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Historic Irish Confirmation Pledge updated to include vaping and smoking – #Catholic – To mark Temperance Sunday and the Lenten season, Armagh Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop Michael Router welcomed the rewording of Ireland’s traditional Confirmation Pledge to explicitly include vaping and cigarette smoking. The renewal comes directly from feedback from school pupils to the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative.Router, who is liaison bishop with the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative, said in his Feb. 15 Temperance Sunday message: “I warmly welcome the rewording of the Confirmation Pledge to explicitly include vaping and cigarette smoking, alongside alcohol and illicit drugs. This development reflects a thoughtful and prayerful response to the lived realities of young people today.”In Ireland, the pledge has been a feature of confirmation since the 1930s. Every year, around 40,000 young people receive the sacrament of confirmation. The news of the pledge renewal has attracted mainstream media interest in Ireland.Router explained to EWTN News the specific concerns about vaping: “The main impetus would have come from the worsening situation in regards to drugs and alcohol abuse in Ireland over the past number of years. The Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative facilitator … goes around to schools and parishes delivering vital education on drugs, particularly. And in his rounds of schools, he was beginning to get questions from students themselves about vapes.”He added: “They were becoming aware of the addictive nature of them and the destructive side effects that were happening. Parents began contacting us as well, looking for information. We had a couple of heartbreaking stories about teenagers who have developed psychosis and depression and even suicidal ideation as a result of using some of these vapes.”As a result of these concerns, the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative was instrumental, along with other bodies, in having the vaping substance hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) banned in Ireland.Router explained to EWTN News that the pledge came into being in Ireland because of the widespread abuse of alcohol in the 19th century and the early 20th century. “It was formally linked with confirmation from the 1930s onwards, and it was very successful in countering alcohol abuse. We wanted to relaunch the pledge because it had fallen into abeyance a little bit across the country. We wanted to give it a new push and to add in things that are answering some of the challenges that young people have today.”The bishop said in his Temperance Sunday message: “The renewed Confirmation Pledge ensures that this long-standing tradition remains relevant and meaningful. It offers young people a moral framework and spiritual support as they navigate adolescence, while situating personal choice within the wider context of family, faith, and community. Addiction thrives in isolation. By involving families, schools, parishes, and the wider faith community, the pledge becomes a shared commitment to support and hope.”Router stressed to EWTN News the importance of education and understanding for young people to respond meaningfully to substance misuse. “Education is hugely important. Drug use is everywhere. It’s in every small village, in every rural area, in every city, and in every town in the country. And it’s so easy to access. We have a module for schools and parishes to educate young people at that age about the dangers involved.”He explained that this education program is open to all, whether they intend to take the pledge or indeed are being confirmed or not.Router highlighted in the wording of the pledge the importance of family support and positive peer pressure: “The new wording of the pledge says I will listen to you and respect my parents and guardians who care for me and want to keep me safe. I will support my friends and peers in making good and healthy choices too.”In his message, Router invited the faithful in Ireland to pray for those who struggle with addiction, to support families and communities affected by its consequences, and to renew their commitment to building a culture of care and moderation. “Addiction, in its many forms, continues to exact a devastating toll on individuals, families, and communities. The human cost, seen in suffering, broken relationships, mental and physical health problems, criminality, and social upheaval, is beyond calculation. Yet the Gospel calls us away from despair and condemnation to compassion and accompaniment."Router told EWTN News that with other countries experiencing similar drugs, substance and alcohol abuse, the pledge in Ireland could inspire other initiatives. “I think other countries definitely could learn from that, and it might be a moment to educate. This is a moment when young people take it seriously and are willing to listen to the issues and whatever information you have to offer. Couple that with the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they receive, you have a real opportunity to make an impression that we pray will stay with them through their adolescent years.”Router pointed to the historic work of the Pioneer Total Abstinence organization in promoting temperance in Ireland. “Huge numbers of people became members of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association from the ’30s into the ’70s and I think a lot of that was to do with the pledge. It’s been kind of neglected a little bit in recent decades. Hopefully, with a new focus on it and a wider reach, it may help to counter the problems we are facing at the moment.”Here is the new wording of the Confirmation Pledge:Dear God,Because I want to live a good and happy life with you,I promise not to drink alcohol until I am at least 18 years of age.Help me not to use drugs, vapes, cigarettes,or anything that could harm my body or mind.I will listen to and respect my parents and guardians,who care for me and want to keep me safe.I will support my friends and peers in making good and healthy choices too.O Holy Spirit, give me the strength, courage, and joy to keep this promise every day.Amen.
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Historic Irish Confirmation Pledge updated to include vaping and smoking – #Catholic – To mark Temperance Sunday and the Lenten season, Armagh Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop Michael Router welcomed the rewording of Ireland’s traditional Confirmation Pledge to explicitly include vaping and cigarette smoking. The renewal comes directly from feedback from school pupils to the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative.Router, who is liaison bishop with the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative, said in his Feb. 15 Temperance Sunday message: “I warmly welcome the rewording of the Confirmation Pledge to explicitly include vaping and cigarette smoking, alongside alcohol and illicit drugs. This development reflects a thoughtful and prayerful response to the lived realities of young people today.”In Ireland, the pledge has been a feature of confirmation since the 1930s. Every year, around 40,000 young people receive the sacrament of confirmation. The news of the pledge renewal has attracted mainstream media interest in Ireland.Router explained to EWTN News the specific concerns about vaping: “The main impetus would have come from the worsening situation in regards to drugs and alcohol abuse in Ireland over the past number of years. The Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative facilitator … goes around to schools and parishes delivering vital education on drugs, particularly. And in his rounds of schools, he was beginning to get questions from students themselves about vapes.”He added: “They were becoming aware of the addictive nature of them and the destructive side effects that were happening. Parents began contacting us as well, looking for information. We had a couple of heartbreaking stories about teenagers who have developed psychosis and depression and even suicidal ideation as a result of using some of these vapes.”As a result of these concerns, the Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative was instrumental, along with other bodies, in having the vaping substance hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) banned in Ireland.Router explained to EWTN News that the pledge came into being in Ireland because of the widespread abuse of alcohol in the 19th century and the early 20th century. “It was formally linked with confirmation from the 1930s onwards, and it was very successful in countering alcohol abuse. We wanted to relaunch the pledge because it had fallen into abeyance a little bit across the country. We wanted to give it a new push and to add in things that are answering some of the challenges that young people have today.”The bishop said in his Temperance Sunday message: “The renewed Confirmation Pledge ensures that this long-standing tradition remains relevant and meaningful. It offers young people a moral framework and spiritual support as they navigate adolescence, while situating personal choice within the wider context of family, faith, and community. Addiction thrives in isolation. By involving families, schools, parishes, and the wider faith community, the pledge becomes a shared commitment to support and hope.”Router stressed to EWTN News the importance of education and understanding for young people to respond meaningfully to substance misuse. “Education is hugely important. Drug use is everywhere. It’s in every small village, in every rural area, in every city, and in every town in the country. And it’s so easy to access. We have a module for schools and parishes to educate young people at that age about the dangers involved.”He explained that this education program is open to all, whether they intend to take the pledge or indeed are being confirmed or not.Router highlighted in the wording of the pledge the importance of family support and positive peer pressure: “The new wording of the pledge says I will listen to you and respect my parents and guardians who care for me and want to keep me safe. I will support my friends and peers in making good and healthy choices too.”In his message, Router invited the faithful in Ireland to pray for those who struggle with addiction, to support families and communities affected by its consequences, and to renew their commitment to building a culture of care and moderation. “Addiction, in its many forms, continues to exact a devastating toll on individuals, families, and communities. The human cost, seen in suffering, broken relationships, mental and physical health problems, criminality, and social upheaval, is beyond calculation. Yet the Gospel calls us away from despair and condemnation to compassion and accompaniment."Router told EWTN News that with other countries experiencing similar drugs, substance and alcohol abuse, the pledge in Ireland could inspire other initiatives. “I think other countries definitely could learn from that, and it might be a moment to educate. This is a moment when young people take it seriously and are willing to listen to the issues and whatever information you have to offer. Couple that with the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they receive, you have a real opportunity to make an impression that we pray will stay with them through their adolescent years.”Router pointed to the historic work of the Pioneer Total Abstinence organization in promoting temperance in Ireland. “Huge numbers of people became members of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association from the ’30s into the ’70s and I think a lot of that was to do with the pledge. It’s been kind of neglected a little bit in recent decades. Hopefully, with a new focus on it and a wider reach, it may help to counter the problems we are facing at the moment.”Here is the new wording of the Confirmation Pledge:Dear God,Because I want to live a good and happy life with you,I promise not to drink alcohol until I am at least 18 years of age.Help me not to use drugs, vapes, cigarettes,or anything that could harm my body or mind.I will listen to and respect my parents and guardians,who care for me and want to keep me safe.I will support my friends and peers in making good and healthy choices too.O Holy Spirit, give me the strength, courage, and joy to keep this promise every day.Amen.

unitedyam

To mark Temperance Sunday and the Lenten season, Armagh Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop Michael Router welcomed the rewording of Ireland’s traditional Confirmation Pledge.

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Trump Replaces Pam Bondi With Broom In Blonde Wig #BabylonBee – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-rumored shake-up at a high-level position in his administration, President Donald Trump announced that he had replaced Attorney General Pam Bondi with a broom in a blonde wig.
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Trump Replaces Pam Bondi With Broom In Blonde Wig #BabylonBee – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-rumored shake-up at a high-level position in his administration, President Donald Trump announced that he had replaced Attorney General Pam Bondi with a broom in a blonde wig.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-rumored shake-up at a high-level position in his administration, President Donald Trump announced that he had replaced Attorney General Pam Bondi with a broom in a blonde wig.

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St. Peter’s marks 400 years with newly opened areas and digital access – #Catholic – As the Basilica of St. Peter approaches the 400th anniversary of its consecration, the Vatican has announced a slate of liturgical and cultural initiatives — including opening parts of the basilica complex that have never been accessible to the public and rolling out a new digital entry system designed to better manage crowds.St. Peter’s Basilica was consecrated on Nov. 18, 1626, by Pope Urban VIII. Vatican officials presented the anniversary program on Monday, highlighting plans intended to ease visitor pressure inside the basilica while improving security and preserving an atmosphere of prayer.“We want to lighten the weight of the crowds in the basilica and foster deeper spiritual recollection,” said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, “while at the same time offering new spaces to get to know St. Peter better through themed itineraries.”Among the most significant measures is the opening of the entire terrace of the basilica to visitors; currently, only about one-third is accessible. The newly opened terrace areas will feature a permanent exhibition on the history, construction, and ongoing maintenance of St. Peter’s.Gambetti also said the restoration area currently located on the terrace will be reconfigured and expanded. The space will double and continue to be managed by the Fabric of St. Peter, he said, totaling about 100 square meters (roughly 1,075 square feet) and moving to the opposite side from its current location.The Vatican also foresees the future opening of the large galleries of the Gregorian and Clementine domes, with educational proposals designed especially for children and young people.To improve crowd management, officials announced a new digital access system — SmartPass — integrated into the basilica’s official website, along with a network of sensors to monitor visitor presence in real time and enhance security.Gambetti described the initiative as a new “ecosystem” meant to safeguard the basilica’s sacred character while welcoming the millions of pilgrims and tourists who continue to come to the heart of Christianity.A look ‘beyond the visible’The cardinal stressed that the anniversary is not being treated merely as a historical commemoration but as an opportunity to renew the basilica’s spiritual meaning.Built over the remains of the original Constantinian basilica, the current church stands as “the living memory of our faith in Jesus Christ, supported by Peter’s profession of faith,” Gambetti said, calling it “at the same time a door open to all who seek God.” He also recalled the transition from the earlier basilica to the present one, promoted by Pope Julius II during the Renaissance.Gambetti pointed as well to the collaboration of the Italian energy company Eni, which is supporting conservation and “enhancement” projects tied to the anniversary.Program of eventsThe spiritual program begins Feb. 20 with the inauguration of a new permanent Stations of the Cross inside the basilica, created by Swiss artist Manuel Durr, winner of an international competition launched in 2023.On Saturday afternoons, the basilica will also host brief 30-minute “spiritual elevations” featuring prayer and polyphonic chant for those present.Three “solemn pastoral lectures” — historical-cultural, theological-liturgical, and pastoral-spiritual — are planned for March 24, May 26, and Oct. 13 on the meaning of the basilica’s dedication. A spiritual meditation on St. Peter in light of the Gospel will be given by the preacher of the Papal Household, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap.Additional initiatives include the urban itinerary “Quo Vadis,” tracing the footsteps of Sts. Peter and Paul through Rome, and the theatrical production “Pietro e Paolo a Roma” by Michele Aginestra, planned around the June 29 feast of the apostles.The celebrations are set to culminate Nov. 18 with a solemn Mass to be celebrated by Pope Leo XIV on the exact 400th anniversary of the basilica’s consecration.Eni’s technical workDuring the presentation, Eni executive Claudio Granata said the company’s technical work for St. Peter’s has involved an 18-month process, much of it devoted to study and planning. He recalled Eni’s earlier restoration of the basilica façade beginning in 1999 — the first deep cleaning since architect Carlo Maderno completed it in 1612.This time, Granata said, the scale is larger: Measurements were carried out across approximately 80,000 square meters, covering the entire basilica, including outer areas. The analysis includes visible surfaces — such as the façade, columns, and roofs — as well as “invisible” elements like the foundations, resulting in a permanent monitoring system and a comprehensive digital model.Eni research and development director Annalisa Muccioli said the project was guided by respect for the basilica’s historical, artistic, and spiritual character. The effort included 4,500 work hours across day and night shifts, as well as extensive historical study and technical documentation. Using techniques intended to “see without altering,” she said the team employed methods such as geophysical investigations, laser scanning, and advanced photogrammetry.Muccioli described the result as a dynamic model integrating architectural geometry, subsurface geology, and real-time data — a tool meant to support the Fabric of St. Peter in future conservation and planning.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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St. Peter’s marks 400 years with newly opened areas and digital access – #Catholic – As the Basilica of St. Peter approaches the 400th anniversary of its consecration, the Vatican has announced a slate of liturgical and cultural initiatives — including opening parts of the basilica complex that have never been accessible to the public and rolling out a new digital entry system designed to better manage crowds.St. Peter’s Basilica was consecrated on Nov. 18, 1626, by Pope Urban VIII. Vatican officials presented the anniversary program on Monday, highlighting plans intended to ease visitor pressure inside the basilica while improving security and preserving an atmosphere of prayer.“We want to lighten the weight of the crowds in the basilica and foster deeper spiritual recollection,” said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, “while at the same time offering new spaces to get to know St. Peter better through themed itineraries.”Among the most significant measures is the opening of the entire terrace of the basilica to visitors; currently, only about one-third is accessible. The newly opened terrace areas will feature a permanent exhibition on the history, construction, and ongoing maintenance of St. Peter’s.Gambetti also said the restoration area currently located on the terrace will be reconfigured and expanded. The space will double and continue to be managed by the Fabric of St. Peter, he said, totaling about 100 square meters (roughly 1,075 square feet) and moving to the opposite side from its current location.The Vatican also foresees the future opening of the large galleries of the Gregorian and Clementine domes, with educational proposals designed especially for children and young people.To improve crowd management, officials announced a new digital access system — SmartPass — integrated into the basilica’s official website, along with a network of sensors to monitor visitor presence in real time and enhance security.Gambetti described the initiative as a new “ecosystem” meant to safeguard the basilica’s sacred character while welcoming the millions of pilgrims and tourists who continue to come to the heart of Christianity.A look ‘beyond the visible’The cardinal stressed that the anniversary is not being treated merely as a historical commemoration but as an opportunity to renew the basilica’s spiritual meaning.Built over the remains of the original Constantinian basilica, the current church stands as “the living memory of our faith in Jesus Christ, supported by Peter’s profession of faith,” Gambetti said, calling it “at the same time a door open to all who seek God.” He also recalled the transition from the earlier basilica to the present one, promoted by Pope Julius II during the Renaissance.Gambetti pointed as well to the collaboration of the Italian energy company Eni, which is supporting conservation and “enhancement” projects tied to the anniversary.Program of eventsThe spiritual program begins Feb. 20 with the inauguration of a new permanent Stations of the Cross inside the basilica, created by Swiss artist Manuel Durr, winner of an international competition launched in 2023.On Saturday afternoons, the basilica will also host brief 30-minute “spiritual elevations” featuring prayer and polyphonic chant for those present.Three “solemn pastoral lectures” — historical-cultural, theological-liturgical, and pastoral-spiritual — are planned for March 24, May 26, and Oct. 13 on the meaning of the basilica’s dedication. A spiritual meditation on St. Peter in light of the Gospel will be given by the preacher of the Papal Household, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap.Additional initiatives include the urban itinerary “Quo Vadis,” tracing the footsteps of Sts. Peter and Paul through Rome, and the theatrical production “Pietro e Paolo a Roma” by Michele Aginestra, planned around the June 29 feast of the apostles.The celebrations are set to culminate Nov. 18 with a solemn Mass to be celebrated by Pope Leo XIV on the exact 400th anniversary of the basilica’s consecration.Eni’s technical workDuring the presentation, Eni executive Claudio Granata said the company’s technical work for St. Peter’s has involved an 18-month process, much of it devoted to study and planning. He recalled Eni’s earlier restoration of the basilica façade beginning in 1999 — the first deep cleaning since architect Carlo Maderno completed it in 1612.This time, Granata said, the scale is larger: Measurements were carried out across approximately 80,000 square meters, covering the entire basilica, including outer areas. The analysis includes visible surfaces — such as the façade, columns, and roofs — as well as “invisible” elements like the foundations, resulting in a permanent monitoring system and a comprehensive digital model.Eni research and development director Annalisa Muccioli said the project was guided by respect for the basilica’s historical, artistic, and spiritual character. The effort included 4,500 work hours across day and night shifts, as well as extensive historical study and technical documentation. Using techniques intended to “see without altering,” she said the team employed methods such as geophysical investigations, laser scanning, and advanced photogrammetry.Muccioli described the result as a dynamic model integrating architectural geometry, subsurface geology, and real-time data — a tool meant to support the Fabric of St. Peter in future conservation and planning.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The Vatican will open new parts of St. Peter’s — including the full terrace — and roll out a “SmartPass” digital entry system as it marks the basilica’s 400th anniversary.

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‘Aventine procession’: A centuries-old tradition Pope Leo XIV will lead for the first time – #Catholic – Each Ash Wednesday, dozens of people crowd the doors of the Church of Sant’Anselmo, perched on the Aventine — one of Rome’s seven hills — to witness the penitential procession that moves solemnly along the roughly 200 meters (656 feet) separating it from Santa Sabina.This year, the tradition of the Station Churches, rooted in the first centuries of Christianity, takes on special significance: It will be the first time Pope Leo XIV presides over it.It lasts less than five minutes, but it is not a mere ceremonial transfer. The short route liturgically marks the beginning of Lent and underscores the Aventine’s strong monastic presence: the Benedictines at Sant’Anselmo and the Dominicans at Santa Sabina.“The penitential character of Lent allows us to explore the spiritual dimension of these centuries-old stational liturgies. Lent is marked by themes of baptism and conversion: reorienting our lives toward Christ, making his life fruitful in ours, and striving to imitate him,” Father Stefan Geiger, president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, told EWTN News.Martyrs as models of lifeAlong that path, martyrs occupy a privileged place because, Geiger said, they “serve as exceptional models of this way of life.”“The method of the early Church was not based on theoretical instruction but on the concrete example of a life lived for Christ, offering an invitation to realign one’s life completely with him,” he added.Santa Sabina’s role as the destination is no accident. It is a “Station Church,” a key concept in the Roman Church’s tradition.“It is the church the pope goes to on a specific occasion to celebrate the liturgy with the faithful,” the Benedictine priest explained.The practice goes back to the early Church, when Christianity began organizing public worship in Rome. After the Edict of Milan in 313, when the emperor Constantine granted freedom of worship, Christian communities grew quickly, leading to a multiplication of places for Sunday celebrations known as “tituli” — early parish-like churches.“These ‘titular churches’ represented their respective parishes, dividing the growing number of faithful into smaller units,” Geiger said.But this expansion in urban contexts posed a theological and pastoral challenge, he said: “From very early on, there was concern about how to maintain and visibly express the unity of the local Church. At that time, the ideal of the local Church was still the community gathered around its bishop. However, this became increasingly difficult to sustain, especially in urban settings, and it threatened to obscure visible unity.”Stational liturgies arose in the fourth centuryIn that context, stational liturgies emerged in the fourth century as a tangible sign of ecclesial communion. The pope, as bishop of Rome, would regularly “station” at a specific titular church, preside over the liturgy there, and in doing so confer upon it a “precedence over other liturgies,” Geiger explained.A century later, the Roman tradition added a decisive element: the penitential procession.“In the fifth century, a uniquely Roman custom developed: a penitential procession toward the stational church, which began at a gathering church — the ‘collecta’ — where penitential antiphons and the Litany of the Saints were sung,” he said.The route culminated in a triple invocation of the “Kyrie eleison” (“Lord, have mercy”) — one of Christianity’s oldest and most fundamental liturgical prayers — and an intense silent prayer before the altar, during which clergy prostrated themselves.“It is a gesture we still see today in the liturgy of Good Friday. The procession concluded with a silent prayer and a prostration of the clergy before the final prayer, since the Kyrie had been sung during the litanies,” he added.From medieval solemnity to modern eclipseDuring the early Middle Ages, this pattern was adopted and enriched with an ever more solemn ceremonial.“The pope traveled on horseback from St. John Lateran — then the papal residence — and was received ceremonially at the Station Church, vested in liturgical garments. Then he entered the church accompanied by acolytes carrying seven torches, and only then did the celebration begin,” Geiger recalled.At the end of the liturgy, the deacon solemnly announced the next Station Church and, if applicable, the church of the collecta, to which the faithful responded with “Deo gratias.”Over time, however, the tradition weakened. During the period when seven popes resided in Avignon, France (1309–1377), it virtually disappeared from Rome.After the capture of Rome in 1870 — the final milestone of the Italian Risorgimento, when troops of the Kingdom of Italy breached the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia — stational liturgies were officially prohibited in 1870 as part of a general decree banning all processions.Contemporary recoveryThe revival of the tradition came after the Lateran Pacts, the 1929 concordat defining civil and religious relations between the government and the Church in Italy.The Pontifical Academy of Martyrs — which seeks to keep alive the legacy of the early witnesses of the Christian faith — promoted the restoration of stational liturgies, especially through its first director, Carlo Respighi.“Even today, the academy is responsible for overseeing these celebrations, and its website lists the Station Churches of Lent,” Geiger said.In any case, the president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute noted that today the pope generally presides over only two stational liturgies: Ash Wednesday at Santa Sabina and Holy Thursday at St. John Lateran.“Before the liturgical reform, the Missal listed about 89 stational liturgies in 42 Station Churches. The origins of each of the ‘titular churches’ are no longer known, but they are closely linked to the martyrs, who have a special significance in the memory of the city of Rome,” he said.As every year, the Benedictine community of Sant’Anselmo is preparing carefully for the event. The occasion takes on added meaning as it will be the pontiff’s second visit there during his first year in office: The monks previously welcomed Leo XIV on Nov. 11, 2025, on the feast of their church’s dedication.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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‘Aventine procession’: A centuries-old tradition Pope Leo XIV will lead for the first time – #Catholic – Each Ash Wednesday, dozens of people crowd the doors of the Church of Sant’Anselmo, perched on the Aventine — one of Rome’s seven hills — to witness the penitential procession that moves solemnly along the roughly 200 meters (656 feet) separating it from Santa Sabina.This year, the tradition of the Station Churches, rooted in the first centuries of Christianity, takes on special significance: It will be the first time Pope Leo XIV presides over it.It lasts less than five minutes, but it is not a mere ceremonial transfer. The short route liturgically marks the beginning of Lent and underscores the Aventine’s strong monastic presence: the Benedictines at Sant’Anselmo and the Dominicans at Santa Sabina.“The penitential character of Lent allows us to explore the spiritual dimension of these centuries-old stational liturgies. Lent is marked by themes of baptism and conversion: reorienting our lives toward Christ, making his life fruitful in ours, and striving to imitate him,” Father Stefan Geiger, president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, told EWTN News.Martyrs as models of lifeAlong that path, martyrs occupy a privileged place because, Geiger said, they “serve as exceptional models of this way of life.”“The method of the early Church was not based on theoretical instruction but on the concrete example of a life lived for Christ, offering an invitation to realign one’s life completely with him,” he added.Santa Sabina’s role as the destination is no accident. It is a “Station Church,” a key concept in the Roman Church’s tradition.“It is the church the pope goes to on a specific occasion to celebrate the liturgy with the faithful,” the Benedictine priest explained.The practice goes back to the early Church, when Christianity began organizing public worship in Rome. After the Edict of Milan in 313, when the emperor Constantine granted freedom of worship, Christian communities grew quickly, leading to a multiplication of places for Sunday celebrations known as “tituli” — early parish-like churches.“These ‘titular churches’ represented their respective parishes, dividing the growing number of faithful into smaller units,” Geiger said.But this expansion in urban contexts posed a theological and pastoral challenge, he said: “From very early on, there was concern about how to maintain and visibly express the unity of the local Church. At that time, the ideal of the local Church was still the community gathered around its bishop. However, this became increasingly difficult to sustain, especially in urban settings, and it threatened to obscure visible unity.”Stational liturgies arose in the fourth centuryIn that context, stational liturgies emerged in the fourth century as a tangible sign of ecclesial communion. The pope, as bishop of Rome, would regularly “station” at a specific titular church, preside over the liturgy there, and in doing so confer upon it a “precedence over other liturgies,” Geiger explained.A century later, the Roman tradition added a decisive element: the penitential procession.“In the fifth century, a uniquely Roman custom developed: a penitential procession toward the stational church, which began at a gathering church — the ‘collecta’ — where penitential antiphons and the Litany of the Saints were sung,” he said.The route culminated in a triple invocation of the “Kyrie eleison” (“Lord, have mercy”) — one of Christianity’s oldest and most fundamental liturgical prayers — and an intense silent prayer before the altar, during which clergy prostrated themselves.“It is a gesture we still see today in the liturgy of Good Friday. The procession concluded with a silent prayer and a prostration of the clergy before the final prayer, since the Kyrie had been sung during the litanies,” he added.From medieval solemnity to modern eclipseDuring the early Middle Ages, this pattern was adopted and enriched with an ever more solemn ceremonial.“The pope traveled on horseback from St. John Lateran — then the papal residence — and was received ceremonially at the Station Church, vested in liturgical garments. Then he entered the church accompanied by acolytes carrying seven torches, and only then did the celebration begin,” Geiger recalled.At the end of the liturgy, the deacon solemnly announced the next Station Church and, if applicable, the church of the collecta, to which the faithful responded with “Deo gratias.”Over time, however, the tradition weakened. During the period when seven popes resided in Avignon, France (1309–1377), it virtually disappeared from Rome.After the capture of Rome in 1870 — the final milestone of the Italian Risorgimento, when troops of the Kingdom of Italy breached the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia — stational liturgies were officially prohibited in 1870 as part of a general decree banning all processions.Contemporary recoveryThe revival of the tradition came after the Lateran Pacts, the 1929 concordat defining civil and religious relations between the government and the Church in Italy.The Pontifical Academy of Martyrs — which seeks to keep alive the legacy of the early witnesses of the Christian faith — promoted the restoration of stational liturgies, especially through its first director, Carlo Respighi.“Even today, the academy is responsible for overseeing these celebrations, and its website lists the Station Churches of Lent,” Geiger said.In any case, the president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute noted that today the pope generally presides over only two stational liturgies: Ash Wednesday at Santa Sabina and Holy Thursday at St. John Lateran.“Before the liturgical reform, the Missal listed about 89 stational liturgies in 42 Station Churches. The origins of each of the ‘titular churches’ are no longer known, but they are closely linked to the martyrs, who have a special significance in the memory of the city of Rome,” he said.As every year, the Benedictine community of Sant’Anselmo is preparing carefully for the event. The occasion takes on added meaning as it will be the pontiff’s second visit there during his first year in office: The monks previously welcomed Leo XIV on Nov. 11, 2025, on the feast of their church’s dedication.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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The brief Ash Wednesday walk between two hilltop basilicas marks the start of Lent in Rome.

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Stormy, Snowy Winter for Hokkaido – Northern Japan, especially the island of Hokkaido, is home to some of the snowiest cities in the world. Sapporo, the island’s largest city and host of an annual snow festival, typically sees more than 140 days of snowfall, with nearly 6 meters (20 feet) accumulating on average each year.
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Stormy, Snowy Winter for Hokkaido – Northern Japan, especially the island of Hokkaido, is home to some of the snowiest cities in the world. Sapporo, the island’s largest city and host of an annual snow festival, typically sees more than 140 days of snowfall, with nearly 6 meters (20 feet) accumulating on average each year.

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Northern Japan, especially the island of Hokkaido, is home to some of the snowiest cities in the world. Sapporo, the island’s largest city and host of an annual snow festival, typically sees more than 140 days of snowfall, with nearly 6 meters (20 feet) accumulating on average each year.

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Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist who urged Vatican to address humanitarian crises, dies at 84 #Catholic Jesse Jackson, whose decades of activism included work in the Civil Rights Movement, two runs for the White House, and multiple meetings with Pope John Paul II, died on Feb. 17. He was 84 years old.His family announced his passing in a statement on social media. They described him as a “servant leader” with an “unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love.” Jackson had suffered health issues for several years, including a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2017.Born Jesse Burns in Greenville, South Carolina, on Oct. 8, 1941, Jackson was adopted by his mother Helen’s subsequent husband Charles Jackson, though he maintained a close relationship with his birth father, Noah Robinson.Taunts from local children about his out-of-wedlock birth reportedly instilled in Jackson a motive to succeed; he further cited his biological father’s example of a “strong healthy ego” and “sense of dignity” that led him to push for civil rights in what was then the heavily segregated Southern U.S.He was a member of the “Greenville Eight” who protested the city’s segregated library system in 1960. A protege of Martin Luther King Jr., he participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery marches and played early roles in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson was present at King’s assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968.He founded the social justice organization Operation PUSH — now Rainbow/PUSH — in 1971. He would eventually mount two campaigns for U.S. president, one in 1984 and one in 1988, both of which he lost.Earlier in his career Jackson had been an outspoken pro-life advocate, at one point even endorsing amending the U.S. Constitution to ban abortion, though in later decades he would pivot to aggressive support of abortion.He met with Pope John Paul II on three separate occasions in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1982 he urged the pontiff to advocate on behalf of Haitian refugees in the U.S., describing John Paul II as “the dominant force and moral authority in the world” at the time.He met with the pope again in 1985 and reportedly asked him to visit South Africa to protest apartheid, and again a third time in 1999 to urge the pontiff to advocate on behalf of three imprisoned CARE humanitarian workers in a Belgrade prison.Jackson is survived by his wife of 64 years, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, and their five children. He is also survived by a daughter, Ashley, born to one of his former staffers in 1999.In a famed speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, Jackson reflected on his political career and acknowledged that he was “not a perfect servant” but “a public servant doing my best against the odds.” He told the crowd: “As I develop and serve, be patient: God is not finished with me yet.”“For leaders, the pain is often intense,” he said at the time. “But you must smile through your tears and keep moving with the faith that there is a brighter side somewhere.”
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Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist who urged Vatican to address humanitarian crises, dies at 84 #Catholic Jesse Jackson, whose decades of activism included work in the Civil Rights Movement, two runs for the White House, and multiple meetings with Pope John Paul II, died on Feb. 17. He was 84 years old.His family announced his passing in a statement on social media. They described him as a “servant leader” with an “unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love.” Jackson had suffered health issues for several years, including a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2017.Born Jesse Burns in Greenville, South Carolina, on Oct. 8, 1941, Jackson was adopted by his mother Helen’s subsequent husband Charles Jackson, though he maintained a close relationship with his birth father, Noah Robinson.Taunts from local children about his out-of-wedlock birth reportedly instilled in Jackson a motive to succeed; he further cited his biological father’s example of a “strong healthy ego” and “sense of dignity” that led him to push for civil rights in what was then the heavily segregated Southern U.S.He was a member of the “Greenville Eight” who protested the city’s segregated library system in 1960. A protege of Martin Luther King Jr., he participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery marches and played early roles in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Jackson was present at King’s assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968.He founded the social justice organization Operation PUSH — now Rainbow/PUSH — in 1971. He would eventually mount two campaigns for U.S. president, one in 1984 and one in 1988, both of which he lost.Earlier in his career Jackson had been an outspoken pro-life advocate, at one point even endorsing amending the U.S. Constitution to ban abortion, though in later decades he would pivot to aggressive support of abortion.He met with Pope John Paul II on three separate occasions in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1982 he urged the pontiff to advocate on behalf of Haitian refugees in the U.S., describing John Paul II as “the dominant force and moral authority in the world” at the time.He met with the pope again in 1985 and reportedly asked him to visit South Africa to protest apartheid, and again a third time in 1999 to urge the pontiff to advocate on behalf of three imprisoned CARE humanitarian workers in a Belgrade prison.Jackson is survived by his wife of 64 years, Jacqueline Lavinia Brown, and their five children. He is also survived by a daughter, Ashley, born to one of his former staffers in 1999.In a famed speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, Jackson reflected on his political career and acknowledged that he was “not a perfect servant” but “a public servant doing my best against the odds.” He told the crowd: “As I develop and serve, be patient: God is not finished with me yet.”“For leaders, the pain is often intense,” he said at the time. “But you must smile through your tears and keep moving with the faith that there is a brighter side somewhere.”

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The longtime activist was a fixture in U.S. politics for decades, including two presidential runs.

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2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases

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The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment ensures the entire side of the Moon that faces us gleams under sunlight. Thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth, the angle of sunlight hitting the lunar surface and being reflected back toContinue reading “2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases”

The post 2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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What impact has the Cristero War had on religious freedom in Mexico today? - #Catholic - The story of the Cristero War in Mexico reached theaters a little over a decade ago with “For Greater Glory,” a film titled “Cristiada” in Spanish. Alongside the film, an official book was published to delve deeper into the history of the war, a spontaneous uprising by Catholics in response to religious persecution in the first part of the 20th century.Available in Spanish and English, the book is authored by Rubén Quezada, a Catholic of Mexican origin living in California, and features a foreword by the archbishop of Los Angeles, José Gomez. Actor and producer Eduardo Verástegui wrote the introduction, and the book also contains an essay by Carl Anderson, who at the time of publication was the supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus.Although “For Greater Glory” tells the story of a historical event that marks its centenary this year, the anti-Catholic sentiment it portrays “still persists, in a certain way,” in present-day Mexico, Quezada shared in a telephone interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.Quezada, 59, now a renowned international speaker, recalled that during his childhood in Mexico, the Cristero War was not included in the history curriculum in elementary school. Rubén Quezada, author of the official book that accompanied the release of the film “For Greater Glory.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Rubén Quezada The author explained that this widespread ignorance was a consequence of a state policy that lasted for decades. Following the 1929 “arrangements” between the Church and the federal government, which formally ended the Cristero War, he recounted, there was “a government order that nothing could be published, nothing could be disseminated,” effectively making the Cristero War a taboo subject, while many Catholics avoided speaking about it for fear of being arrested.Thus many generations were unable to access information about the religious persecution of the early 20th century, he explained.It was not until later in life, when he immersed himself in the writing of the Franco-Mexican historian Jean Meyer — compiled in his three-volume work “La Cristiada” — that Quezada “began to study the Cristero War in greater depth.”The situation of enforced silence lasted until 1992, when relations between the Catholic Church and the Mexican state were officially restored. “We’re talking about [a diplomatic break that lasted] 60 years,” he emphasized.That same spirit of silence surrounding the history of the Cristero War was even present during the production of the film starring Andy García, he pointed out. Quezada noted that during the making of “For Greater Glory,” “many governors or mayors wouldn’t allow the movie to be filmed” in their locale and that once it was in theaters, it faced subtle boycotts: “We received reports from all over that they didn’t want to show the film in certain theaters.”“They would close the theater,” he added, and claim that tickets had sold out “when there weren’t many people” inside.Currently, he indicated, although “it cannot be said to be at that same level,” the sustained persecution of the Church in Mexico has put down “roots that remain within government platforms.”At the same time, he lamented, there is a “profound silence” in contemporary Mexican society regarding the Cristero War. In his travels throughout Mexico to participate in various events and conferences, the author said he has encountered many people who “prefer not to talk about that subject, or are unaware of it, or simply don’t care.”Given this situation, Quezada argued that the Catholic response must be active and informed participation in public life. “We have a responsibility to vote with a Catholic conscience,” he emphasized, noting that leaders should not be elected “simply based on personal preference or family tradition.”For the author, religious freedom hinges on the ability of the laity to place in positions of authority those who respect faith and human dignity. “We must carefully examine each candidate ... knowing that we are choosing what is best for humanity, for society, for the world,” he added, emphasizing that, ultimately, “we are the ones who put those elected officials in that position.”Finally, Quezada posed a challenge that draws the connection between the sacrifice of the Cristeros with contemporary Christian adherence to the faith. After years of studying figures like Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro — whose impact changed Quezada’s life when he was just a young man in California — the author posed a key question 100 years after the Cristero War: “Would we be willing today to rise up with that faith, with that heart that burned for the passion of Christ? Would we be willing today to act in such a way if we were ever confronted with something?”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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What impact has the Cristero War had on religious freedom in Mexico today? – #Catholic – The story of the Cristero War in Mexico reached theaters a little over a decade ago with “For Greater Glory,” a film titled “Cristiada” in Spanish. Alongside the film, an official book was published to delve deeper into the history of the war, a spontaneous uprising by Catholics in response to religious persecution in the first part of the 20th century.Available in Spanish and English, the book is authored by Rubén Quezada, a Catholic of Mexican origin living in California, and features a foreword by the archbishop of Los Angeles, José Gomez. Actor and producer Eduardo Verástegui wrote the introduction, and the book also contains an essay by Carl Anderson, who at the time of publication was the supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus.Although “For Greater Glory” tells the story of a historical event that marks its centenary this year, the anti-Catholic sentiment it portrays “still persists, in a certain way,” in present-day Mexico, Quezada shared in a telephone interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.Quezada, 59, now a renowned international speaker, recalled that during his childhood in Mexico, the Cristero War was not included in the history curriculum in elementary school. Rubén Quezada, author of the official book that accompanied the release of the film “For Greater Glory.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Rubén Quezada The author explained that this widespread ignorance was a consequence of a state policy that lasted for decades. Following the 1929 “arrangements” between the Church and the federal government, which formally ended the Cristero War, he recounted, there was “a government order that nothing could be published, nothing could be disseminated,” effectively making the Cristero War a taboo subject, while many Catholics avoided speaking about it for fear of being arrested.Thus many generations were unable to access information about the religious persecution of the early 20th century, he explained.It was not until later in life, when he immersed himself in the writing of the Franco-Mexican historian Jean Meyer — compiled in his three-volume work “La Cristiada” — that Quezada “began to study the Cristero War in greater depth.”The situation of enforced silence lasted until 1992, when relations between the Catholic Church and the Mexican state were officially restored. “We’re talking about [a diplomatic break that lasted] 60 years,” he emphasized.That same spirit of silence surrounding the history of the Cristero War was even present during the production of the film starring Andy García, he pointed out. Quezada noted that during the making of “For Greater Glory,” “many governors or mayors wouldn’t allow the movie to be filmed” in their locale and that once it was in theaters, it faced subtle boycotts: “We received reports from all over that they didn’t want to show the film in certain theaters.”“They would close the theater,” he added, and claim that tickets had sold out “when there weren’t many people” inside.Currently, he indicated, although “it cannot be said to be at that same level,” the sustained persecution of the Church in Mexico has put down “roots that remain within government platforms.”At the same time, he lamented, there is a “profound silence” in contemporary Mexican society regarding the Cristero War. In his travels throughout Mexico to participate in various events and conferences, the author said he has encountered many people who “prefer not to talk about that subject, or are unaware of it, or simply don’t care.”Given this situation, Quezada argued that the Catholic response must be active and informed participation in public life. “We have a responsibility to vote with a Catholic conscience,” he emphasized, noting that leaders should not be elected “simply based on personal preference or family tradition.”For the author, religious freedom hinges on the ability of the laity to place in positions of authority those who respect faith and human dignity. “We must carefully examine each candidate … knowing that we are choosing what is best for humanity, for society, for the world,” he added, emphasizing that, ultimately, “we are the ones who put those elected officials in that position.”Finally, Quezada posed a challenge that draws the connection between the sacrifice of the Cristeros with contemporary Christian adherence to the faith. After years of studying figures like Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro — whose impact changed Quezada’s life when he was just a young man in California — the author posed a key question 100 years after the Cristero War: “Would we be willing today to rise up with that faith, with that heart that burned for the passion of Christ? Would we be willing today to act in such a way if we were ever confronted with something?”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Rubén Quezada, author of the book “For Greater Glory,” released along with the film of the same name in 2012, assesses the impact of the Cristero War on religious freedom in Mexico today.

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Bodybuilder previously totally hostile to the faith has radical conversion – #Catholic – Former bodybuilder Bruno Toral recently shared his personal conversion story and how he went from being totally hostile to the faith (from literally having a “burn down the churches” mentality) and denying the existence of God to becoming a dedicated disciple of Christ.The Spaniard, who now owns a gym, was featured in the “Rebeldes” (”Rebels”) podcast, a show dedicated to sharing the Catholic faith and demonstrating that “living according to the Gospel is the greatest act of rebellion in today’s society.”During the interview with Father Ignacio Amorós, Toral recounted the details of his conversion journey at the end of which he found the Catholic Church, the missing piece that gave meaning to a seemingly perfect life.The emptiness of having ‘everything’Toral grew up in a deeply atheist environment, where success was measured by academic and professional achievements. Over time, he managed to achieve a successful career, thriving businesses, have an extraordinary wife, and two healthy children.However, despite seemingly having it all, Toral confessed that he wasn’t happy. He realized this especially when he noticed the vast difference between his level of happiness and that of his wife, Paloma.While he lived a life of stoic but empty effort, she radiated a joy and peace that he couldn’t attain. This “healthy envy” was the catalyst: Toral understood that his wife’s faith was what he lacked, and he felt a vital impulse to ensure his children grew up near that same source of happiness.For years, Toral defined himself as having a “burn down the churches” mentality and even went so far as to forbid any mention of God in his home. But the change came unexpectedly.On a road trip with friends, he suddenly announced his decision to have his children baptized. “If we baptize the children, we have to live like Catholic parents; I don’t do things halfway,” he stated.His definitive encounter with God occurred during a time of praise and worship. Before the Blessed Sacrament, the bodybuilder, who based his life on stoic effort and the rigors of the gym, was moved to tears by the real happiness of the Christian community.Toral shared that faith has softened his character, giving him a patience he previously lacked with his family and employees, and going from relying solely on his own strength to resting in God’s providence.“The person I admire most, by far, is Jesus Christ,” Toral said, emphasizing that his biggest challenge now is not to lift more weight but to be the person God wants him to be.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Bodybuilder previously totally hostile to the faith has radical conversion – #Catholic – Former bodybuilder Bruno Toral recently shared his personal conversion story and how he went from being totally hostile to the faith (from literally having a “burn down the churches” mentality) and denying the existence of God to becoming a dedicated disciple of Christ.The Spaniard, who now owns a gym, was featured in the “Rebeldes” (”Rebels”) podcast, a show dedicated to sharing the Catholic faith and demonstrating that “living according to the Gospel is the greatest act of rebellion in today’s society.”During the interview with Father Ignacio Amorós, Toral recounted the details of his conversion journey at the end of which he found the Catholic Church, the missing piece that gave meaning to a seemingly perfect life.The emptiness of having ‘everything’Toral grew up in a deeply atheist environment, where success was measured by academic and professional achievements. Over time, he managed to achieve a successful career, thriving businesses, have an extraordinary wife, and two healthy children.However, despite seemingly having it all, Toral confessed that he wasn’t happy. He realized this especially when he noticed the vast difference between his level of happiness and that of his wife, Paloma.While he lived a life of stoic but empty effort, she radiated a joy and peace that he couldn’t attain. This “healthy envy” was the catalyst: Toral understood that his wife’s faith was what he lacked, and he felt a vital impulse to ensure his children grew up near that same source of happiness.For years, Toral defined himself as having a “burn down the churches” mentality and even went so far as to forbid any mention of God in his home. But the change came unexpectedly.On a road trip with friends, he suddenly announced his decision to have his children baptized. “If we baptize the children, we have to live like Catholic parents; I don’t do things halfway,” he stated.His definitive encounter with God occurred during a time of praise and worship. Before the Blessed Sacrament, the bodybuilder, who based his life on stoic effort and the rigors of the gym, was moved to tears by the real happiness of the Christian community.Toral shared that faith has softened his character, giving him a patience he previously lacked with his family and employees, and going from relying solely on his own strength to resting in God’s providence.“The person I admire most, by far, is Jesus Christ,” Toral said, emphasizing that his biggest challenge now is not to lift more weight but to be the person God wants him to be.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Former bodybuilder Bruno Toral shared his personal conversion story from being totally hostile to the faith to becoming a dedicated disciple of Christ.

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Cardinal Newman Society to accredit Catholic schools – #Catholic – The Cardinal Newman Society — known for its list of authentically Catholic colleges — is now accrediting faithfully Catholic K–12 schools, a move that organizers hope will expand education access for families.“This is a key step in Catholic education reform and helps ensure that families at faithful schools have access to school choice funds in states that require accreditation,” Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, told EWTN News.The organization acquired a Catholic accreditation group, the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS), which will accredit Catholic schools that are in line with the society’s standards for Catholic education. EWTN News spoke with Dan Guernsey, who serves as the executive director of NAPCIS, about how the new relationship will affect families and education reform going forward.EWTN News: How do you hope accrediting independent and parochial schools will help Catholic families going forward, particularly in regard to school choice funding in various states?Guernsey: Catholic teaching holds that the states have a responsibility to ensure families have access to schools in line with their values, including their religious values. More than half of Americans now have access to funding to assist in the attendance at Catholic schools, and the trend is continued growth. There is a danger that state governments may attempt to tie private school funding to state control, but some states avoid this by relying on accreditation to ensure a school’s eligibility for school choice dollars.It will be increasingly important that schools have an accreditor that is cost-effective, efficient, not overly intrusive, and fully credible with faithful Catholic families — with the bonus of achieving Newman Guide recognition. Daniel Guernsey is the executive director of the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS), a Catholic accreditation group recently acquired by the Cardinal Newman Society. | Credit: NAPCIS What role does accreditation play in the bigger picture of Catholic education reform?In alignment with the Newman Guide, NAPCIS only accredits schools that are serious about Catholic formation, so we can focus on the priorities of faithful Catholic families: Is Catholic teaching and culture bold and completely faithful to the magisterium? Are the academics solid and part of an integral formation in the light of our faith? Is the school safe? Does it have the personnel and resources needed to fulfill its mission?Accreditation, done rightly, assures families of a school’s success in fulfilling its mission. Sadly, most accreditation today places onerous and unhelpful burdens on schools regarding personnel and resources, while not holding schools to their mission — especially the unique mission of Catholic education. This ultimately detracts from a school’s mission and misaligns its resources. NAPCIS flips this around, accrediting schools that put their Catholic mission first and then aligning accreditation to that mission.Accreditors play an outsized role in too many schools today, including many Catholic schools. There is such a thing as “too much of a good thing.” Many accreditors, focused on their own excellence and status, “push” schools and claim to be arbiters of school “improvement” rather than simply certifying a school’s academics, operations, and mission integrity. In the worst cases, accreditors demand that schools initiate policies and practices that run counter to a school’s mission or values. They may, for example, press for excessive technology, secular/Marxist social justice, or sexual philosophies at odds with Catholic morality, justice, and chastity. NAPCIS provides space for faithful Catholic schools to exercise their autonomy under the principle of subsidiarity, or local control.What inspired the NAPCIS and Cardinal Newman Society partnership? How will this partnership affect students and families?I like to think of the new partnership not so much as a marriage made in heaven but as a marriage made for heaven. Both organizations have worked for more than three decades to assist the Church in ensuring her youth are fully activated for this life and the next.By aligning NAPCIS accreditation with Newman Guide standards, we’re helping schools attend to Catholic identity while also reviewing school operations. The Newman Guide focuses exclusively on mission, and it upholds high standards that would be unacceptable to another accreditor striving to recruit large numbers of lukewarm Catholic schools.Partnered with the Cardinal Newman Society, we’ll help schools strengthen their Catholic identity and ensure their religious freedom in a social and educational environment dominated by secularism, relativism, and materialism.This interview has been edited for brevity.
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Cardinal Newman Society to accredit Catholic schools – #Catholic – The Cardinal Newman Society — known for its list of authentically Catholic colleges — is now accrediting faithfully Catholic K–12 schools, a move that organizers hope will expand education access for families.“This is a key step in Catholic education reform and helps ensure that families at faithful schools have access to school choice funds in states that require accreditation,” Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, told EWTN News.The organization acquired a Catholic accreditation group, the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS), which will accredit Catholic schools that are in line with the society’s standards for Catholic education. EWTN News spoke with Dan Guernsey, who serves as the executive director of NAPCIS, about how the new relationship will affect families and education reform going forward.EWTN News: How do you hope accrediting independent and parochial schools will help Catholic families going forward, particularly in regard to school choice funding in various states?Guernsey: Catholic teaching holds that the states have a responsibility to ensure families have access to schools in line with their values, including their religious values. More than half of Americans now have access to funding to assist in the attendance at Catholic schools, and the trend is continued growth. There is a danger that state governments may attempt to tie private school funding to state control, but some states avoid this by relying on accreditation to ensure a school’s eligibility for school choice dollars.It will be increasingly important that schools have an accreditor that is cost-effective, efficient, not overly intrusive, and fully credible with faithful Catholic families — with the bonus of achieving Newman Guide recognition. Daniel Guernsey is the executive director of the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS), a Catholic accreditation group recently acquired by the Cardinal Newman Society. | Credit: NAPCIS What role does accreditation play in the bigger picture of Catholic education reform?In alignment with the Newman Guide, NAPCIS only accredits schools that are serious about Catholic formation, so we can focus on the priorities of faithful Catholic families: Is Catholic teaching and culture bold and completely faithful to the magisterium? Are the academics solid and part of an integral formation in the light of our faith? Is the school safe? Does it have the personnel and resources needed to fulfill its mission?Accreditation, done rightly, assures families of a school’s success in fulfilling its mission. Sadly, most accreditation today places onerous and unhelpful burdens on schools regarding personnel and resources, while not holding schools to their mission — especially the unique mission of Catholic education. This ultimately detracts from a school’s mission and misaligns its resources. NAPCIS flips this around, accrediting schools that put their Catholic mission first and then aligning accreditation to that mission.Accreditors play an outsized role in too many schools today, including many Catholic schools. There is such a thing as “too much of a good thing.” Many accreditors, focused on their own excellence and status, “push” schools and claim to be arbiters of school “improvement” rather than simply certifying a school’s academics, operations, and mission integrity. In the worst cases, accreditors demand that schools initiate policies and practices that run counter to a school’s mission or values. They may, for example, press for excessive technology, secular/Marxist social justice, or sexual philosophies at odds with Catholic morality, justice, and chastity. NAPCIS provides space for faithful Catholic schools to exercise their autonomy under the principle of subsidiarity, or local control.What inspired the NAPCIS and Cardinal Newman Society partnership? How will this partnership affect students and families?I like to think of the new partnership not so much as a marriage made in heaven but as a marriage made for heaven. Both organizations have worked for more than three decades to assist the Church in ensuring her youth are fully activated for this life and the next.By aligning NAPCIS accreditation with Newman Guide standards, we’re helping schools attend to Catholic identity while also reviewing school operations. The Newman Guide focuses exclusively on mission, and it upholds high standards that would be unacceptable to another accreditor striving to recruit large numbers of lukewarm Catholic schools.Partnered with the Cardinal Newman Society, we’ll help schools strengthen their Catholic identity and ensure their religious freedom in a social and educational environment dominated by secularism, relativism, and materialism.This interview has been edited for brevity.

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A leading voice from the Cardinal Newman Society shares how the new accreditation program will accelerate Catholic education reform and help support Catholic families to pass on the faith.

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Lent 2026: 5 programs to help you grow in your faith #Catholic This year Lent begins on Feb. 18 with Ash Wednesday. As we quickly approach this time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, here are five programs to help you grow in your faith this Lenten season.‘Pray 40: The Return’ (Hallow)This year, Hallow’s Lent Pray40 prayer challenge is titled “Pray40: The Return.” The theme for this year’s challenge focuses on returning to God, just like we read in the parable of the prodigal son. To help go further into this idea, listeners will dive into “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.Actor Jonathan Roumie will guide listeners through “The Brothers Karamazov”; Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt will provide fasting challenges; Mother Olga will meditate on Scripture; Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, will help listeners take part in imaginative prayer sessions; and Father Mike Schmitz will provide Sunday homilies.‘Crux’ (Ascension)Father Columba Jordan, CFR, will be hosting a daily Lenten program on the Ascension app titled “Crux.” Crux invites the faithful to see Lent as a transformative season through a four-part daily system rooted in both physical and spiritual discipline. The four daily challenges include daily reading of Scripture, a nightly examen, one form of physical exercise, and one dietary fast.“Crux” can be done individually, in parishes, or in small groups. Additionally, for those seeking a screen-free way to take part in the challenge, the “Crux: A Lenten Journey of Surrender” journal is also available.‘Seeking the Inner Room’ (Word on Fire)Word on Fire Institute will be hosting a virtual retreat this Lent led by Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, titled “Seeking the Inner Room.” The seven-week series will help participants dive deeper into Scripture and prayer in order to let the Holy Spirit into each of our inner rooms — our hearts. The retreat will also include reflections on “Gate of Heaven: Reflections on the Mother of God.”Lenten Phone Fast Challenge (Real Life Catholic)Real Life Catholic is inviting people of all ages to put down their phones this Lent to offer prayers and sacrifice to support the renewal of young Catholics. The Lenten Phone Fast Challenge offers participants the opportunity to specifically pray for the spiritual protection of Catholic teens. Participants will also receive weekly messages of support and spiritual guidance from evangelist Chris Stefanick.Programs offered through the EWTN Religious CatalogueIf you’re looking for Lenten devotionals or books you can read during this time, the EWTN Religious Catalogue has a variety of options including “Praying with Jesus and Faustina During Lent,” “Lent and Easter: Wisdom From Fulton Sheen,” and “Lenten Journey with Mother Mary,” among others.
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Lent 2026: 5 programs to help you grow in your faith #Catholic This year Lent begins on Feb. 18 with Ash Wednesday. As we quickly approach this time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, here are five programs to help you grow in your faith this Lenten season.‘Pray 40: The Return’ (Hallow)This year, Hallow’s Lent Pray40 prayer challenge is titled “Pray40: The Return.” The theme for this year’s challenge focuses on returning to God, just like we read in the parable of the prodigal son. To help go further into this idea, listeners will dive into “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.Actor Jonathan Roumie will guide listeners through “The Brothers Karamazov”; Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt will provide fasting challenges; Mother Olga will meditate on Scripture; Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, will help listeners take part in imaginative prayer sessions; and Father Mike Schmitz will provide Sunday homilies.‘Crux’ (Ascension)Father Columba Jordan, CFR, will be hosting a daily Lenten program on the Ascension app titled “Crux.” Crux invites the faithful to see Lent as a transformative season through a four-part daily system rooted in both physical and spiritual discipline. The four daily challenges include daily reading of Scripture, a nightly examen, one form of physical exercise, and one dietary fast.“Crux” can be done individually, in parishes, or in small groups. Additionally, for those seeking a screen-free way to take part in the challenge, the “Crux: A Lenten Journey of Surrender” journal is also available.‘Seeking the Inner Room’ (Word on Fire)Word on Fire Institute will be hosting a virtual retreat this Lent led by Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, titled “Seeking the Inner Room.” The seven-week series will help participants dive deeper into Scripture and prayer in order to let the Holy Spirit into each of our inner rooms — our hearts. The retreat will also include reflections on “Gate of Heaven: Reflections on the Mother of God.”Lenten Phone Fast Challenge (Real Life Catholic)Real Life Catholic is inviting people of all ages to put down their phones this Lent to offer prayers and sacrifice to support the renewal of young Catholics. The Lenten Phone Fast Challenge offers participants the opportunity to specifically pray for the spiritual protection of Catholic teens. Participants will also receive weekly messages of support and spiritual guidance from evangelist Chris Stefanick.Programs offered through the EWTN Religious CatalogueIf you’re looking for Lenten devotionals or books you can read during this time, the EWTN Religious Catalogue has a variety of options including “Praying with Jesus and Faustina During Lent,” “Lent and Easter: Wisdom From Fulton Sheen,” and “Lenten Journey with Mother Mary,” among others.

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Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, beginning a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in the Catholic Church.

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 17 February 2026 – A reading from the letter of James Jas 1:12-18 Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. No one experiencing temptation should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.From the Gospel according to Mark Mark 8:14-21 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, "Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, "Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?" They answered him, "Twelve." "When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?" They answered him, "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"Let us think about the four ideological groups of Jesus’ time: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. Four groups that had hardened their hearts to carry out a plan that was not God’s; there was no place for God’s plan, no place for compassion. When the heart becomes hard, when the heart hardens, one forgets… One forgets about the grace of salvation, one forgets its gratuitousness. A hard heart leads to arguments, it leads to wars, it leads to selfishness, it leads to the destruction of one’s brother, because there is no compassion. And the greatest message of salvation is that God had compassion for us. That refrain in the Gospel, when Jesus sees a person, a painful situation: “he had compassion”. […] Jesus is the Father’s compassion; Jesus is the rebuke to any hardness of heart. Each one of us has something that has hardened in our hearts. Let us remember this, and may the Lord give us a righteous and sincere heart … where the Lord dwells. The Lord cannot enter hard hearts; the Lord cannot enter ideological hearts. The Lord only enters hearts that are like his heart: compassionate hearts, hearts that have compassion, open hearts. (Pope Francis, Homily at Santa Marta, 18 February 2020)

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A reading from the letter of James
Jas 1:12-18

Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation,
for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life
that he promised to those who love him.
No one experiencing temptation should say,
"I am being tempted by God";
for God is not subject to temptation to evil,
and he himself tempts no one.
Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire.
Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,
and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters:
all good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

From the Gospel according to Mark
Mark 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Jesus enjoined them, "Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod."
They concluded among themselves that
it was because they had no bread.
When he became aware of this he said to them,
"Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?"
They answered him, "Twelve."
"When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?"
They answered him, "Seven."
He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

Let us think about the four ideological groups of Jesus’ time: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. Four groups that had hardened their hearts to carry out a plan that was not God’s; there was no place for God’s plan, no place for compassion. When the heart becomes hard, when the heart hardens, one forgets… One forgets about the grace of salvation, one forgets its gratuitousness. A hard heart leads to arguments, it leads to wars, it leads to selfishness, it leads to the destruction of one’s brother, because there is no compassion. And the greatest message of salvation is that God had compassion for us. That refrain in the Gospel, when Jesus sees a person, a painful situation: “he had compassion”. […] Jesus is the Father’s compassion; Jesus is the rebuke to any hardness of heart. Each one of us has something that has hardened in our hearts. Let us remember this, and may the Lord give us a righteous and sincere heart … where the Lord dwells. The Lord cannot enter hard hearts; the Lord cannot enter ideological hearts. The Lord only enters hearts that are like his heart: compassionate hearts, hearts that have compassion, open hearts. (Pope Francis, Homily at Santa Marta, 18 February 2020)

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43 Catholic Democrats pledge migrant solidarity, invoke Leo XIV, Francis #Catholic More than 40 Catholic Democrats in the House of Representatives signed onto a statement of principles regarding immigration, which urged “solidarity” with migrants and cited Catholic social teaching and the visions of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV to back up their positions.The statement comes as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continues to speak out against indiscriminate mass deportations. Lawmakers are also negotiating an end to a partial government shutdown, which was spurred by debates about funding and potential reforms for immigration enforcement.“We feel called in solidarity to stand with immigrants — especially those who are poor, marginalized, or fleeing hardship — and to ensure they are treated with dignity, justice, and compassion,” the statement said.“As Catholics and elected officials, we believe that addressing long-standing inequities and expanding meaningful opportunities for immigrants is an essential part of our responsibility to community and to those most in need,” the lawmakers said.The statement was led by Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, and signed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and 41 other Catholic Democrats. No Republicans signed onto the statement.The Catholic Democrats said their position is rooted in three principles of Catholic social teaching on immigration: that people have a right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families, that nations have a right to regulate borders, and that all enforcement must be consistent with justice and mercy.In their statement, they said Jesus Christ “identifies with the migrant” when he says in Matthew 25:35: “I was … a stranger and you welcomed me.” They also cited Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Dilexi Te, commenting on migration, in which he said the Church knows that “in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”They quoted Pope Francis’ 2019 message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, in which the former pontiff said the Church’s response to immigration can be summed up in four verbs: “welcome, protect, promote, and integrate.”The statement recognizes that regulations on immigration are legitimate, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches that “political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions.”“Catholic social teaching approaches migration with realism: It affirms the right of persons to seek safety and opportunity while recognizing the legitimate authority of nations to regulate their borders,” they said. “Sound immigration policy is ordered, humane, and sustainable, balancing solidarity with prudence in service of human dignity and the common good.”The Catholic Democrats said, however, that border enforcement “is never a license for cruelty, indifference, or dehumanization” but instead “must be governed by justice and mercy.” They accused Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of having “failed this moral standard.”“Their actions have separated families, removed law-abiding individuals from our communities, and, tragically, contributed to the deaths of detained migrants and citizens like Renee Good and Alex Pretti,” the statement read.The Catholic Democrats, in their statement, said their position on immigration is “guided by a living Catholic tradition that affirms the dignity of every human life.” Despite the USCCB having called “the threat of abortion” its “preeminent priority” in the 2024 election, the Democratic Party supports abortion access, identifying abortion as an essential component of health care.Negotiating ICE, CBP reformsThe signatories called on Congress to “bear the Church’s teachings in mind” when considering reforms to ICE and CBP, which are being negotiated.On Feb. 14, the government entered into a partial shutdown when Congress did not reach an agreement on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which operates both ICE and CBP.Many Democrats are proposing reforms that would restrict immigration enforcement as a condition of approving funds. Some have gone further, calling for the abolition of ICE altogether.Catholic administration officials have rejected the Democrats’ characterization that immigration enforcement has violated the human dignity of migrants.In December 2025, border czar Tom Homan told EWTN News that “we treat everybody with dignity.” He said “the most humane thing you can do is enforce the law, secure the border, because it saves lives” and asserted that the administration targets criminals and cited its work to combat fentanyl and sex trafficking.Nathaniel Madden, principal deputy assistant secretary for communications at DHS, told EWTN News in November 2025 that detainees “are going to be treated like a person, and your dignity is going to be respected.” He said dignity and immigration enforcement are compatible and “we have to take into account that laws were broken.”In January, U.S. citizens Pretti and Good were both shot and killed by federal immigration officers in separate incidents in Minneapolis.In November 2025, the USCCB issued a special message that opposed “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and called for an end to “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.” The message was approved by a vote of 216-5.
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43 Catholic Democrats pledge migrant solidarity, invoke Leo XIV, Francis #Catholic More than 40 Catholic Democrats in the House of Representatives signed onto a statement of principles regarding immigration, which urged “solidarity” with migrants and cited Catholic social teaching and the visions of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV to back up their positions.The statement comes as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continues to speak out against indiscriminate mass deportations. Lawmakers are also negotiating an end to a partial government shutdown, which was spurred by debates about funding and potential reforms for immigration enforcement.“We feel called in solidarity to stand with immigrants — especially those who are poor, marginalized, or fleeing hardship — and to ensure they are treated with dignity, justice, and compassion,” the statement said.“As Catholics and elected officials, we believe that addressing long-standing inequities and expanding meaningful opportunities for immigrants is an essential part of our responsibility to community and to those most in need,” the lawmakers said.The statement was led by Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, and signed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and 41 other Catholic Democrats. No Republicans signed onto the statement.The Catholic Democrats said their position is rooted in three principles of Catholic social teaching on immigration: that people have a right to migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families, that nations have a right to regulate borders, and that all enforcement must be consistent with justice and mercy.In their statement, they said Jesus Christ “identifies with the migrant” when he says in Matthew 25:35: “I was … a stranger and you welcomed me.” They also cited Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Dilexi Te, commenting on migration, in which he said the Church knows that “in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”They quoted Pope Francis’ 2019 message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, in which the former pontiff said the Church’s response to immigration can be summed up in four verbs: “welcome, protect, promote, and integrate.”The statement recognizes that regulations on immigration are legitimate, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches that “political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions.”“Catholic social teaching approaches migration with realism: It affirms the right of persons to seek safety and opportunity while recognizing the legitimate authority of nations to regulate their borders,” they said. “Sound immigration policy is ordered, humane, and sustainable, balancing solidarity with prudence in service of human dignity and the common good.”The Catholic Democrats said, however, that border enforcement “is never a license for cruelty, indifference, or dehumanization” but instead “must be governed by justice and mercy.” They accused Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of having “failed this moral standard.”“Their actions have separated families, removed law-abiding individuals from our communities, and, tragically, contributed to the deaths of detained migrants and citizens like Renee Good and Alex Pretti,” the statement read.The Catholic Democrats, in their statement, said their position on immigration is “guided by a living Catholic tradition that affirms the dignity of every human life.” Despite the USCCB having called “the threat of abortion” its “preeminent priority” in the 2024 election, the Democratic Party supports abortion access, identifying abortion as an essential component of health care.Negotiating ICE, CBP reformsThe signatories called on Congress to “bear the Church’s teachings in mind” when considering reforms to ICE and CBP, which are being negotiated.On Feb. 14, the government entered into a partial shutdown when Congress did not reach an agreement on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which operates both ICE and CBP.Many Democrats are proposing reforms that would restrict immigration enforcement as a condition of approving funds. Some have gone further, calling for the abolition of ICE altogether.Catholic administration officials have rejected the Democrats’ characterization that immigration enforcement has violated the human dignity of migrants.In December 2025, border czar Tom Homan told EWTN News that “we treat everybody with dignity.” He said “the most humane thing you can do is enforce the law, secure the border, because it saves lives” and asserted that the administration targets criminals and cited its work to combat fentanyl and sex trafficking.Nathaniel Madden, principal deputy assistant secretary for communications at DHS, told EWTN News in November 2025 that detainees “are going to be treated like a person, and your dignity is going to be respected.” He said dignity and immigration enforcement are compatible and “we have to take into account that laws were broken.”In January, U.S. citizens Pretti and Good were both shot and killed by federal immigration officers in separate incidents in Minneapolis.In November 2025, the USCCB issued a special message that opposed “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and called for an end to “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.” The message was approved by a vote of 216-5.

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Catholic U.S. House Democrats cited Church teaching in defense of the dignity of migrants as Trump administration officials defend immigration enforcement.

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SHADOW FASHION: Supermodel Naomi Campbell’s Ties With Jeffrey Epstein Laid Open in DOJ-Released Emails – Out of the millions of documents released by the DOJ in the by-now earth-shattering ‘Epstein-files’, the name of controversial supermodel Naomi Campbell pops up repeatedly. The post SHADOW FASHION: Supermodel Naomi Campbell’s Ties With Jeffrey Epstein Laid Open in DOJ-Released Emails appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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SHADOW FASHION: Supermodel Naomi Campbell’s Ties With Jeffrey Epstein Laid Open in DOJ-Released Emails – Out of the millions of documents released by the DOJ in the by-now earth-shattering ‘Epstein-files’, the name of controversial supermodel Naomi Campbell pops up repeatedly. The post SHADOW FASHION: Supermodel Naomi Campbell’s Ties With Jeffrey Epstein Laid Open in DOJ-Released Emails appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Celebrities at a crowded event, featuring a model in a black outfit and a blonde woman looking at her phone, surrounded by onlookers.

Celebrities at a crowded event, featuring a model in a black outfit and a blonde woman looking at her phone, surrounded by onlookers.

Out of the millions of documents released by the DOJ in the by-now earth-shattering ‘Epstein-files’, the name of controversial supermodel Naomi Campbell pops up repeatedly.

The post SHADOW FASHION: Supermodel Naomi Campbell’s Ties With Jeffrey Epstein Laid Open in DOJ-Released Emails appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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‘Silence of the Lambs’ Producer and Actor Who Played Buffalo Bill Express Regret Over 35-Year-Old Film Because of ‘Transphobia,’ but Trans Killers Are a Real Rising Threat – The 1991 Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs turned 35 this month, but instead of celebrating its legacy, key members of the cast and crew used the anniversary to apologize for the film’s portrayal of the serial killer Buffalo Bill. The post ‘Silence of the Lambs’ Producer and Actor Who Played Buffalo Bill Express Regret Over 35-Year-Old Film Because of ‘Transphobia,’ but Trans Killers Are a Real Rising Threat appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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‘Silence of the Lambs’ Producer and Actor Who Played Buffalo Bill Express Regret Over 35-Year-Old Film Because of ‘Transphobia,’ but Trans Killers Are a Real Rising Threat – The 1991 Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs turned 35 this month, but instead of celebrating its legacy, key members of the cast and crew used the anniversary to apologize for the film’s portrayal of the serial killer Buffalo Bill. The post ‘Silence of the Lambs’ Producer and Actor Who Played Buffalo Bill Express Regret Over 35-Year-Old Film Because of ‘Transphobia,’ but Trans Killers Are a Real Rising Threat appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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A character with long hair and an extravagant outfit poses confidently in a vibrant costume-filled setting, reflecting a playful and bold fashion statement.

A character with long hair and an extravagant outfit poses confidently in a vibrant costume-filled setting, reflecting a playful and bold fashion statement.

The 1991 Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs turned 35 this month, but instead of celebrating its legacy, key members of the cast and crew used the anniversary to apologize for the film’s portrayal of the serial killer Buffalo Bill.

The post ‘Silence of the Lambs’ Producer and Actor Who Played Buffalo Bill Express Regret Over 35-Year-Old Film Because of ‘Transphobia,’ but Trans Killers Are a Real Rising Threat appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Lawmakers urge White House to restore visas for international adoptions #Catholic Lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to offer government exceptions for international adoption visas so that children can be united with their adoptive families and “welcomed into safe and stable homes.”U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer and Amy Klobuchar, along with U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt and Danny Davis, asked the Department of State to restore a “categorical exemption for adoption visas,” one that was suspended in December 2025 amid government travel restrictions on certain countries.The suspension of the visas “has introduced uncertainty for children and American parents who have waited years for their adoptions to be completed and were preparing to bring their children home,” the lawmakers said.The letter cited Department of State guidance from 2025 that acknowledged that adoption “involves children in need — some in urgent need — of a loving, permanent home and family.”In that guidance the State Department acknowledged the need to “vigorously engage at both the policy and case levels to protect the interests of all parties involved.”“We strongly urge you to advocate for the restoration of the categorical exemption for adoption visas,” the lawmakers said, calling on the department to “move expeditiously to address this situation to ensure these children are united with their adoptive parents.”Difficulty of international adoption changes with governmentsKatie Dillon, a spokeswoman for Commonwealth Catholic Charities in Virginia, said international adoptions “typically follow clear, predictable steps,” though she said the process is “lengthy.”Like many Catholic charity groups, Commonwealth Catholic Charities offers adoptive families a variety of resources and services to facilitate in both domestic and international adoptions. Dillon said the Virginia group “acts as the home study provider and post-placement agency” for families seeking to adopt from other countries.Such adoptions “can be a difficult process that ebbs and flows with global policy shifts,” she said. “It can be a challenging process for families to navigate.”“Families interested in international adoption work with an in-state agency like Commonwealth Catholic Charities to complete their home study and an international agency to help with the placement of the child,” she said.Child placement agencies must be accredited by the Hague Adoption Convention of 1993, an international accord that established protections for children in international adoptions. Such agencies “have programs in certain countries to legally assist a family in the adoption of a child from that country,” Dillon said.Though there are numerous resources that prospective adoptive families can utilize to help them in their journey, Dillon said international adoption “is often a long process that can take upwards of three or four years.” Some countries can require parents to reside in the country in question for anywhere from several months to a year, she said.Amid the uncertainty at the federal level, Dillon stressed that the difficult process is at times upended by elections in which government rules can shift without warning.“Parents who are considering international adoption should be aware that adoption policies can change abruptly with changes in government leadership,” she said. “There are no guarantees.”
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Lawmakers urge White House to restore visas for international adoptions #Catholic Lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to offer government exceptions for international adoption visas so that children can be united with their adoptive families and “welcomed into safe and stable homes.”U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer and Amy Klobuchar, along with U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt and Danny Davis, asked the Department of State to restore a “categorical exemption for adoption visas,” one that was suspended in December 2025 amid government travel restrictions on certain countries.The suspension of the visas “has introduced uncertainty for children and American parents who have waited years for their adoptions to be completed and were preparing to bring their children home,” the lawmakers said.The letter cited Department of State guidance from 2025 that acknowledged that adoption “involves children in need — some in urgent need — of a loving, permanent home and family.”In that guidance the State Department acknowledged the need to “vigorously engage at both the policy and case levels to protect the interests of all parties involved.”“We strongly urge you to advocate for the restoration of the categorical exemption for adoption visas,” the lawmakers said, calling on the department to “move expeditiously to address this situation to ensure these children are united with their adoptive parents.”Difficulty of international adoption changes with governmentsKatie Dillon, a spokeswoman for Commonwealth Catholic Charities in Virginia, said international adoptions “typically follow clear, predictable steps,” though she said the process is “lengthy.”Like many Catholic charity groups, Commonwealth Catholic Charities offers adoptive families a variety of resources and services to facilitate in both domestic and international adoptions. Dillon said the Virginia group “acts as the home study provider and post-placement agency” for families seeking to adopt from other countries.Such adoptions “can be a difficult process that ebbs and flows with global policy shifts,” she said. “It can be a challenging process for families to navigate.”“Families interested in international adoption work with an in-state agency like Commonwealth Catholic Charities to complete their home study and an international agency to help with the placement of the child,” she said.Child placement agencies must be accredited by the Hague Adoption Convention of 1993, an international accord that established protections for children in international adoptions. Such agencies “have programs in certain countries to legally assist a family in the adoption of a child from that country,” Dillon said.Though there are numerous resources that prospective adoptive families can utilize to help them in their journey, Dillon said international adoption “is often a long process that can take upwards of three or four years.” Some countries can require parents to reside in the country in question for anywhere from several months to a year, she said.Amid the uncertainty at the federal level, Dillon stressed that the difficult process is at times upended by elections in which government rules can shift without warning.“Parents who are considering international adoption should be aware that adoption policies can change abruptly with changes in government leadership,” she said. “There are no guarantees.”

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“Adoption visas are not guaranteed” amid a travel freeze, said lawmakers who have asked the State Department to restore a “categorical exemption for adoption visas.”

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Tackle Your Debt And Earn Massive Cash Back With This Card – (Note: Thank you for supporting businesses like those presenting a sponsored message below and ordering through the links below, which benefits Gateway Pundit. The post Tackle Your Debt And Earn Massive Cash Back With This Card appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Tackle Your Debt And Earn Massive Cash Back With This Card – (Note: Thank you for supporting businesses like those presenting a sponsored message below and ordering through the links below, which benefits Gateway Pundit. The post Tackle Your Debt And Earn Massive Cash Back With This Card appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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SIM card on a background of the American flag, symbolizing mobile connectivity and patriotism in the United States.

SIM card on a background of the American flag, symbolizing mobile connectivity and patriotism in the United States.

(Note: Thank you for supporting businesses like those presenting a sponsored message below and ordering through the links below, which benefits Gateway Pundit.

The post Tackle Your Debt And Earn Massive Cash Back With This Card appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Scouts encouraged to be inspired by saints at Mass #Catholic - Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney urged scouts and leaders to find inspiration in the saints, such as Ss. Cyril & Methodius, while celebrating the annual Scout Sunday Mass of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey on Feb. 14, the feast of the two Slavic saints and St. Valentine’s Day. The liturgy was held at Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Church in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J. After presiding over the Mass, Bishop Sweeney presented religious awards to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and adult Boy Scout leaders to inspire and strengthen their Catholic faith. Among the priests concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Father Frank Agresti, chaplain of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Girl Scouting who is offering pastoral assistance to St. Anthony Parish in Hawthorne, N.J.; Father Christopher Barkhausen, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish in the McAfee neighborhood of Vernon, N.J., and chaplain of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Boy Scouting; and Father Benjamin Williams, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in the Oak Ridge neighborhood of Jefferson Township and St. John Vianney Parish in the Stockholm neighborhood of Hardyston, N.J. who is involved in several capacities with the Boy Scouts’ Patriots Path Council. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, also concelebrated the Mass. Father Jared Brogan, director of the diocesan Worship Office, was master of ceremonies for the liturgy. On social media, Bishop Sweeney posted after the event, “I was blessed to celebrate Mass this Morning with our Catholic Scouting Community and be part of their annual Awards Ceremony. I thanked the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, their parents, Scout Leaders, and Chaplains for their dedication, generosity, and example of servant leadership. I encouraged them to learn from and be inspired by the saints, especially Ss. Cyril & Methodius.” Ss. Cyril and Methodius were two missionaries, brothers from Thessaloniki in Greece, who popularized Christianity among the Slavic peoples. Such was their influence that they are now known as the “Apostles to the Slavs.” Deacon Marc Mackin of OLGC assisted with the Mass. Several Scouts participated in the Mass. The diocese’s Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have been holding a Scout Sunday Mass collectively for at least 10 years. Last year, the Boy Scouts of America rebranded as Scouting America to be more inclusive to all youth. A list of Boy Scout and Girl Scout award recipients will follow soon. BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  
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Scouts encouraged to be inspired by saints at Mass #Catholic – Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney urged scouts and leaders to find inspiration in the saints, such as Ss. Cyril & Methodius, while celebrating the annual Scout Sunday Mass of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey on Feb. 14, the feast of the two Slavic saints and St. Valentine’s Day. The liturgy was held at Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Church in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J. After presiding over the Mass, Bishop Sweeney presented religious awards to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and adult Boy Scout leaders to inspire and strengthen their Catholic faith. Among the priests concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Father Frank Agresti, chaplain of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Girl Scouting who is offering pastoral assistance to St. Anthony Parish in Hawthorne, N.J.; Father Christopher Barkhausen, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish in the McAfee neighborhood of Vernon, N.J., and chaplain of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Boy Scouting; and Father Benjamin Williams, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in the Oak Ridge neighborhood of Jefferson Township and St. John Vianney Parish in the Stockholm neighborhood of Hardyston, N.J. who is involved in several capacities with the Boy Scouts’ Patriots Path Council. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, also concelebrated the Mass. Father Jared Brogan, director of the diocesan Worship Office, was master of ceremonies for the liturgy. On social media, Bishop Sweeney posted after the event, “I was blessed to celebrate Mass this Morning with our Catholic Scouting Community and be part of their annual Awards Ceremony. I thanked the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, their parents, Scout Leaders, and Chaplains for their dedication, generosity, and example of servant leadership. I encouraged them to learn from and be inspired by the saints, especially Ss. Cyril & Methodius.” Ss. Cyril and Methodius were two missionaries, brothers from Thessaloniki in Greece, who popularized Christianity among the Slavic peoples. Such was their influence that they are now known as the “Apostles to the Slavs.” Deacon Marc Mackin of OLGC assisted with the Mass. Several Scouts participated in the Mass. The diocese’s Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have been holding a Scout Sunday Mass collectively for at least 10 years. Last year, the Boy Scouts of America rebranded as Scouting America to be more inclusive to all youth. A list of Boy Scout and Girl Scout award recipients will follow soon. BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  

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Scouts encouraged to be inspired by saints at Mass #Catholic –

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney urged scouts and leaders to find inspiration in the saints, such as Ss. Cyril & Methodius, while celebrating the annual Scout Sunday Mass of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey on Feb. 14, the feast of the two Slavic saints and St. Valentine’s Day. The liturgy was held at Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Church in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J.

After presiding over the Mass, Bishop Sweeney presented religious awards to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and adult Boy Scout leaders to inspire and strengthen their Catholic faith.

Among the priests concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Father Frank Agresti, chaplain of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Girl Scouting who is offering pastoral assistance to St. Anthony Parish in Hawthorne, N.J.; Father Christopher Barkhausen, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish in the McAfee neighborhood of Vernon, N.J., and chaplain of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Boy Scouting; and Father Benjamin Williams, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in the Oak Ridge neighborhood of Jefferson Township and St. John Vianney Parish in the Stockholm neighborhood of Hardyston, N.J. who is involved in several capacities with the Boy Scouts’ Patriots Path Council.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, also concelebrated the Mass. Father Jared Brogan, director of the diocesan Worship Office, was master of ceremonies for the liturgy.

On social media, Bishop Sweeney posted after the event, “I was blessed to celebrate Mass this Morning with our Catholic Scouting Community and be part of their annual Awards Ceremony. I thanked the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, their parents, Scout Leaders, and Chaplains for their dedication, generosity, and example of servant leadership. I encouraged them to learn from and be inspired by the saints, especially Ss. Cyril & Methodius.”

Ss. Cyril and Methodius were two missionaries, brothers from Thessaloniki in Greece, who popularized Christianity among the Slavic peoples. Such was their influence that they are now known as the “Apostles to the Slavs.”
Deacon Marc Mackin of OLGC assisted with the Mass. Several Scouts participated in the Mass.

The diocese’s Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have been holding a Scout Sunday Mass collectively for at least 10 years. Last year, the Boy Scouts of America rebranded as Scouting America to be more inclusive to all youth.

A list of Boy Scout and Girl Scout award recipients will follow soon.

BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI

– Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney urged scouts and leaders to find inspiration in the saints, such as Ss. Cyril & Methodius, while celebrating the annual Scout Sunday Mass of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey on Feb. 14, the feast of the two Slavic saints and St. Valentine’s Day. The liturgy was held at Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Church in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J. After presiding over the Mass, Bishop Sweeney presented religious awards to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and adult Boy Scout leaders to inspire and strengthen their Catholic faith. Among the priests concelebrating the

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Families make unforgettable memories at Haskell prom #Catholic - Once again, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., was excited on Feb. 13 to be an official host church for the 2026 Night to Shine Prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. Night to Shine is a prom night experience and part of a worldwide celebration, centered on God’s love, for people with physical or developmental disabilities, ages 14 and older. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Father Greg Golba, pastor of St. Francis, joined the party that night. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Guests of Night to Shine entered the complimentary event on a red carpet with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi. Once inside, guests received the royal treatment, including hair and makeup stations, shoe shining stations, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, a karaoke room, a catered dinner, prom favors, a Respite Room for parents and caretakers, and dancing. The highlight of the night arrived when each Night to Shine guest was crowned a king or queen of the prom. BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  
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Families make unforgettable memories at Haskell prom #Catholic – Once again, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., was excited on Feb. 13 to be an official host church for the 2026 Night to Shine Prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. Night to Shine is a prom night experience and part of a worldwide celebration, centered on God’s love, for people with physical or developmental disabilities, ages 14 and older. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Father Greg Golba, pastor of St. Francis, joined the party that night. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Guests of Night to Shine entered the complimentary event on a red carpet with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi. Once inside, guests received the royal treatment, including hair and makeup stations, shoe shining stations, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, a karaoke room, a catered dinner, prom favors, a Respite Room for parents and caretakers, and dancing. The highlight of the night arrived when each Night to Shine guest was crowned a king or queen of the prom. BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI [See image gallery at beaconnj.org]  

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Families make unforgettable memories at Haskell prom #Catholic –

Once again, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., was excited on Feb. 13 to be an official host church for the 2026 Night to Shine Prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation.

Night to Shine is a prom night experience and part of a worldwide celebration, centered on God’s love, for people with physical or developmental disabilities, ages 14 and older. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Father Greg Golba, pastor of St. Francis, joined the party that night.

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Guests of Night to Shine entered the complimentary event on a red carpet with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi. Once inside, guests received the royal treatment, including hair and makeup stations, shoe shining stations, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, a karaoke room, a catered dinner, prom favors, a Respite Room for parents and caretakers, and dancing.

The highlight of the night arrived when each Night to Shine guest was crowned a king or queen of the prom.

BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI

– Once again, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., was excited on Feb. 13 to be an official host church for the 2026 Night to Shine Prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. Night to Shine is a prom night experience and part of a worldwide celebration, centered on God’s love, for people with physical or developmental disabilities, ages 14 and older. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Father Greg Golba, pastor of St. Francis, joined the party that night. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Guests of Night to Shine entered the complimentary

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Just what does it mean to be named a ‘chaplain of His Holiness’? – #Catholic – Among the recent appointments of Pope Leo XIV, one in particular has been made with remarkable frequency: that of “chaplain of His Holiness.” What does this honorary title mean?In November 2025, the Holy Father bestowed this title upon his secretary, Peruvian priest Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga, officially incorporating him into the papal household, in accordance with the provisions of the 1968 motu proprio Pontificalis Domus (“Pontifical House”).Among those who have received this distinction in recent days is Father Fermín González Melado, a diocesan priest born in Badajoz, Spain, who has resided in Rome since 2019.With degrees in biology and the theology of marriage and family, González is an adviser to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a member of the clinical ethics committee at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. He has also served as vice rector of the Spanish National Church of St. James and Montserrat in Rome since 2021. Father Fermín González Melado. | Credit: Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, he explained that the title of “chaplain of His Holiness” is a recognition “granted by the dicasteries, since it is the prefects who suggest to the secretariat of state the recognition of individuals who have been working at the Holy See.”He clarified that this “does not imply a change of job or employment status, but rather a kind of medal that recognizes meritorious work. It is an honorary title that entails a change of cassock colors and little else,” he explained.With this appointment as chaplain, the pope also bestowed upon him the honorary title of monsignor. From now on, as a member of the papal household, the priest may wear the cassock with purple buttons and trim, along with the sash of the same color, according to protocol.González said this title is not reserved just for the Holy See to give “but can also be granted by bishops in their dioceses after requesting it from the Vatican.”He pointed out that there is no precise figure for the number of chaplains of His Holiness worldwide. “Some dioceses grant this honor to priests upon reaching the age of 80, in recognition of their service,” he added.Although he has not yet been able to express his gratitude to Pope Leo XIV in person, he recalled his recent meeting with him, along with other members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, during its plenary assembly.The priest told ACI Prensa that every time he meets with the Holy Father, he likes to give him “some small gift.” On the last occasion, he gave him a book and a documentary film about the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila, in La Codosera, Spain, which is in his diocese.“It’s the first shrine and the first devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows approved in Spain under the new regulations of the dicastery on alleged supernatural phenomena,” he explained.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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Just what does it mean to be named a ‘chaplain of His Holiness’? – #Catholic – Among the recent appointments of Pope Leo XIV, one in particular has been made with remarkable frequency: that of “chaplain of His Holiness.” What does this honorary title mean?In November 2025, the Holy Father bestowed this title upon his secretary, Peruvian priest Father Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga, officially incorporating him into the papal household, in accordance with the provisions of the 1968 motu proprio Pontificalis Domus (“Pontifical House”).Among those who have received this distinction in recent days is Father Fermín González Melado, a diocesan priest born in Badajoz, Spain, who has resided in Rome since 2019.With degrees in biology and the theology of marriage and family, González is an adviser to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a member of the clinical ethics committee at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. He has also served as vice rector of the Spanish National Church of St. James and Montserrat in Rome since 2021. Father Fermín González Melado. | Credit: Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, he explained that the title of “chaplain of His Holiness” is a recognition “granted by the dicasteries, since it is the prefects who suggest to the secretariat of state the recognition of individuals who have been working at the Holy See.”He clarified that this “does not imply a change of job or employment status, but rather a kind of medal that recognizes meritorious work. It is an honorary title that entails a change of cassock colors and little else,” he explained.With this appointment as chaplain, the pope also bestowed upon him the honorary title of monsignor. From now on, as a member of the papal household, the priest may wear the cassock with purple buttons and trim, along with the sash of the same color, according to protocol.González said this title is not reserved just for the Holy See to give “but can also be granted by bishops in their dioceses after requesting it from the Vatican.”He pointed out that there is no precise figure for the number of chaplains of His Holiness worldwide. “Some dioceses grant this honor to priests upon reaching the age of 80, in recognition of their service,” he added.Although he has not yet been able to express his gratitude to Pope Leo XIV in person, he recalled his recent meeting with him, along with other members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, during its plenary assembly.The priest told ACI Prensa that every time he meets with the Holy Father, he likes to give him “some small gift.” On the last occasion, he gave him a book and a documentary film about the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila, in La Codosera, Spain, which is in his diocese.“It’s the first shrine and the first devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows approved in Spain under the new regulations of the dicastery on alleged supernatural phenomena,” he explained.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Father Fermín González Melado, who was recently named a “chaplain of His Holiness” by Pope Leo XIV, explains the qualifications and purpose of bestowing this honorary title.

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Pope Leo to mark start of Lent with historic procession on ancient Roman hill – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV will preside over the traditional Ash Wednesday procession and Mass on Rome’s Aventine Hill, an important place of Christian veneration and pilgrimage for more than 1,500 years.For the Dominican and Benedictine religious orders, whose communities have had a significant historical presence on the Aventine, the Holy Father’s Feb. 18 visit will be a special occasion to begin the Church’s liturgical season dedicated to prayer and fasting before Easter.On the first day of the 40-day Lenten “Stations Churches” pilgrimage — formally instituted in the sixth century by Pope Gregory the Great and restored by Pope John XXIII in 1959 — the pope leads a penitential procession from the Benedictine church of Sant’Anselmo to the nearby Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina.“To walk with Pope Leo on this pilgrimage from the nearby Sant’Anselmo church will be a sign, a symbol, for all of us of the spiritual work that’s taking place in our hearts in Lent,” Santa Sabina resident Father Patrick Briscoe, OP, told EWTN News. “We’ll all be on pilgrimage together.”This year, Pope Leo will preside over a short afternoon prayer service at the Benedictine monastery and then celebrate the Ash Wednesday Mass at Santa Sabina, a fourth-century basilica that was gifted to St. Dominic and the Order of Preachers in 1219 by Pope Honorius III.“The pope himself imposes ashes on [the cardinals] during the Mass,” Briscoe added. “The cardinals stand in for the whole Church and they’re a sign of all of us joining and following the pope’s lead.”As part of the Lenten tradition, the pope leads the procession through the main doors of Santa Sabina, which contains the oldest known artistic portrayal of Jesus Christ crucified.“On the door we have a very important Christian symbol… It allows us to think of the meaning of Lent and to embrace the suffering of Christ,” Briscoe said.“When we consider it from the historical perspective and the evolution of Christian understanding, we really didn’t know how to handle the cross,” he explained. “It took us a hundred years to depict it.”“This says something to each of us entering into Lent — to discover anew what our sufferings mean and how to have them transformed by Christ’s own sacrifice,” he said.Father Eusebius Martis, OSB, a sacramental theology professor who teaches at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo, told EWTN News the Aventine is an ideal place for prayer and pilgrimage.“It’s really an ideal spot because it’s quiet and it’s a little bit separated but not too far [from the city center],” he said.According to Martis, nature on the Aventine has inspired artists and pilgrims alike throughout the centuries to contemplate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.“The acanthus leaf is growing all across our property here at [Sant’Anselmo],” Martis said. “It dies and it lays against the ground … completely dead until the spring [when] it comes back to life.”“In a couple of weeks, it will start putting up flowers, which represent a bloom around Easter time,” he said.Pointing out the reliefs of the acanthus leaf found on the Corinthian columns inside the Basilica of Sant’Anselmo, Martis said several churches across Rome purposefully depict the leaf to symbolize the Church’s belief in Jesus’ victory over sin and death.“The architects wanted us to remember that, every time we’re at the altar, we are at Easter,” the Benedictine father said.
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Pope Leo to mark start of Lent with historic procession on ancient Roman hill – #Catholic – Pope Leo XIV will preside over the traditional Ash Wednesday procession and Mass on Rome’s Aventine Hill, an important place of Christian veneration and pilgrimage for more than 1,500 years.For the Dominican and Benedictine religious orders, whose communities have had a significant historical presence on the Aventine, the Holy Father’s Feb. 18 visit will be a special occasion to begin the Church’s liturgical season dedicated to prayer and fasting before Easter.On the first day of the 40-day Lenten “Stations Churches” pilgrimage — formally instituted in the sixth century by Pope Gregory the Great and restored by Pope John XXIII in 1959 — the pope leads a penitential procession from the Benedictine church of Sant’Anselmo to the nearby Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina.“To walk with Pope Leo on this pilgrimage from the nearby Sant’Anselmo church will be a sign, a symbol, for all of us of the spiritual work that’s taking place in our hearts in Lent,” Santa Sabina resident Father Patrick Briscoe, OP, told EWTN News. “We’ll all be on pilgrimage together.”This year, Pope Leo will preside over a short afternoon prayer service at the Benedictine monastery and then celebrate the Ash Wednesday Mass at Santa Sabina, a fourth-century basilica that was gifted to St. Dominic and the Order of Preachers in 1219 by Pope Honorius III.“The pope himself imposes ashes on [the cardinals] during the Mass,” Briscoe added. “The cardinals stand in for the whole Church and they’re a sign of all of us joining and following the pope’s lead.”As part of the Lenten tradition, the pope leads the procession through the main doors of Santa Sabina, which contains the oldest known artistic portrayal of Jesus Christ crucified.“On the door we have a very important Christian symbol… It allows us to think of the meaning of Lent and to embrace the suffering of Christ,” Briscoe said.“When we consider it from the historical perspective and the evolution of Christian understanding, we really didn’t know how to handle the cross,” he explained. “It took us a hundred years to depict it.”“This says something to each of us entering into Lent — to discover anew what our sufferings mean and how to have them transformed by Christ’s own sacrifice,” he said.Father Eusebius Martis, OSB, a sacramental theology professor who teaches at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo, told EWTN News the Aventine is an ideal place for prayer and pilgrimage.“It’s really an ideal spot because it’s quiet and it’s a little bit separated but not too far [from the city center],” he said.According to Martis, nature on the Aventine has inspired artists and pilgrims alike throughout the centuries to contemplate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.“The acanthus leaf is growing all across our property here at [Sant’Anselmo],” Martis said. “It dies and it lays against the ground … completely dead until the spring [when] it comes back to life.”“In a couple of weeks, it will start putting up flowers, which represent a bloom around Easter time,” he said.Pointing out the reliefs of the acanthus leaf found on the Corinthian columns inside the Basilica of Sant’Anselmo, Martis said several churches across Rome purposefully depict the leaf to symbolize the Church’s belief in Jesus’ victory over sin and death.“The architects wanted us to remember that, every time we’re at the altar, we are at Easter,” the Benedictine father said.

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Pope Leo XIV will preside over the traditional Ash Wednesday procession and Mass on Feb. 18 on Rome’s Aventine Hill, an important place of Christian pilgrimage for more than 1,500 years.

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