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Cleveland Bishop’s Pastoral Letter Puts Prayer at the Forefront of Catholic Life…
Bishop Edward Malesic of the 600,000-soul-strong Cleveland Diocese is drawing on prayer and reflection as key elements in the spiritual renewal of his Catholic flock. In a new pastoral letter, “A Flourishing Apostolic Church,” released Dec. 15, Bishop Malesic said his intent is “that we might recommit ourselves to a daily entry into the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ so that the Church of Cleveland may truly flourish.” Bishop Malesic is asking all Catholics of the Cleveland Diocese, whether practicing or lapsed, to set aside 15 minutes each day for simple reflection. While daily prayer is quite basic to all baptized Catholics, it can be easily overlooked in a society prioritizing “getting on with things” over quiet moments of introspection. “For many of us involved in parish life, i...
How Could the Holy Family Present Jesus in the Temple When They Were Supposed to Have Fled to Egypt?
By Clement Harrold December 20, 2024 Many of us grew up hearing the beautiful accounts of Our Lord’s birth as described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But taking a closer look at these episodes can sometimes become a source of confusion to the more diligent reader. One particularly pertinent problem is figuring out how to reconcile Matthew’s assertion that the Holy Family fled to Egypt right after the visit of the three wise men (see Mt 2:13-15) with Luke’s claim that the Holy Family had ample time to travel into Jerusalem and present Jesus in the Temple a solid forty days after Jesus’s birth (see Lk 2:22-38). This raises an important question: following the birth of Jesus, were the Holy Family in immediate danger or not? If they weren’t, then how do we understand Matthew’s account of...
Pope’s Sunday Angelus: ‘Support and Defend the Sacred Value of the Life of the Little Ones in the Womb’…
Angelus Angelus Dómini nuntiávit Mariæ.Et concépit de Spíritu Sancto.Ave Maria… Ecce ancílla Dómini.Fiat mihi secúndum verbum tuum.Ave Maria… Et Verbum caro factum est.Et habitávit in nobis.Ave Maria… Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei génetrix.Ut digni efficiámur promissiónibus Christi. Orémus.Grátiam tuam, quǽsumus, Dómine,méntibus nostris infunde;ut qui, Ángelo nuntiánte, Christi Fílii tui incarnatiónem cognóvimus, per passiónem eius et crucem, ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur. Per eúndem Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen. Gloria Patri… (ter)Requiem aeternam… Benedictio Apostolica seu Papalis Dominus vobiscum.Et cum spiritu tuo.Sit nomen Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus,Pa ter, et Fi lius, et Spiritus Sanctus. Amen. The Angelus Prayer The Angel of the Lord d...
What Should I Meditate on for the Finding in the Temple?
By Clement Harrold December 6, 2024 The story of the Finding of the Boy Jesus in the Temple brings a range of emotions to the surface. For many Catholics, the whole episode can feel baffling, if not downright traumatic. More than any of the other joyful mysteries, this one seems to encapsulate the title of William Shakespeare’s comedy, All’s Well That Ends Well! St. John Paul rightly noted that the mystery is a story of joy mixed with drama. In some deep sense, therefore, the Finding in the Temple speaks to exactly the kind of joy which ought to mark the Christian life: a joy which acknowledges the many hardships which lie between us and heaven, without trying to ignore or downplay them. It is the joy, too, of realizing at the end of our trials and troubles that God knew what He was doing ...
Why scientist Blessed Nicolas Steno — the father of modern geology, paleontology and crystallography — became Catholic…
Share via: In this season of Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the Incarnation, we are called to quiet down and prepare our hearts to receive Christ anew, to be moved in awe at His presence. We are not asked to do this on blind faith alone. Throughout creation, God has left us signs and wonders of Himself, if only we would take notice. In his 1998 encyclical, Fides et Ratio, Pope St. John Paul II begins, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth…” In our contemplation of the Word along with the created world, we discover the fullness of the truth of Christ. Blessed Nicolas Steno provides a poignant witness of this through his life. A world-renowned 17th century scient...
Embassy Vatican: Some Demystifications…
A change of presidential administrations typically leads to changes in U.S. diplomatic personnel abroad, especially at the ambassadorial level. This, in turn, leads to speculations, some of them zany, about the post of U.S. ambassador to the Holy See (typically mislabeled as “U.S. ambassador to the Vatican”). Herewith, then, some clarifications and demystifications about this position. The entity that sends and receives ambassadors is not “the Vatican,” but the Holy See. “The Vatican” means several things. “The Vatican” can be a stand-in for the independent micro-state known as “Vatican City State” (Stato della Città del Vaticano), created by the 1929 Lateran Pacts. It can refer to the complex of buildings adjacent to the Papal Basilica of St. Peter’s. But the entity that sends and receive...
Exploring Jericho — the Easter Bread Basket of the Hagia Sophia, Herod’s Hellacious Hippodrome, a Roadway Fit for a King (and Blind Beggars), and Zacchaeus’ Running Path …
Notes from the Author: 1) First and foremost–I offer this post to Our Lord through the intercession of His Mother and St. Joseph: in reparation for my sins and the sins of the world, for our repentance, and for an enduring peace throughout the Middle East and the world as quickly as possible. 2) It has been a while since I have posted. My previous post can be read here: https://zistezesto.wordpress.com/2024/04/21/chapter-7-exploring-little-known-sites-in-the-holy-land-stairway-to-the-sanhedrin-the-mosque-of-the-ascension-the-humble-empty-tomb-of-our-lady-and-st-stephens-battleground/ 3) As a reminder, copy/paste GPS Coordinates listed below into Google Maps to see or travel to each location. Satellite imagery used below is from Google Earth. 4) I apologize for any a...
Jesus’ Crown of Thorns Returned to Notre Dame Cathedral…
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Why I’m spending Christmas in Bethlehem this year…
This Christmas, while massive crowds of pilgrims will flock to Rome for the opening of the Jubilee year, I’ll be spending the holy season in Bethlehem. For many, Rome’s grand celebrations and newly polished piazzas are the obvious choice for the holiday. But for me, the small, struggling city where Jesus Christ was born holds a deeper urgency — and a quiet, heartbreaking beauty. Today, Bethlehem is caught in the crossfire of war. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war has cast a long shadow over the entire region. According to my sources in Bethlehem, more than 60 Christian families have left the town in the last six months alone. Pilgrims are few, as fears of conflict and restricted access deter most visitors. Where Rome anticipates millions for the Jubilee, Bethlehem’s holy sites expect only a few...
‘Die Hard’ is not a Christmas movie, unless…..
There’s no way around the question this time of the year, so I will offer my take on The Controversy. “Die Hard” is not a “Christmas movie.” However, I will add this word — “unless.” And my “unless” is built into a Christmas movie typology based on feeling tingles of “hathos” (definition here) during decades of having to watch promotional materials for The Holidays — primarily advertisements. I say “having to watch,” because I am a sports fan, which means enduring lots of ads (even with the sound clicked off). I also have to wait to click out of ads while following YouTube channels that I consider worthwhile (like this, this and, yes, this). I think that there are four kinds of “Christmas movies.” We are talking about moves that: (1) Are set during Christmas, sort of, and that’s that. See ...
The Best Hole-In-The-Wall Restaurants In Every State…
Static Media / Shutterstock / Getty Any city-dweller will know about all the popular restaurants in their city. Maybe they’re located in a town center, locally acclaimed for having a stunning ambiance or known for having the best burgers in town made by award-winning chefs. There’s a lot to be said about a well-known eatery whose food deserves every ounce of recognition it gets, and whose flash draws in visitors off the street like bugs to a lantern. But what about a town’s hidden gems — the unassuming joints whose modest appearances belie the stunning cuisine? Advertisement These so-called “hole-in-the-wall” eateries are the places a friend will drag you to when you’re visiting from out of town. Tourists rarely know about them while locals treasure...
Jimmy Lai Quizzed Over ‘Seditious Retweet’ in Hong Kong Court…
Jimmy Lai quizzed over ‘seditious retweet’ in HK court Skip to content The jailed Catholic publisher Jimmy Lai returned to court in Hong Kong Monday to give testimony in his trial under the territory’s controversial National Security Law. Lai, who has been in prison since 2020, is accused of colluding with foreign powers and publishing seditious materials. If convicted, he faces life in prison. Jimmy Lai. Image via Doughty Street Chambers. In court appearances Dec. 13 and 16, his legal team sought to contextualize and defend alleged attempts to conspire with foreign forces against the governments of Hong Kong and mainland China, specifically by lobbying foreign government officials to sanction the Hong Kong government and local officials. Share On Friday, Lai was asked to explain his accou...
