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A simple prayer that calms the soul by blessing the other…
By Elizabeth Scalia | OSV News For love of the house of the Lord I will ask for your good. — Ps 122:9 Sometimes Jesus’ words are so familiar to us we stop noticing the whole of what he is saying. “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44), is a pretty interesting adjuration. For one thing, this rabbi who demonstrated the fullness of unconditional love with his death on the cross is saying something that, on its surface, seems shockingly out-of-sync with the notion of Christian love: people will have enemies. We’re advised not to, of course. Elsewhere in Scripture, Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Mt 22:37-40). But what if our neighbor is, kind of, an “enemy” as well — someone who we have learned to distrust...
You might know Denali, Everest and Kilimanjaro, but can you guess the tallest peaks on each of the seven continents?
By K.C. Dermody Read time: 0 minutes Fewer than 500 people worldwide have scaled the so-called Seven Summits — the highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents. In 1985, an American businessman named Richard Bass was the first to climb to the top of all seven. While you’re probably familiar with lofty peaks like Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro, can you name all seven? Below, discover the tallest peaks on each continent and the climbers who have made it all the way to the top. North America – Denali (20,310 Feet) Photo credit: Steve Allen/ Shutterstock The highest peak in North America, Denali (formerly known as Mount McKinley) sits roughly in the center of the 600-mile-long Alaska Range in the south-central part of the state. The official elevation of the ...
‘Thank you for coming to serve who serves’ — How Pope John Paul II converted me…
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Pope Welcomes Young People to WYD: ‘God Is Calling You by Name’…
Pope Francis leads the welcoming ceremony of the 37th World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, and reminds young people from across the globe that God calls each of us by name because He loves every person. By Christopher Wells A vibrant spectacle of colour and sound greeted Pope Francis and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at the Welcoming Ceremony for World Youth Day 2023. The festive character was intended as a celebration of the faith and a demonstration of the unity and diversity of a Church that combines tradition and modernity, and featured a cast of some 50 young people from 21 different countries, as well as the WYD choir and orchestra, and numerous other musicians showcasing the Portuguese culture. A notable addition to this year’s opening ceremony was the choreographic performance ...
The Theology of Evil and Eternity: Nefarious, Screwtape and World Wars…
Now streaming on a platform near you, Nefarious is a film that has been lighting a fire. The critics hate it; those who have paid money to watch it seem to love it, many Christians particularly so. Released in April 2023, Nefarious is a horror film written and directed by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, based on Steve Deace’s 2016 novel A Nefarious Plot. The plot revolves around a psychiatrist (Jordan Belfi) who must determine if a convicted death-row inmate (Sean Patrick Flanery) is faking his alleged demonic possession. Nefarious intrigued me, not least because it is a horror film concerned with the theology of evil. There have been few horror movies that have managed to combine horror and faith in the right proportions; The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) comes t...
WYD Participant Travels 6 Hours to Attend Mass in Turkey: “We Can Make a Sacrifice”…
Would you travel six hours to meet God? Young Venezuelan Luis Piña lives in Turkey, a beautiful country he fell in love with. However, it presents a great challenge to his faith: difficulty going to Mass. Piña is participating in World Youth Day 2023 from Aug. 1-6 in Lisbon, Portugal. The young man spoke with ChurchPOP Español about his experience as a Catholic in Turkey. An Hours-Long Journey to Attend Mass Piña fell in love with Turkey, where he lives due to internships. Although, it is “it is quite difficult to practice faith” in Turkey, “because the nearest church is three hours from home, something that never happened” to him “in Latin America and Europe.” He said that in Venezuela, there are Catholic churches three blocks from his residence, but in Turke...
Pope to World Youth Day Pilgrims in Lisbon: ‘Don’t Be Afraid to Get Your Hands Dirty’…
On the second day of Pope Francis’ visit to Lisbon for the 2023 World Youth Day, he meets with members of the “Scholas Occurrentes” community at its Portuguese headquarters in Cascais, and puts the finishing touch on a multi-coloured mural symbolising the beauty of unity in diversity. By Linda Bordoni Paulo, Mariana and Aledje were amongst the protagonists on Thursday at an event attended by Pope Francis and members of Scholas Occurrentes, at the Pontifical Foundation’s Portuguese headquarters in Cascais, south of Lisbon. They are three of the tens of thousands of young people, of different faiths and backgrounds, who belong to the worldwide Scholas movement for education, founded in 2013 and inspired by Pope Francis’ call for the transformation of global education in the spirit of e...
Victory Over the Sirens’ Song…
17th Sunday in Ordinary TimeBy Fr. Victor Feltes This morning, I wish to recount two tales from Greek mythology which shed light on how we can fully live the Gospel. I want to tell you the stories of how Odysseus and his ship’s crew and Jason with his sailors each survived encounters with the mythical Sirens. The Sirens were beautiful half-woman/half-bird creatures who would sing from their island to passing ships. Their song was so alluring and entrancing that sailors would jump overboard and drown in the sea or steer their vessels into deadly shipwrecks on the rocks. In The Odyssey, the poet Homer tells how Odysseus on his epic voyage wished to hear the Sirens’ song but also wanted to survive with his men. So Odysseus instructed his crew to tie him to the ship’s mast telling them that, n...
They lost their kids to Fortnite…
Cody was seven years old when he decided what he wanted to do with his life. It was the summer of 2018, and he was watching the World Cup with his parents and younger brother at home on Vancouver Island. When he grew up, he told them, he wanted to play pro soccer. Plenty of kids dream of becoming soccer stars but, in Cody’s case, the idea wasn’t entirely far-fetched. He was the best player on his local team, and he soon began training with the Vancouver Whitecaps’ youth academy, a pipeline to the pro leagues. He was effortlessly athletic—he earned his black belt in tae kwon do at age eight—and he was in the gifted program at school. Cody, whose name I changed to protect his privacy, had been diagnosed with ADHD, and his parents had detected other signs of neurodivergence: he organized his ...
How to Gain the “Pardon of Assisi” Plenary Indulgence on Aug. 1 and 2…
Did you know you can receive a plenary indulgence on Aug. 1 and 2? Aug. 2 is the feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula, a particularly important devotion in the Franciscan tradition. It marks the day Saint Francis of Assisi’s Portiuncula church, or “little portion” church was dedicated after Christ called him to “rebuild My church.” He rebuilt this former Benedictine chapel himself in the fourth century.Pope Innocent III gave Saint Francis permission to form his religious order, which resided in the Portiuncula. Because of his strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, the saint dedicated the chapel to Our Lady of the Angels. St. Francis of Assisi spent much of his life at this location, eventually dying there. The chapel now stands inside the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angel...
Do not panic! God uses evil for good, even in the Church…..
By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio – articles – email ) | Jul 31, 2023 Recently I have (yet again) heard the accusation that we at CatholicCulture.org, since we refuse to admit that Pope Francis is an anti-pope, are merely trying to curry favor with him for venal reasons of our own. There are, of course, many variations on this theme, which arise from the dissatisfaction of Catholics who are, at best, worried or, at worst, convinced that the sin of private judgment is essential under today’s ecclesiastical conditions. But we ought never to panic or behave like loose cannons simply because our personal spiritual sensibilities are frustrated. And so I respond to the essential problem as follows: Living in an era in which the Church has very little influence over human society as a whole, we...
The zany history of miniature golf…
Whether you call it mini golf, putt putt, or a cheap date, miniature golf has been popular since the 19th century. The oldest mini golf course in existence, according to Guinness World Records, can actually be found in Scotland: The St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club was formed in 1867 as a members-only green for women golfers. Of course, the club was a result of the conventions of the day that decreed it improper for a lady to “take the club back past their shoulder.” There may not have been any windmills or loop-the-loop obstacles on this course, but the green was—and remains—one of the most prestigious miniature courses around. A vintage postcard of the St Andrews golf club. / Print Collector/GettyImages All of the early miniature golf courses fell under a few broad categories, including t...
