Left

Chicago, Ill., Apr 8, 2020 / 04:33 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Chicago has assembled a team of 24 priest volunteers— all under age 60, and without pre-existing medical conditions— to administer sacramental anointing of the sick to Catholics with COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic. Father Matthew O’Donnell, pastor of St. Columbanus Parish on the city’s South Side, has been a part of the team for about three weeks, and told CNA that so far he has anointed two people with COVID-19. “I know that all of us who are doing this ministry in Chicago right now are doing it because we believe that this is what we’re called to do as priests, to be present to people,” Fr. O’Donnell told CNA. “And I think all of us are knowledgeable of the risks, but the importance of the ...

NASA Around 4.5 billion years ago, our solar system was born from a violent cloud of gas and dust. That spinning disk of interstellar material formed comets, asteroids, the planets, and their moons. The first moon we discovered was, of course, our own. Next, the discovery of Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto by Galileo Galilee in the 17th century restructured our understanding of the universe. “That’s the beginning of the scientific era, in my mind,” astronomer David Jewitt of the University of California, Los Angeles tells Popular Mechanics. Over the years, we’ve constructed powerful telescopes and lofted endeavoring spacecraft toward the stars, cueing a slow trickle of fascinating lunar discoveries. According to NASA’s website, there are 214 moons in the solar system: 158 co...

Excerpt from Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and the Resurrection of the Body Editor’s Note: This excerpt is from the Postscript of the forthcoming book Hope to Die, which Scott Hahn wrote with Emily Stimpson Chapman. Hahn wrote this section specifically in response to the coronavirus crisis. It is reprinted with permission. Easter 2020 was always the scheduled release date for this book. Emily and I worked on it during the summer of 2019, finished our edits over Christmas, and on February 28, 2020, a week before the book was scheduled to go to press, filmed an episode about it for the television show Franciscan Presents. Then, days later, the coronavirus known as COVID-19 started spreading across the United States. And I stopped the presses. I’ve never done tha...

April 6, 2020 “We started a series of conversations, which will be online, with our speakers” on InspireWord.com, said Joe Condit, whose Catholic Speakers Organization represent 400 Catholic speakers and others. “We are going to bring you into the living room,” via social media platforms, of speakers offering “words of inspiration during these hard times, these challenging times, where folks’ lives have been turned upside down due to this coronavirus.”

The ends do not justify the means. During these surreal times, the strength and resiliency of Americans in every sector shines. The working mother who has adjusted to a new normal juggling working from home while unexpectedly becoming a homeschool teacher. The manufacturing worker who takes life one day at a time, social distancing with the uncertainty of having work to return to in the near future. The small-business owner mapping out various contingencies to prevent closing the doors on his or her business for good. The medical professionals and first responders setting their own lives and families aside to respond to their calling to serve and protect their fellow man. Americans from every walk of life are continually discerning what a new normal looks like amid the SARS-CoV-2 (the coro...

By Tom Hoopes, April 2, 2020 On Passion Sunday, Year A, we get a miniature version of the whole of Holy Week, hearing about the Last Supper, death and crucifixion of Our Lord. We also get a miniature guide to the Christian life. After all Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” First, the Passion shows the logic of sin. As the Gospel opens, Judas says, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” That is the basic form of each of our sins, as we barter to understand what we can get or do that is better than Christ. Peter’s sin comes from his quick embrace of Jesus followed by his hasty denial. He tells Jesus that his faith will never be shaken, that he would die for him rather than deny him, and e...

By Allison Tobola Low, MD, MA Imagine being in a desert for forty days by yourself. There is no easy access to the comforts of life. You quickly become hungry and thirsty. With no sign of civilization, the loneliness can weigh you down. And the desert is dangerous. Life is unpredictable, and one does not have full control of every situation. Within a few days, there can be a temptation to despair. But in the desert, although the silence could be daunting, if you remind yourself that you are a creature, dependent on God and under his loving providence, you can find peace. This imagery came to mind because, in many ways, this is what life is like during this pandemic. Each day brings new challenges. At times life is chaotic, and other times it is at a complete standstill. There are ever-incr...

ROME – As Italy appears to have flattened the curve of its coronavirus pandemic, talk is already in the air about what comes next. Italian papers are full of speculation about a staggered return to normality, as well as who might gain or lose politically once the “forced armistice” of a national quarantine dissolves. More than once in recent days, Pope Francis has made reference to the “dopo” of the pandemic, using the Italian word for “after.” Friday, the pontiff said the aftermath will face serious issues with poverty, unemployment and hunger. Undoubtedly, his recent private meetings with Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte were, in part, intended to open a dialogue about the challenges of recovery. When the pope talks about the dopo, he appears to be thinking in ...

Chartwell, Winston Churchill’s country residence, provides both a glimpse inside Churchill’s private life – and into the great man’s mind.  In his study, you expect to find books, newspapers, tumblers, ashtrays, and sterling silver framed photographs – and you do.  You also see a map of the European theater of war, spanning an entire wall of the room.  Churchill was busy mapping out the location of ships, tanks, troops, and defense lines – before he received the call asking him to assume command of British forces. When that call came in, Churchill didn’t have to put down the receiver and bellow down the hall, “Clemmie – have we got a map handy?”  No.  He simply peered over the rim of his spectacles, surveyed the plan, and started giving orders.  Churchill was ...

[embedded content]Little town, everyone’s in lockdown…

[embedded content]Ben and Danielle Marsh and their four children changed the lyrics of One Day More to reflect common complaints during the Covid-19 lockdown.