Lectio Divina means “divine reading” in Latin. It’s a meditative way of reading the Bible in which we let go of our own agendas and open ourselves to what God is trying to say to us.

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops articulates a constructive Christian response to the challenge posed by “woke” secular ideologies and social justice movements.

“Friendship helps the young, too, to keep from error.”
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotle is intent on showing how friendship is necessary in every stage and condition in life. With characteristic insight, he points to the precise need it fulfills in each.

In 1968 an influential Harvard Medical School committee introduced brain death with the oxymoronic definition “irreversible coma as a new criterion for death,” disregarding the fact that to be in a coma is not to be dead but alive. Declaring a person dead by brain death criteria is the primary means by which organs are obtained for transplantation.

What keeps these couples together? It is free and complete submission to Jesus Christ, whose Cross deeply unites every aspect of their lives.

Catholics need to show charity for self-identified transgender people without compromising their faith or adopting “simplistic” solutions offered by activists and misleading views of gender. That is the teaching of the Diocese of Arlington’s eight-page document, “A catechesis on the human person and gender ideology,” released Aug. 12 by Bishop Michael Burbidge.

COMMENTARY: Mary’s assumption is not ‘just’ a special privilege for her, ‘conceived without sin.’ It tells us that what began with Jesus’ resurrection, already realized body and soul in Mary, is what God intends for all ‘who love him.’

The Catholic Church, along with every major Protestant denomination, has witnessed a precipitous decline in Church attendance. This slide, set off during the 1960s, has accelerated with the rapid rise of the “nones,” Americans claiming no religious affiliation. We could wonder, has the bottom fallen out with this huge exodus? Or put more theologically, has Christ abandoned his Church? Moments of crisis test us, calling us to exercise great hope and trust in the Lord’s providence. Even though Jesus told us that he will never abandon us, he also calls us to do our part. We are not simply helpless in the current freefall. We can assess why things have gone off track and then adjust, focusing our attention on what can help us reverse course.

When I was in college, I took several semesters of archery. I loved shooting arrows at targets, but what ultimately won me over was the nature of archery; you immediately know how you are doing, based on where you hit the target. Still, there was one time that I hit the bulls eye and yet I scored a zero, because I was aiming at the wrong target! In some ways ministry can be like archery, we need to not only aim for the bullseye - but we also need to hit the right target! Too many Catholic parishes and dioceses are aiming for the wrong thing and miss the target. Then when questions arise about why the results they expected aren’t happening, they are puzzled.