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August 1, 2020
Sports enthusiast and Indigenous language educator Dominic Beaudry doesn’t pass up an opportunity for a teachable moment on or off the field of play.
When I was growing up it was popular to mock a film made in the 1950s to prepare children to survive a nuclear war. Older folks will remember this odd cross between animated and live action footage featuring a bow-tied Bert the Turtle who could “duck and cover” at the sign of danger.
August 2, 2020
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 9 (Year A) 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13; Psalm 85; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-23 God is certainly capable of great deeds of power. This is most evident in the Exodus account of the Old Testament. But there is another side of God — God’s preferred side — that is quiet, gentle and often disguised to the point of invisibility.
After years of loneliness living on the streets, Gordon Petrie’s chance move into a rundown shed outside a Ukrainian Catholic church in Surrey, B.C., has brought him friendship, community and a family reunion out of his wildest dreams.
August 4, 2020
VATICAN CITY -- An author with a long and close relationship to retired Pope Benedict XVI told a German newspaper that the 93-year-old retired pope is "extremely frail."
CLEVELAND -- The path to true peace requires the world to abolish nuclear weapons, an American bishop and a Japanese archbishop said as the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings at the end of World War II approached.
VATICAN CITY -- True compassion requires "courageous sharing," not telling people to go fend for themselves, Pope Francis said.
MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine government issued new orders restricting movement in an effort to control a spike in COVID-19, resulting in 10 dioceses suspending public Masses.
August 5, 2020
AMMAN, Jordan -- Hospitals in the Lebanese capital are overwhelmed with those suffering injuries from a massive explosion in Beirut's port, causing widespread damage the city and rocking the tiny Mediterranean nation already devastated by the coronavirus and its worst financial crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
VATICAN CITY -- After a massive fire triggered a deadly explosion in Beirut, Pope Francis called for prayers and a united effort to help Lebanon overcome "this serious crisis."
August 6, 2020
NAIROBI, Kenya -- The Catholic archbishop of Juba condemned "in the strongest terms possible" the murder of three young girls, killed while watching television in their Juba home.
VATICAN CITY -- Changing the words of the formula for baptism render the sacrament invalid, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
VATICAN CITY -- Renewing the membership of the Vatican Council for the Economy, Pope Francis named six women to the previously all-male board that oversees the financial operations of all Vatican offices and entities.
August 7, 2020
One of many arresting moments in J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterfully gripping The Lord of the Rings involves Merry, one of Frodo’s three hobbit friends who accompany him on his journey to destroy the ring of power. Merry finds himself at the centre of a great battle, with one of the Nazgul (dread servants of the Enemy) bearing down on the King whom Merry has sworn to serve. When the King is struck down, with horror all around him, Merry starts to crawl away. Something inside calls him to return — but “his will would not answer” and he keeps fleeing in the other direction.
August 9, 2020
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 16 (Year A) Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28 “Maintain justice and do what is right.”
August 10, 2020
VATICAN CITY -- For peace to flourish, weapons of war must be set aside, especially nuclear weapons that can obliterate entire cities and countries, Pope Francis said on the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A suspended priest in the Diocese of Sacramento has been automatically excommunicated because he continued to celebrate Mass despite being instructed not to do so by Bishop Jaime Soto, and he also has refused to acknowledge Pope Francis as head of the Catholic Church.
AMMAN, Jordan -- Viewing the burned wasteland of the Beirut port, one’s eye catches a grey concrete slab in the foreground. It bears this stark message scribbled by the Lebanese in black ink: “My Government Did This.”
August 11, 2020
COVID-19 has put a damper on a lot of things the last few months. Add to that list eternity.
KNOCK, Ireland -- The Marian shrine at Knock announced Aug. 10 that in addition to postponing the popular Knock Novena and pilgrimage because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shrine and its church would be closed for the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption of Mary to ensure pilgrims do not arrive anyway.