Church

I have always loved how, in God’s providence, the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Junípero Serra three days before our nation celebrates its independence on July 4.

Not too long ago, I found that I’d plunged myself into a murky sort of swamp—trapped between the jaws of the black dog and the jeers of a noonday demon of acedia, to which I’d opened myself up through sheer laziness.

The past fifteen months have been a time of crisis and deep challenge for our country, and they have been a particular trial for the Catholics.

Friendliness and graciousness are the fertile soil for fostering fraternal correction. God acts through our relationships with those around us to draw out the best in us.

On June 5, I will ordain eight fine men to be new priests for the family of God in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

It is true we celebrate the real presence of Jesus — body, blood, soul and divinity — in the Eucharist of every Mass. Our annual celebration of the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or Corpus Christi, helps us to deepen our appreciation of this graced encounter with the personal presence of Jesus.

The prayers that we say during Mass are a treasure of spirituality.

The meaning of the Easter Candle has evolved and deepened over the centuries.

Today, from a young age and throughout their lives, many desperately ask themselves, even if subconsciously, “Who am I?” The question is so common that we forget that it is a peculiarly modern question, one that we ask all the time, even when we don’t use those words: “Am I a nurse, a teacher, a businessman by nature? Does this house fit me? What does my vote say about me?”

With a new Apostolic Letter issued “motu proprio,” Pope Francis establishes the lay ministry of catechist, intended to respond to an urgent need for the evangelisation of the modern world, and undertaken in a “secular” manner, avoiding clericalisation.