Catholic News & Perspective

October 2021

Oct 25

Initiatives on Eucharist aim to give Catholics better understanding

By: Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — This past June at their annual meeting, the U.S. bishops spoke about helping Catholics come to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Eucharist through an upcoming Eucharistic revival and a document on the Eucharist. The bishops plan to continue talking about these Church actions and will...
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Oct 22

Opening the Word: ‘Your faith has saved you’

By: Timothy P. O'Malley Sometimes, the Gospels give us details that point toward the transformative beauty of encountering Jesus. How it changes everything. “Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging” (Mk 10:46). Bartimaeus is blind. He has no way to participate in the common life of society....
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Oct 20

The hard work of being a Catholic thinker

By: David Mills “The modern man looks for thought / so he can have light,” Peter Maurin wrote in one of the short poems he called “Easy Essays.” Dorothy Day’s inspiration, mentor and friend, and possibly a saint, Maurin believed that everyone needed to think about the world in which they lived. The poor aren’t...
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Oct 18

A picture is worth a thousand words

By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion A picture is worth a thousand words. Possibly no representation in religious art more affirms that old saying, save the crucifix, than the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Catholics are familiar with the story. Spanish soldiers, immediately followed by missionaries, came to Mexico and overtook the land, removing the...
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Oct 15

Opening the Word: The final misunderstanding

By: Timothy P. O'Malley You can’t help but feel a bit of pathos for James and John. By now, they have heard Jesus tell them that he has come into the world to die and rise again. That power is revealed in weakness. That they must become like little children. They don’t seem capable of understanding. Heading toward Jerusalem, toward...
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Oct 13

Can you skip purgatory and go straight to heaven?

By: Msgr. Charles Pope Question: Much of Catholic teaching and literature focuses on nearly every one of us going to purgatory directly after death instead of heaven. Clearly, some of us live more devout lives than others, but does anyone actually go directly to heaven? — Name withheld, North Hills, California Answer: We...
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Oct 11

Pope St. John Paul II and wisdom worth exploring

By: Russell Shaw It’s sometimes said that Pope St. John Paul II was the most intellectually gifted occupant of the See of Peter ever, but inasmuch as the line of popes stretches back two millennia and includes some known to history only by their names, there is no realistic way of verifying that. What is certain, though, is that Karol...
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Oct 8

Opening the Word: Give it up

By: Timothy P. O'Malley “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:24-25). Our Lord Jesus Christ preaches a saving word this day. Once upon a time, he spoke to the rich young man. The one who was on...
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Oct 6

House of Hope offers people a chance to get back on their feet

By: Nicole Snook To “harbor the harborless” is one way to refer to the merciful work of sheltering the homeless. It is fitting, then, that a city in eastern Canada — where ocean vistas are visible on many streets — would be where the House of Hope came into existence. The house’s founder, Father Rob Elford,...
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Oct 4

In Canada, as in America and elsewhere, Catholic political leaders ignore the teachings of the Church

By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion Americans disgusted with their own politicians who identify themselves as Catholic but support legal abortion should look next door. Canada just reelected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as chief of its government. He defeated Erin O’Toole, in a robustly open, democratic, systematic election on Sept. 20. The names...
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Oct 1

Opening the Word: A Difficult Obedience

By: Timothy P. O'Malley Today’s Gospel consists of a surprising contrast. Jesus first provides teaching about divorce, then he tells the same crowd that they must accept the kingdom of God as little children. What is the relationship between these two moments? As we see in Genesis, Christ’s teaching about the impossibility...
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