While reflecting on vocations, my imagination kept landing on my favorite lines from The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. They’re from a conversation between Frodo, a small hobbit, and Gandalf, a wise,...
As a young seminarian serving at St. Agnes of Bohemia parish in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, I came to appreciate many customs and traditions that I had never heard of as the son of an...
Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.” In Part Two of Theology of the Body (TOB), Pope St. John Paul II focuses on...
We do not hear much about the “last things” anymore. Death, judgment, heaven, and hell are often passed over. We hear even less about that state that many will experience before heaven, which is called...
In a visually saturated world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and become desensitized to beauty. Visio Divina, Latin for “divine seeing,” encourages us to slow down and engage in visual contemplation, using art as a...
“The men we want to become priests aren’t coming to us. We have to go out and find them.” I first heard these words three years ago, and the Holy Spirit has never let me...
For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mt. 16:25) “Your life is not about you,” our pastor said with a chuckle as...
For several years, many of us Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati have been including in Mass a prayer for vocations, written by Archbishop Emeritus Dennis M. Schnurr shortly after his move to Cincinnati. I...
Two thousand years ago, in a place near Bethany beyond the Jordan river, Jesus asked this question of Andrew: “What are you looking for?” (Jn. 1:38). These are the first words that Jesus speaks in...
This book review starts with a two-part quiz: In the New Testament (1) what is the earliest appearance of the words in the Consecration of the Eucharist, and (2) who said them? If your answer...
For Dr. Daniel Fagel, true healing begins where modern medicine intersects timeless Catholic values. Next May, after more than three decades as a leading gastroenterologist at Tri- State Gastroenterology, Dr. Fagel is retiring, but he...
“This is at the very heart of the diaconate to which you have been called: to be a servant of the mysteries of Christ and, at one and the same time, to be a servant...
As the mother church for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains serves as a focal point for worship, community life, and joyful celebrations—among them are ordinations to the permanent...
Woodworking has run through the Otmar family line for more than five generations. For Josef Otmar V, however, the craft became more than a trade—it is a vocation, one that serves the Church by creating...
Origins and Mission Serra Club International is a lay apostolate of the Catholic Church that aims to promote vocations and foster a culture of vocation awareness. Named after Saint Junípero Serra, the Spanish missionary who...
Falling in love, getting engaged, and going through marriage preparation should be a beautiful, enriching experience. But ask Catholic couples married 25 years or longer about their marriage preparation, and many will respond that they...
Next May Eugene (Gene) and Dorothy Richard will celebrate seventy years of marriage. Their love was confirmed over those years by many blessings from God and their family. And for those around them, Gene and...
At the moment of , the most marvelous and terrifying event occurs, we are drafted into military service. Just as a civilian’s status changes to “Active Military” as soon as he or she begins Basic...
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