It has been nearly 20 years since the International Religious Freedom Act became law. Organizers of a forum at Georgetown University thought it a good time to see how the religious freedom landscape worldwide has changed since 1998.
Mother Teresa’s words prompted me to realize that my vocation did not rest on my own good will or my desire to serve but rather on a love – deeper, wider, and more beautiful than I ever imagined. She taught me that my vocation was not my own project. Rather, the Lord was calling me, “to be rooted and grounded in love” – in his love.
The most consequential of angelic visits was to a humble maiden in Nazareth. This time it was not Raphael who visited but rather the Archangel Gabriel. He delivered the message that Mary was to be the Mother of the Messiah, whose name would be Jesus, because he would save the people from their sins.
The control and movement of people for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labor, servitude or the removal of organs is considered one of the three most profitable criminal activities on the planet, alongside illicit drugs and weapons.
I can’t tell whether he’s one of the better players on the team. That doesn’t matter. I know he’s right where he needs to be right now. And so am I.
“The Second Vatican Council gave the world, ‘Dignitatis Humanae,’ a document that explains why religious freedom is important. First, it speaks agains government coercion. It makes an even more important point that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the inherent dignity of each person; and that each person, endowed with reason and […]
“The Second Vatican Council gave the world, ‘Dignitatis Humanae,’ a document that explains why religious freedom is important. First, it speaks agains government coercion. It makes an even more important point that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the inherent dignity of each person; and that each person, endowed with reason and […]
As a priest, Monsignor Bastress was in fact enlisted to act “in persona Christi” – in the person of Christ – throughout various aspects of his ministry.
Pastor of the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Baltimore since 1998, Monsignor Bastress has ministered throughout the archdiocese since his May 19, 1951, ordination at the Baltimore Basilica.
Is human life a gift to be revered, or something to be discarded when it seems unproductive or inconvenient to others? There is still time for all of us to help choose the answer.
God doesn’t care whether we’re immaculately dressed in fancy clothes or wearing an old bathrobe with sausage grease on the sleeve.
With a degree in neuroscience and a job as a research assistant at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Oliver Avaritt had his life pretty well in order when he decided to hand it over to God and join the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph.
