In what he said was his first visit to the catacombs, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the feast of All Souls with special words of remembrance for Catholics who still today must worship in secret.
In this is the most important work of any pastor or priest: to gather in God’s people, to share with them the Lord’s redeeming love, to offer them a place at the Lord’s Eucharistic Table, and to implant in the heart of each one the joy of a Zacchaeus who rejoiced to encounter the Lord, and thus to experience his mercy, to reform his life, and to welcome the Lord into his house.
Every house needs a foundation and we find that foundation in today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom where we read how God created the world out the fullness of his love and how he continues to watch over and protect all that he has made, most especially we human beings, who are the pinnacle of his creation.
Even with all the worry about the weather, we got in a beautiful night of trick-or-treating, winding our way through our Halloween-happy neighborhood.
Soledad O’Brien, an award-winning journalist who has ties to Baltimore, will be the keynote speaker at a Nov. 10 scholarship dinner benefiting African-American students who wish to go to Loyola Blakefield in Towson.
Father Kenneth Doyle fields questions about proselytism and how frequently a priest is required to celebrate Mass.
This month’s Names & Numbers features a pet blessing, a Nun Run and more.
Deacon Phillip Harcum Jr., whose service to St. Bernardine Church in West Baltimore was so deep that its parish hall came to bear his name, died Oct. 26 at age 93.
The early November feasts of All Saints and All Souls are reminders that God’s church exists both on earth and in heaven and that all the faithful, living and dead, can and should pray for each other, a top Vatican official wrote.
The saints were flesh-and-blood people whose lives included real struggles and joys, and whose holiness reminds all the baptized that they, too, are called to be saints, Pope Francis said.
Death is not a topic that should be avoided but a reminder that cures men and women from any illusion of being all-powerful, Pope Francis said.
Bishop Mark E. Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston told Catholics in the statewide diocese he was working to have his predecessor “make amends for harm he caused during his tenure” as mandated by Pope Francis.
