News - November 2009 RSS Feed

This lavishly illustrated coffee table book contains dozens of famous color paintings, sculptures and artwork of the Blessed Mother, accompanied by the Holy Father’s profound writings and homilies on the person of Mary — and her unique role in salvation history.

Hahn’s new effort is a comprehensive guide to the biblical doctrines and historical traditions that underlie Catholic beliefs and practices.

Guarendi and his wife, Randi, were relatively young when they learned they had a “near zero” chance of conceiving. The couple had wanted a large family, so their decision to adopt “took all of about six seconds,” writes Guarendi, who is today the father of 10 adopted children.

Even though he was born in Brooklyn, Abbot Eugene Hayes fell in love with Southern California — and the Norbertine Order — when he was a young man studying theology in New York. He joined St. Michael’s Abbey near San Juan Capistrano in the early 1970s. Father Hayes was eventually named head of the Norbertine order before being elected abbot of St. Michael’s. Education is the primary apostolate of the abbey, which has nearly 50 priests and 20 men in priestly formation.

More than 20 million Americans suffer from cataracts, a clouding of the lens in the eye. Common symptoms include blurred vision, faded colors, poor night vision and problems with bright lights and sunshine. You may experience eyestrain or find yourself blinking more often to clear your vision.

You’re invited! The consummate Legatus experience of any year is our Annual Summit. In just three months, the next Summit will be held in Dana Point, Calif.

God has blessed each one of us in ways beyond our comprehension or expectation. The proper response to blessings received is heartfelt gratitude. We know that we can never equalize the many blessings of God because his blessings are constant, continual and overabundant.

Quoting one of the Ten Commandments, President Barack Obama has accused American citizens who are shedding light on the details of health care reform of “bearing false witness.” It’s remarkable that the president is accusing citizens of sinning, but his reproach became even more brazen when the independent Factcheck.org at the University of Pennsylvania confirmed that it’s the president himself who is doing the fabricating.

Our Catholic faith is filled with paradoxes. At a glance, an uninformed person may see successful Catholic leaders as hypocrites. They might ask, “How can you drive your fancy car and live in that big house? The Bible says it is easier for a rich man to pass though the eye of a needle than to enter paradise.” Or “How can you boss everyone around at work every day? The meek shall inherit the earth. Pride is at the center of all evil.”

The Catholic Church teaches that the devil is real, not a phantasm or a holdover from scary bedtime stories. In 1975, the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship issued a document called Christian Faith and Demonology. It quotes Pope Paul VI: “It is a departure from the picture provided by biblical and Church teaching to refuse to acknowledge the devil’s existence.”

Generosity is a habit. To use a sports analogy, it's like a muscle that, once stretched and flexed, will take us farther than if we’d just kicked back and relaxed. And, like all good behavior, generosity takes practice. The more we give, the more quickly it will become second nature.

Elizabeth of Hungary was born into royalty and holiness. Her father, Andrew II, was king of Hungary. Her aunt Hedwig and two nieces, Cunegundes and Margaret, are canonized saints. Many other family members, born into an elite ruling class, were renowned for their charity and holiness.