Author: My Catholic Country

The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack in Russia — which killed at least 130 people — a claim that U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed. Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of the “vile terrorist attack” in Moscow at the end of his Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican. At least 130 people died after gunmen opened fire at a musical performance in a Moscow concert hall on Friday night, according to The Associated Press. The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack in Russia — a claim that U.S. intelligence officials…

Pope Francis chose not to read the prepared homily, but reminded the faithful: ‘Today, we gather together to herald with the whole Church the beginning of the celebration of Our Lord’s Paschal mystery.’ On Palm Sunday, hundreds of priests, bishops, cardinals and laypeople solemnly carried large palm branches in procession through St. Peter Square to begin the first liturgy of Holy Week. “Dear brothers and sisters, since the beginning of Lent, until now, we have prepared our hearts by penance and charitable works,” Pope Francis said in a soft voice at the beginning of Palm Sunday Mass on March 24.…

Speaking in St. Peter’s Square adorned with palms and greenery, the pope invited the crowd to follow in Jesus’ footsteps as he entered Jerusalem “so that being made by his grace partakers of the Cross, we may have a share also in his Resurrection and in his life.” Pope Francis chose not to read the homily prepared for Palm Sunday Mass at the last minute without explanation. The 87-year-old pope, who arrived at the Mass in a wheelchair, has had aides read some of his speeches for him in recent weeks. Pope Francis arrives at Palm Sunday Mass in a…

Pope Francis opened the Holy Week ceremonies at the Vatican on Palm Sunday, March 24, and at the end of the ceremony he denounced “the vile terrorist attack” in Moscow last Friday evening that left 133 people dead and 140 injured.He assured the victims of that attack of his prayers and implored the Lord Jesus that he “may receive the dead into his peace, and comfort their families.” He prayed that “the Lord may convert the hearts of those who plan, organize and carry out such inhuman actions that offend God, who has commanded ‘Do not kill’” (Ex 20:13).Pope Francis…

ROME – Exactly 80 years ago today, on March 24, 1944, the Nazi occupiers of Rome shot 335 Italians to death, mostly civilians, in a series of caves on the southern outskirts of town called the Fosse Ardeatine.  The killings came in retaliation for an attack the day before by the Italian resistance that left 33 German soldiers dead, making it a ratio of ten Italian lives lost for every one German. (In a rare lapse in Nazi efficiency, bureaucratic confusion led to five more people than strictly necessary being executed.) Among the victims that day was one Catholic priest:…

St. Philip Neri once had a penitent confess to indulging in gossip. He advised the contrite soul to bring him a chicken, and to pluck its feathers as he walked the streets of Rome. When the man showed up with the chicken, his penance fulfilled, the great saint told him, “Now, brother, gather up all the feathers you’ve strewn about the city.” The man’s face fell. “It’s impossible,” he protested, “they’re everywhere…” “Yes,” Philip nodded, “as is gossip, once it is strewn about…” During the “Year of Mercy,” concluded in November 2016, I benefited from weekly meditations on what mercy…

ROME – Speaking aloud briefly and in a raspy voice, and skipping his prepared homily altogether, a clearly fatigued Pope Francis presided over the traditional Palm Sunday Mass today, a liturgy that opens the holiest period on the annual Christian calendar. Later, the pontiff managed to deliver his traditional Angelus message at the conclusion of the Mass in his own voice, but appeared at times to be struggling to catch his breath. The 87-year-old pontiff has been struggling for weeks from difficulties in breathing and speaking, related to what the Vatican has described variously as colds, the flu, and bronchitis,…

Editor’s Note: As we enter into Holy Week and prepare our hearts and minds for the Passion of Christ, here is Cardinal John Henry’s meditations on the Mental Sufferings of our Lord for reflection.  EVERY passage in the history of our Lord and Saviour is of unfathomable depth, and affords inexhaustible matter of contemplation. All that concerns Him is infinite, and what we first discern is but the surface of that which begins and ends in eternity. It would be presumptuous for any one short of saints and doctors to attempt to comment on His words and deeds, except in…

By ushering in a new era of prayer, the Lord Jesus provides a whole new arena by which the People of God can have communion with God. In his life of prayer and in everything the Lord did, the Holy Spirit was with Him and accompanied Him. Such a communion was the basis of all the Lord’s words and deeds. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes this very point: “The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ’s ministry.” Jesus Christ was a person of prayer. Everything He…

The grace of God is amazing. His pursuit of us brings awe and wonder as we discover more about the depth of His love for His people. When we fail to trust Him, when we follow Him from afar, when we grieve His heart through disobedience, or when our hearts grow cold, God, our Father, does not give up on us. He convicts us, chastens us, calls to us, comes to us, and seeks to bring us back to Himself. There is an ache that is carried in the heart of every child of God whose life has gone adrift.…