“Profoundness of the heart grows with silence, silence that is not mutism as I said, but which leaves space for wisdom, reflection and the Holy Spirit.”

We are now in the season of schools plays and Christmas concerts. In the past, it’s been something of an endurance test, hasn’t it? But maybe it’s different this year.

Over the years, the bookworms at America Media have compiled list upon list of books that would make good Christmas gifts. Here is a sample.

Catholic Charities USA is accepting donations at https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org. The site has a button where users can donate money for tornado relief.

Social trust cannot be achieved without working through the long-standing resentments of those populist masses who perceive themselves as the ‘deplorables’ of the elite.

The Vatican Dec. 13 published the list of Pope Francis’ liturgies for the Christmas season.

A Reflection for the Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

Father Donald Cozzens was rightly recognized as a prophetic voice and an advocate for church reform throughout his life and priestly ministry.

A Reflection for the Monday of the Third Week of Advent

We do not generally think about Christmas carols as about a battle. And yet what does it mean for the Christ child to be our savior, if not a blessed release from some kind of struggle?

Catholic men and women formally installed in the new ministry of catechists are not simply religious education teachers but are engaged in “the proclamation and transmission of the faith.”

The apology drew immediate praise Monday from New Ways Ministry as a “historic” move to repair the painful rift between the Catholic hierarchy and the gay community.

A Reflection for the Sunday of the Third Week of Advent

A Reflection for the Saturday of the Second Week of Advent

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has never dimmed in Latin America and the United States. Her feast day on Dec. 12 provides special comfort two years into the Covid pandemic.

“O Come, All Ye Faithful” is a song almost everyone knows. But where did it come from, and why is it so popular?

Kavanagh’s poem looks to Advent for a sort of poetic and spiritual rebirth, a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the “newness that was in every stale thing.”

“Belfast” presents itself as a family photo album: Violence may intrude, but it doesn’t crowd out the Christmas pictures.

It was Pope Francis who suggested that this was the moment for the continent to revive the vision of Aparecida—only this time in a synodal way, with the people of God as the protagonist.

The thin body of evidence on the true health risks of bringing the chalice back to Mass should lead to humility rather than overconfidence. We must be open to changing behaviors based on new knowledge.