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Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: The Madonna Apperaing to Saint Philip Neri | Sebastiano ConcaSaint Philip Neri Saint of the Day for May 26 (July 21, 1515 – May 26, 1595)  Saint Philip Neri’s Story Philip Neri was a sign of contradiction, combining popularity with piety against the background of a corrupt Rome and a disinterested clergy: the whole post-Renaissance malaise.At an early age, Philip abandoned the chance to become a businessman, moved to Rome from Florence, and devoted his life and individuality to God. After three years of philosophy and theology studies, he gave up any thought of...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: San Beda | Bartolomé Román Saint Bede the Venerable Saint of the Day for May 25 (c. 672 – May 25, 735)  Saint Bede the Venerable’s Story Bede is one of the few saints honored as such even during his lifetime. His writings were filled with such faith and learning that even while he was still alive, a Church council ordered them to be read publicly in the churches.At an early age, Bede was entrusted to the care of the abbot of the Monastery of St. Paul, Jarrow. The happy combination of genius and the...

The Vatican is under fire from pro-life organizations for not one but two appointments to its pro-life Academy who are noted abortion activists. Lifenews.com has already reported on Pope Francis’s decision to name Nigel Biggar, a philosopher who supports abortion, to the Pontifical Academy for Life. Biggar was one of 45 ordinary members appointed to the pro-life academy this month, according to a Vatican announcement. Also concerning is Kathleen Foley, MD, who headed the Open Society Institute’s Project on Death in America. The Pontifical Academy for Life promotes protections for human life at all stages and supports research on moral...

Fortitude, Patience, and Meekness: Three Virtues We Often Separate, but That Belong Together Msgr. Charles Pope • June 15, 2017 • The Virtues, by Raphael Sanzio, Vatican MuseumsThere is an important interplay and balance between the virtues that many modern minds set in opposition to one another. False dichotomies often prevail when the subtlety of virtues are lost or their meanings are grasped in simplistic or inaccurate ways.Consider three virtues that are related and which enable and moderate one other: fortitude, patience, and meekness. To most people, these virtues seem more opposed than related. Today, fortitude conjures up an...

June 16, 2017 Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15Brothers and sisters:We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not abandoned;struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.For we who live are constantly being given up to deathfor the sake of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may be manifested...

After Pope Francis issued a dramatic demand for submission from priests in the Nigerian diocese of Ahiara, insisting they all write to pledge loyalty and to indicate a willingness to accept a bishop appointed in 2012 who's never been able to take control, an online campaign is attempting to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the pope's edict.ROME- After Pope Francis demanded that priests from Nigeria’s Ahiara diocese write him promising loyalty, including accepting a new bishop appointed five years ago from outside the area, an online campaign is now attempting to cast doubt on the authenticity of the pope’s...

Reminders on the Road to Victory - A Witness to the Truth of a Teaching from St. Catherine Msgr. Charles Pope • June 14, 2017 • One of the great battles in the spiritual life is mastering our emotions, by God’s grace. Our emotions are not evil, but they are unruly and easily manipulated by the world and the devil. Our own flesh (fallen nature) also contributes to the difficulty of self-mastery.Yet as I have often testified, if we are faithful to the Lord and to prayer, growth in the spiritual life happens. Many of my once-unruly emotions have...

U.S. immigration authorities have arrested and moved to deport 199 Iraqi immigrants, mostly from the Detroit area, in the last three weeks after Iraq agreed to accept deportees as part of a deal removing it from President Donald Trump’s travel ban, officials said on Wednesday. In the Detroit area, 114 Iraqi nationals were arrested over the weekend, and 85 throughout the rest of the country over the past several weeks, Gillian Christensen, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, said in a statement. The actions came as part of the Trump administration’s push to increase immigration enforcement and make countries,...

June 15, 2017 Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Cor 3:15—4:1, 3-6Brothers and sisters:To this day, whenever Moses is read,a veil lies over the hearts of the children of Israel,but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,as from the Lord who is the Spirit. Therefore, since we have this ministry through the...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Ecstasy of Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi | Alessandro Rosi Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi Saint of the Day for May 24 (April 2, 1566 – May 25, 1607)  Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi’s Story Mystical ecstasy is the elevation of the spirit to God in such a way that the person is aware of this union with God while both internal and external senses are detached from the sensible world. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was so generously given this special gift of God that she is called the “ecstatic saint.”Catherine de’ Pazzi was...

Some Basics on the Beatitudes Msgr. Charles Pope • June 13, 2017 • J.J. Tissot, Sermon of the BeatitudesWe began reading the Sermon on the Mount during daily Mass this week. One of the flawed ways of reading it is to see the Lord’s teaching merely as a list of moral demands that we must fulfill out of our own flesh or human ability. To do so is to miss the point.The better way to understand the Sermon on the Mount is to see that our Lord is painting a picture of the transformed human person. In effect, He...

The “Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans” movement (hereafter, LGBT) has largely succeeded in becoming fully accepted into the secular society worldwide. Now it’s clear that this movement—composed of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the trans-gendered—is setting its sights on the Roman Catholic Church. Members of the LGBT movement want to be accepted as fully Catholic and wholly Christian, without any admittance that the two ways of life—LGBT principles and an authentically Catholic life—may be mutually exclusive. They seek the Church’s approval of their lifestyle, even though most members of the LGBT movement reject the Church’s teaching on celibacy for single life outside of a “one...

June 14, 2017 Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Cor 3:4-11Brothers and sisters:Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take creditfor anything as coming from us;rather, our qualification comes from God,who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,not of letter but of spirit;for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so gloriousthat the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Mosesbecause of its glory that...

Nigel Biggar has said: 'It’s not clear that a human foetus is the same kind of thing as an adult'Pope Francis has appointed 45 new ordinary members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, according to a statement on the Vatican website. They include Nigel Biggar, who has said that he thinks the limit for legal abortion should be 18 weeks. In a dialogue with fellow philosopher Peter Singer in 2011, reported by Standpoint magazine, Biggar said: “I would be inclined to draw the line for abortion at 18 weeks after conception, which is roughly about the earliest time when there...

The story of secret Russian agents effectively swaying the U.S. election, or colluding with Donald Trump, has petered out into nothingness. For months we heard dark suspicions recklessly spread by news organizations. We learned of selective leaks from inside the Deep State — Obama holdovers or NeverTrumpers determined to wreck his presidency.Now there’s almost nothing left. Democrats hope to impeach the president for procedural improprieties. For clumsily firing a waffling and partisan FBI director. Still have Putin on the brain? You’ll have to settle for fevered claims by the likes of Louise Mensch that the Russian president, not ISIS,...

Living Life at the Angle of 45 Degrees Msgr. Charles Pope • June 12, 2017 • At an angle of 45°, we look both up and out, and this is a good paradigm for life. At 45° degrees, we can view both up: seeing and loving God, and out: seeing and loving our neighbor.At 90° (i.e., straight up or straight out) our field of vision misses either God or the people whom He loves. For example, if I look straight up (90°) I am looking toward God but not toward the people He loves; if I look straight forward...

June 13, 2017 Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 2 Cor 1:18-22Brothers and sisters:As God is faithful, our word to you is not "yes" and "no."For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us,Silvanus and Timothy and me,was not "yes" and "no," but "yes" has been in him.For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him;therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.But the one who gives us security with you in Christand who anointed us is...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Ecstasy of Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi | Alessandro Rosi Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi Saint of the Day for May 24 (April 2, 1566 – May 25, 1607)  Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi’s Story Mystical ecstasy is the elevation of the spirit to God in such a way that the person is aware of this union with God while both internal and external senses are detached from the sensible world. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was so generously given this special gift of God that she is called the “ecstatic saint.”Catherine de’ Pazzi was...

A Brief Reflection on the Ministry of the Angels Throughout Creation Msgr. Charles Pope • June 11, 2017 • The conclusion of the Book of Tobit on Saturday featured the Archangel Raphael revealing himself to Tobit and others and explaining his ministry to them. This post I write is not a full angelology, it is just a grateful reflection for God, his angels and his creation. Book-length treatments are necessary for a good angelology. If you are looking for a readable, and brief account of angelology I might recommend The Angels and Their Mission According to the Fathers of...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: The great controversy between Christ and Satan during the Christian dispensation | from a book by White, Ellen Gould Harmon Saint Gregory VII Saint of the Day for May 23 (c. 1025 – May 25, 1085)  Saint Gregory VII’s Story The 10th century and the first half of the 11th were dark days for the Church, partly because the papacy was the pawn of various Roman families. In 1049, things began to change when Pope Leo IX, a reformer, was elected. He brought a young monk named Hildebrand to Rome as his counselor and...