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Daily Readings from the USCCB“When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.” John 16:21This truth can certainly be extended to any form of anguish we experience for a good reason. Note that the pain experienced in childbirth is pain for a good and holy reason. Therefore, the pain is forgotten, in a sense, when the mother sees and holds her newborn child. That suffering is...

10 May 2024Friday before Ascension Sunday Church of the Incarnation, Montilla, Córdoba, Spain final resting place of St. John of Ávila Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 18:9-18 ©'I have many people on my side in this city'At Corinth one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.’ So Paul stayed there preaching the word of God among them...

A Catholic school teacher in Washington state says she will not be returning to the school where she has taught for years for the next academic school year because she is marrying a woman. Parents of students at St. Luke School in Shoreline are upset by the school's decision to let go of a talented kindergarten educator who has been with the school for four years. Karen Pala's contract was not renewed by the school's head pastor, Father Brad Hagelin, due to her plans to marry a woman over the summer. In the text of a letter sent to parents,...

[Catholic Caucus] Pro-LGBT Minneapolis parish hosts homosexual man’s ‘cabaret’ about his dead ‘husband’Notoriously heterodox St. Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis hosted a musical written by a local homosexual about his relationship with his now-deceased ‘husband.’Fr. James Cassidy of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis gives homily after pro-homosexual talkA notoriously pro-LGBT parish in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis hosted an explicit musical written by a homosexual man about his relationship with his deceased “husband” this past weekend. On Sunday, May 5, Joseph St. James spoke to parishioners ahead of a “gym mass” held at...

[Catholic Caucus] Australian bishops approve new Aboriginal liturgyAmid the Catholic Church’s push under Pope Francis to increasingly engage with and welcome Indigenous peoples and cultures, Australia’s bishops have approved a new liturgy incorporating elements of Aboriginal language and culture.Called the “Mass of the Land of the Holy Spirit,” or Missa Terra Spiritus Sancti in Latin, the liturgy was formally approved for use in the Diocese of Broome in Western Australia on Tuesday during a plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney.According to a May 7 statement from the Australian bishops, the motion to approve the Mass was...

CV NEWS FEED // Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, is slated to host the controversial left-wing nun Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, at its commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 11. Campbell is the former longtime executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice (“Network”), a leftist activist group. She is also known for leading the Nuns on the Bus – an initiative aimed at boosting Democratic candidates. Over her many years in public life, the heavily scrutinized nun has taken positions supporting abortion, the LGBTQ movement, women’s ordination to the priesthood, the Democratic Party, and the presidency of Joe...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Paprocki: Biden ‘mocks our Catholic faith’ by his pro-abortion sign of the crossBishop Thomas Paprocki said President Joe Biden 'mocks our Catholic faith' by making the sign of the cross when hearing about restrictions on abortion in Florida. Springfield’s Bishop Thomas Paprocki has stated President Joe Biden “mocks our Catholic faith,” following Biden’s latest pro-abortion move making the sign of the cross when hearing about restrictions on abortion in Florida. In a May 8 video, Paprocki joined his voice to that of Cardinal Wilton Gregory and Spain’s Bishop José Ignacio Munilla in condemning Joe Biden’s selective approach...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15–16We celebrate today one more step in the completion of the mission of the Son of God. Humanity had sinned at the beginning of time and fallen from Original Innocence. God immediately began to prepare the world for the gift of eternal redemption by establishing a covenant with Noah, Abraham and Moses. He raised up various prophets and kings to further prepare His...

Daily Readings from the USCCBSo some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.” John 16:17–18How about you? Do you know what Jesus means? Or do you find that you are confused by what He said just like these disciples were? Though pride may tempt...

9 May 2024 Thursday before Ascension SundayThe Remains of Fr. Preca, Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Blata l-Bajda, Malta Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).In some dioceses the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated today. If this applies to you, please reconfigure Universalis to use the appropriate local calendar.First readingActs 18:1-8 ©Paul lodged with them and worked, and held debates in the synagoguesPaul left Athens and went to Corinth, where he met a Jew called Aquila whose family came from Pontus. He and his wife Priscilla had recently left Italy because an edict of Claudius...

Two California teens who were forced to withdraw from an elite Catholic high school over accusations of blackface have been awarded $1 million and tuition reimbursement. A Santa Clara County jury sided with the teens, identified by the initials A.H. and H.H., on two claims concerning breach of oral contract and lack of due process. The boys sued Saint Francis High School in August 2020 after photos circulated of them sporting acne treatment masks. The controversy started when the boys were accused of performing blackface and were ultimately pressured into withdrawing from the prestigious Mountain View school. 'It was quite...

[Catholic Caucus] German bishop attacks Church teaching for upholding ‘only man and woman,’ demands changes to CatechismPro-LGBT Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen insisted that ‘something has to change’ in the Church regarding sexuality and that the ‘Catechism must say different things than it does now,’ in the latest heterodox remarks from the German hierarchy.A German bishop criticized Catholic teaching for “assuming there is only man and only woman” and demanded that the Church change its infallible doctrine on sexuality in the latest heterodox comments from the German hierarchy.Bishop Ludger Schepers, an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Essen, who...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went.

[Catholic Caucus] Synodal Cancellations - by Archbishop Héctor AgüerThe progressive official party installed in Rome for just over a decade goes on in its policy of “cancellation” of those who, with freedom of spirit, seek to serve Jesus Christ in orthodoxy and Tradition. By “cancellation” one means all forms of ignoring, conspiracy of silence, marginalization, prohibition of publishing in media and social media, and even the cessation of functions of those who do not adhere “synodally” to the current Vatican ideologies and discretions. Good bishops such as Daniel Fernández Torres, from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, were cancelled, as is known; and...

Less than 1% of American Catholics agree with all three of the Catholic Church's teachings on the sanctity of life issues, showing the widespread existence of what some call "cafeteria Catholics" in the United States, according to an analysis. Researcher Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University who publishes articles on a Substack called "Graphs About Religion," shared data Thursday about the beliefs of Catholics in the U.S., focusing on their views on abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia. Burge attributed the motivation to conduct the research to comments made by Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” John 16:12–13This passage still rings true for all of us today. God wants to reveal to us, within the depths of our consciences, the deepest, most profound and transforming truths that flow from the mind of the Father in Heaven. But we cannot bear it all now. Not fully. And eternity will be spent continually deepening our understanding of all that God reveals....

Wednesday 8 May 2024 Wednesday of the 6th week of Eastertide Hermitage of St. Arsenius, Decatur Texas (Eastern Orthodox) Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 17:15,22-18:1 ©I proclaim the God you already worship without knowing itPaul’s escort took him as far as Athens, and went back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to rejoin Paul as soon as they could. So Paul stood before the whole Council of the Areopagus and made this speech: ‘Men of Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled round...

Why Tom Brady and Garth Brooks will be at the Vatican this weekendGarth Brooks may have friends in low places, but this Saturday he will perform at a high-level Vatican event with Nobel Peace Prize winners, business leaders, and professional athletes, including former NFL quarterback Tom Brady.Brady, Brooks, and other celebrity guests will meet Pope Francis in an audience at the Apostolic Palace on the morning of May 11 as participants in the Vatican’s World Meeting on Human Fraternity.It will be the second time that the longtime quarterback for the New England Patriots has met a pope. Brady met John...

[Catholic Caucus] Sacrilege in Bogata. Woman gives Communion to her dog.Woman feeds her pet with Eucharist during MassIn Bogotá, Colombia, an event during a Mass has shocked the local religious community, after a woman shared a fragment of the Eucharist with her pet, according to Father Laureano Barón, parish priest of Santo Domingo Savio.In Bogotá, Colombia, Father Laureano Barón, in charge of the Santo Domingo Savio parish, expressed his dismay over an incident that he described as sacrilege during a recent Mass. He reported that a woman, after receiving the Eucharist, returned to her place and shared a fragment with...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” John 16:5–7Jesus continues to speak prophetically to His disciples about the necessity for Him to go to the Father so that He...