Thanks be to God, we can always choose joy even when we’re not feeling joyful...
John Cuddeback
Joy might seem an arbitrary thing in its coming and going. That joy is hard to figure out—both what it is and where it comes from—is no surprise, given the depths of the human heart. A question that often roils in my mind is whether I can simply choose to be joyful. I think the answer is affirmative and worth a brief consideration, while setting aside the wonderful and essential aspects of joy...

May a Catholic Get Married on the Streets of New York City?
E. Christian Brugger
According to canon law, only those who are ordained — bishops, priests and deacons — can officiate validly at weddings except in circumstances carefully circumscribed by canon law itself. Those circumstances provide for the possibility of laypeople — i.e., non-ordained people — validly officiating. The fact that an officiant is a consecrated person...

Woke Ideology Is Not Dead and Buried...
Francis X. Maier
I spent the evening after November 5 on YouTube. The site was full of time-compressed videos that tracked news media icons and Hollywood celebrities as election night wore on. The clips were mesmerizing. It was like watching a Carnival Cruise ship gradually sink. Passengers went from champagne to life jackets in just six hours. Jimmy Kimmel, Rachel Maddow, the always unpleasant Joy Reid, and so many others found themselves trapped in a Greek tragedy...

Avoiding the Religion of Me...
Marlon De La Torre
At any time, we have a tendency I argue to overlook something unique about our human condition. I’m referring to our ability to recognize the presence of someone (Incarnational character) and greet them with the simplest yet most profound of human gestures, a joyful smile-filled “hello.” This is what I would describe as an Incarnational gesture...

2 Italian Priests Sanctioned for Decrying Pope Francis as an ‘Anti-Pope’...

This Is Your Brain in a Digital Age...

Can AI robots offer advice that heals souls?
Terry Mattingly
I have been keeping an Artificial Intelligence folder for several weeks now, with a focus — naturally — on topics that should interest religious leaders.In terms of nightmare scenarios affecting congregational life, I tended to think about the growing market for AI sermon programs, which I see as an updated version of the old problem of plagiarism in pulpits

Letter of the Holy Father for the Remembrance in the Particular Churches of Their Own Saints, Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God...
Pope Francis
With the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, I wished to repropose to the faithful disciples of Christ of the contemporary world the universal calling to holiness. It is at the centre of the teaching of Vatican Council II, which recalled that “all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity”...

Why Does Jesus Hold up King David as a Role Model?
Clement Harrold
Getting to grips with the Old Testament figure of King David can be a struggle for Christians. On the one hand, his pedigree is impossible to deny: he is the most mentioned figure in the Hebrew Bible; Jesus depicts him as a role model of sorts (see Lk 6:1-5); and Scripture even describes him as “a man after [God’s] own heart.” But all of this presents a conundrum...

Pope Francis Establishes Annual Nov. 9 Celebration of Local Saints in Dioceses Worldwide Ahead of 2025 Jubilee...

What Is It Like to Be Enchanted?

The Power of Images in an Iconoclast Culture...

This Sunday, Jesus is revealing the end game of Christianity...

Cardinal Becciu Pushes Back Against Vatican Media Editorial...

Synodality Requires Conversion of Heart More Than New Structures, US Bishops Say...

How to Prepare Kids With Autism for First Confession...

Get ready for Thanksgiving in 2 weeks with the Theology of Home Thanksgiving Guide...