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Animal Organs, Human Dignity, and the Limits of Technique In March 2024, Richard “Rick” Slayman, a 62-year-old man suffering from end-stage kidney disease, became the first living patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney at Massachusetts General Hospital. He died nearly two months later,...

Q&A WITH MYSTIC ALICJA LENCZEWSKA, PART 4 Following the summer break—at least in the Northern Hemisphere, where July and August naturally bring a pause—we return to Alicja Lenczewska. Since the previous installment in the series, A Visitor from Heaven, Apparitions in Northern Italy, was devoted to t...

Gossip. It is everywhere in our culture. From 24/7 news to social media to our own conversations, we are inundated with temptations to gossip. It is in our fallen human nature, especially of women, to talk about other people. There are entire friend groups formed around gossip. We often engage in go...

This Sunday, as Jesus travels away from Jerusalem toward the region of the Gentiles, He meets a Canaanite woman who desperately needs His help.  Why did He give her the cold shoulder? Gospel (Read Mt. 15:21-28) To best understand this Gospel episode, we need to know that it follows a description of...

Every year the Church obliges Catholics to attend Mass on August 15th, in the middle of summer, to honor the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The belief pertaining to Mary’s Assumption, while celebrated for centuries (many saints have homilies on the Assumption), was elevated to the status of...

When we look upon a crucifix, we see a sterilized version of Our Lord’s physical condition at the moment of His death. Generally, what is depicted are His five wounds and a crown of thorns. This depiction is devoid of His Precious Blood strewn over His Body, along with His torn and mutilated Flesh....

Pope Leo XIV has directed the Office of Papal Charities to send 100,000 euros ($115,345) to the Catholic Church in Colombia to aid those affected by the Aug. 10 earthquake, which struck several cities in the western part of the country.As reported by Vatican News, the donation was confirmed on the w...

Image: Stained glass window in Église Saint-Honoré-d’Eylau, Paris | photo by Mbzt’s Saint of the Day for August 12  (January 28, 1572 – December 13, 1641) Saint Jane Frances de Chantal’s Story Jane Frances was wife, mother, nun, and founder of a religious community. Her mother died when she was 18 m...

Image: CNS-McGivney beatification Saint of the Day for August 13 (August 12, 1852 – August 14, 1890) Blessed Michael McGivney’s Story The eldest son of an immigrant Irish family in Connecticut, young Michael left school at 13 to work in a brass factory making spoons. At 16 Michael J. McGivney began...

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Mt. 18:20) Why does Jesus tell His disciples that He needs a minimum of “two or three” people to “agree” on a petition in order for Him to grant it? Does this mean that if I pray alone for a particular need, m...

Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  Last week I preached about Christ’s hands. The Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer I), describes Christ’s hands as holy and venerable. We could say His feet were holy and venera...