Read & Reflect

The weeds, the wheat, and the patient king

Dr. Scott Powell, JD Flynn, and Kate Olivera look ahead to the readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time— including a reading from Wisdom and Jesus’ telling of several subversive parables about the kingdom of God.ShareThis episode of Sunday School is brought to you by the Pillar’s exclusive...

Indian lay group deplores ‘mob’ threats against Salesian Sisters

India’s largest lay Catholic organization condemned Monday an incident in the state of West Bengal in which a mob reportedly threatened violence against religious sisters.Barasat Junction railway station in West Bengal, India. Credit: Projjalm/wikimedia CC0 1.0.The All India Catholic Union said that...

[Daily Rosary Meditations] Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Meditate on the Cross Daily and Take Up Your Own

Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. (Mt. 10:38) There are a number of ways that we can approach prayer to welcome the grace of union with Christ more deeply into our hearts. One way is to make a good examination of conscience, asking the Holy Spirit to shed li...

Fulton Sheen’s Antidotes for Anxiety

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). Jesus’ promise resounds in my head and heart, over and over again, but not without recalling the warning that precedes it. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy,” Our Lord prefaces. In placing these two statements tog...

The Consecration of the Philippines to Our Lady of Guadalupe

After journeying nearly 14,000 kilometers from Mexico, the Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe—gifted to the Philippines by the Bishops of Mexico—has finally arrived, not merely for a brief visit, but to embark on a historic, six-month pilgrimage that will bring her maternal presence to more than...

Catholics and Physician-Assisted Suicide

For the past decade, our culture has seen a rise in relativism which chooses personal opinions and desires over objective reality. One of the most controversial issues at this time is euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. There is an alarming increase in medical suicide, especially in Canada, w...

Evil Abounds, Utilize the Grace of Your Baptism

“Whoever does not take up His cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Mt. 10:38) We were shocked by the tragedy that struck a local high school in Tacloban City, Philippines, a few weeks ago, when two teenagers shot and killed three of their high school mates and wounded many others. There are in...

How to Achieve Whole-Person Holiness, Part 1

In his 2001 apostolic letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millenium), St. Pope John Paul II wrote about perfect holiness, stating: This ideal of perfection must not be misunderstood as if it involved some kind of extraordinary existence, possible only for a few “uncommon hero...

[Daily Rosary Meditations] Blessed Are the Meek

A Few Things Fulton Sheen Taught Me About Growing Older

In a few months, I will celebrate my 65th birthday. On that day, I will officially become a “senior citizen” and will be entitled to a few more discounts at the local shopping mall. I will also receive my first Old Age Security check. And it has already been earmarked by my ten-year-old grandson, fo...