Friday, April 3, 2026

Weekly Insight

Pope Saint John Paul II’s First Good Friday Homily

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS AT THE COLOSSEUM Good Friday, 13 April 1979   When we make the Way of the Cross from one station to the...

A Meditation for Good Friday: How To Undo the Effects of Sin?

Cardinal Newman, now Saint John Henry Newman, was a towering figure of nineteenth-century Catholicism who is almost universally admired. I say “almost” because not everyone likes him. I knew a priest once, Arthur Caulkins,...

Good Friday and Suffering

Evil and pain is always a mystery, that whole mysterium iniquitatis, of which Saint Paul writes (2 Thess 2:7). In 1984, Pope Saint John Paul II penned an Apostolic Letter on the nature and...

Allegri’s Miserere and Mozart’s Memory

On this Good Friday, a fitting help to our devotion is Allegri's Miserere, his unsurpassed musical setting of Psalm 51, recited in Lauds (Morning Prayer) every Friday. Composed around 1638, under the patronage of...

A Minimal Friar and the Death of a Great Pope

This April the second- overshadowed by Holy Thursday this year - marks the memorial of Saint Francis of Paola (1417-1507), founder of the 'Minim' friars, so called for their humility and poverty, who interpreted...

Pope Benedict’s Last Holy Thursday Homily

MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI Basilica of St John Lateran Holy Thursday, 5 April 2012 Photo Gallery (Video) Dear Brothers and Sisters! Holy Thursday is not only the day of the institution of the Most...

Saint Hugh of Châteauneuf

Today's Saint Hugh of Châteauneuf (1053 - 1152) is not to be confused with Saint Hugh of Lincoln (1140 - 1200), although their life spans overlapped briefly, both were bishops and both were connected...

Spy Wednesday, and Bishop Sheen’s Take on Judas

Today is traditionally called Spy Wednesday, the day on which Judas Iscariot made the fateful decision, deep in his heart and at Satan's prompting, to hand over Our Lord for thirty pieces of silver...

Moon Shot?

I was just reminded that tomorrow, (or today), April 1st, NASA plans to send its first mission back to the Moon for nearly fifty years. Over a half century since 1972, the last time,...

Parsing Pope Leo’s Plea for Peace

We will post the introduction and link to Pope Leo's sermon from Palm Sunday, petitioning in pliant terms for peace. May all those involved in the conflict in Iran, across the Middle East, and...

Woven versus Seamless Garments

The reflection on the worthy project by Magie Dominic was intriguing, and I thought I would offer a brief follow-up commentary. The garment woven out of many pieces is a poignant symbol, even a...

Pope Saint John Paul II’s Last Passion Sunday

(This is the last of Pope Saint John Paul II's Passion-Palm Sunday homilies, given in 2004, before his own passion and death the following year, when he was unable - for the first time...

The Two Passions of J.S. Bach

As we enter in Holy Week, it is fitting to suggest some solemn music to fit the season, here the two settings of the 'Passion' put to music by Johann Sebastian Bach. According to...

A Bad Moon Risin’

We're now into the second month of the Iran vs. America/Israel War - or whatever name one wants to give it, whether 'war' or 'conflict', or who's involved, or who might become involved, as...

Fabric of Resurrection and Redemption: The Gown of Stillness

Editor's note: this reflection was originally posted by the Catholic Artist Connection. The mission of the Catholic Artist Connection is to connect and support Catholic artists of all disciplines both professionally and spiritually, to...