Catholic News & Perspective

June 2022

Jun 27

The Church has good news to tell

By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion Hard to believe. It has been 20 years, an entire generation, since the American Catholic bishops met in Dallas, trying to cope with the explosive, then recent, revelation, previously discounted, concealed and denied, of sexual abuse of youth by priests, bishops and other Church personnel....
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Jun 24

Opening the Word: A loving sacrifice inspired by the Gospel

By: Catherine Cavadini The lives of the saints and Scripture go together. Ever since Scripture was written, the lives of the people who lived according to the Scriptures have also been written down, and they have then been read as a way of understanding Scripture more deeply. The readings for this Sunday remind me of an episode from the life of...
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Jun 22

The success of the National Eucharistic Revival depends on each one of us

By: Our Sunday Visitor Editorial Board A year and a half after the USCCB voted to proceed with a National Eucharistic Revival, this weekend — the feast of Corpus Christi, observed — marks the official launch. Proposed to address the dispiriting results of a Pew Research Study that found that even a significant number of Catholics in...
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Jun 20

Southern Baptists, sexual abuse and a culture in crisis

By: Msgr. Owen F. Campion The country’s largest Protestant denomination has been embroiled in a battle royal for several years. At last, it has decided to make public the names of clergy and personnel who have been accused of sexually abusing youth. Ministers at the highest level of the denomination, equivalent to Catholic cardinals and...
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Jun 17

Opening the Word:Corpus Christi Sunday and a God who feeds us

By: Father Joshua J. Whitfield St. John Paul II said it plainly enough: “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, No. 1). This is true. The Eucharist is what makes the Church the Church. And such is what we celebrate on the solemnity of Corpus Christi — namely, that it’s not we who make the...
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Jun 15

An Unfailing Treasure: ‘Lumen Gentium’ and the universal call to holiness

By: David Werning The dogmatic constitution from the Second Vatican Council, entitled Lumen Gentium, promulgated on Nov. 21, 1964, sets forth the nature and mission of the Church. It begins by naming Jesus as the “light of the nations” (lumen gentium) and head of the Church, which is his body and includes all the faithful, both...
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Jun 13

How each of us can use our gifts for the common good

By: Sister Nancy Usselmann This is a season for graduations, new adventures and promising futures. Commencement speeches are meant to inspire the next generation with examples of hope amid failure, trust when all seems dark and faith that there is something beyond us guiding our lives. The best speeches convey that success in life is not...
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Jun 10

Opening the Word: Understanding the love of the Triune God

By: Catherine Cavadini “God’s very being is love” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 221; cf. 1 Jn 4:8). This is what the doctrine of the Trinity teaches us, and so our readings this week invite us to contemplate the connection between God’s love for us and the doctrine of the Trinity. A long time ago —...
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Jun 8

Why we must not do away with ‘thoughts and prayers’

By: Our Sunday Visitor Editorial Board In her autobiography “Story of a Soul,” St. Thérèse of Lisieux writes that “prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy.” But for those who don’t pray, or...
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Jun 6

Letters to a Young Catholic: How to mentor

By: Leonard J. DeLorenzo Dear Friend, I had had a conversation like this a hundred times before. A student came to my office because she wanted to talk about something going on in her life. She began, “I have a hole in my heart, and I need to take care of it.” I responded with empathy. “I’m so sorry. That sounds...
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Jun 3

Opening the Word: The challenge of Pentecost

By: Father Joshua J. Whitfield St. Oscar Romero said, “It will always be Pentecost in the Church.” Plainly a biblical truth, it’s not hyperbole at all. That’s the reality of the Church: It’s Pentecostal. And that’s because the Holy Spirit knows no ascension. If you want to get your head around the feast of...
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Jun 1

The conversation surrounding the liturgy is a good thing

By: Ava Lalor Many months ago, on a Thursday evening, I was at my parish attending a viewing of the biblical TV series “The Chosen,” which has taken the Christian world by storm with its relatable and moving portrayals of Christ and the disciples who followed him. While our parish had drawn larger crowds for previous episodes, that...
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