Pope Francis at the Angelus: God wants to live with us and in us

Pope Francis said on Sunday that Christ’s Incarnation shows that God wants to live with us and in us. Speaking at the Angelus on Jan. 2, he described Christmas as an invitation to see the world from God’s perspective. “Dear brothers and sisters, often we keep our distance from God because we think we are […]

Strive for a More Intense Interior Life

There is nothing so important in the supernatural order as to have a deep, intense interior life. This is so, because at times we run into the error of subordinating the interior life to the practice of the virtues, as if our contact with God were only a means to perfect ourselves. The case is […]

Southern Italian diocese temporarily bans naming of godparents

A second diocese in Sicily, where the Mafia has had a significant presence for decades, announced a temporary ban on the naming of godparents for baptisms and confirmations. In a decree that went into effect Jan. 1, Bishop Domenico Mogavero of Mazara del Vallo said the ban would be in effect “ad experimentum” (on an […]

The Fallen Idol

The Fallen Idol By Anthony Annett January 3, 2022   Interested in discussing this article in your classroom, parish, reading group, or Commonweal Local Community? Click here for a free discussion guide. Something has gone awry over the past four decades. Despite record-setting global prosperity, the common good is threatened by ever more extreme economic and social dysfunctions. Although […]

The Real Custodians of Tradition

Flash back to simpler, happier times. I refer to a time long past, when neighbor talked with neighbor – never discussing letters from the Greek alphabet. A time long past when people breathed air freely – unless the neighbor had a love for garlic. A time long past when it wasn’t illegal for someone like […]