Readings (Year C): Nehemiah 8:2 – 4a, 5 – 6, 8 – 10Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 151 Corinthians 12:12 – 30Luke 1:1 – 4; 4:14 – 21 Reflection: Bring glad tidings to the poor There once lived a wealthy businessman named John. Despite his wealth, he found himself consumed by loneliness, isolated from the world […] The post A reflection for the third Sunday in Ordinary Time appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

Less than 24 hours after her cesarean section on April 30th at a government-run teaching hospital in Oron, a coastal community of Akwa Ibom in Nigeria, 24-year-old Gift Bassey-Eyo discovered she had developed a vesicovaginal fistula (VVF), a serious childbirth injury which creates a hole between the birth canal and bladder. VVF is caused by […] The post Catholic groups in Nigeria aid women who suffer childbirth injury appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

I am Catholic and a historian of Catholics—and over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly convinced that U.S. Catholics need a new account of ourselves and our history. The standard story of a persecuted immigrant people who become Americans (and even get a couple of their own elected president), then live happily ever after […] The post Are you ready to be a “bad Catholic” who makes “good trouble”? appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

Circle of Hope By Eliza Griswold (Macmillan Publishers, 2024) Church is a place where many people hope to find peace, but churches are made up of human beings, so is peace truly possible? Eliza Griswold’s Circle of Hope focuses on a church of the same name, founded decades ago in Philadelphia by Rod and Gwen […] The post What we’re reading this month: January 2025 appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

Talking about his late friend Thomas Merton, acclaimed jazz vibraphonist Dick Sisto says jazz resembles Merton’s own approach to writing. Sisto, a former seminarian and lifelong Catholic, says Merton was kind of a “jazz writer,” which might partially explain the monk’s well-documented affinity for jazz. According to Sisto, jazz is “all about taking the elements […] The post Catholicism, like jazz, is all about a living tradition appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

In September 2002, on the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I was 10 years old, living in New York, and full of frightened questions about the world. As the world’s landscape shifted into the new era of war on terror and tremendous political division, I clearly remember my life changing. And, as with […] The post Fred Rogers’ timeless lessons for parenting through uncertainty appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

The gospels are filled with stories of radical forgiveness, including Jesus’ prayer that his own murderers be forgiven. In his earthly mission, Jesus forgives sins, tells parables about forgiveness, and instructs his followers to forgive “seventy times seven.” In the Bible, forgiveness is a major theme, and in the centuries after Christ, most Christian traditions […] The post What if you don’t have to forgive your enemies? appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

In Their Own Words is a new web column from U.S. Catholic. In these essays, academics and other experts provide short, evidence-based explanations of prominent Catholic figures’ views on an array of topics of interest to the church and offer resources for finding further accurate information. Walking in socked feet across the patterned carpet, Pope Benedict XVI looked […] The post What did Pope Benedict say about Islam? appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

Readings (Year C): Isaiah 62:1 – 5Psalm 96:1 – 2, 2 – 3, 7 – 8, 9 – 101 Corinthians 12:4 – 11John 2:1 – 11 Reflection: How can we serve Christ’s mission? This Sunday’s gospel reading about the wedding at Cana is one that I am sure you find familiar—but which part of the […] The post A reflection for the second Sunday in Ordinary Time appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more

Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror Directed by Hiroshi Nagahama & Yuji Moriyama (Adult Swim, 2024) It only took five years in development, but the anime adaptation of Junji Ito’s seminal horror manga series Uzumaki has finally arrived. Unfortunately, the final product has been (justly) met with disappointment from fans for its shaky pacing and frequently phoned-in […] The post ‘Uzumaki’ taps into the uncanny side of enchantment appeared first on U.S. Catholic ..read more