BLOG: Fr. Raphael Ma, CR
Next week Christians celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The important celebration dates back to 1908 and was inspired by Fr. Paul Wattson and the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in Graymoor, New York. More advances along the road to unity have taken place over the past century than over the previous 350 ...read more
Pope Francis has urged young people living in situations of “war, extreme poverty, daily troubles and loneliness” to not lose hope and not be taken in “by the messages of hatred or terror all around us.” His words came in his Message for the Jubilee of Mercy for Young Boys and Girls, which was released ...read more
Today on Perspectives Pope Francis remembers victims of terrorist attack in Istanbul – Perspectives Daily and we take a look at the General Audience. ...read more
One of the benefits of living in the craziest city in America is meeting some of the craziest people in America. A memorable example was a couple years ago at a friend of a friend’s birthday party. Making small talk with a woman I just met, “So what do you do for a living?” “Oh, ...read more
The foremost English-speaker in the Vatican’s Congregation for Worship examines the latest preaching tool for the Catholic Church. How are you going to spend the next five minutes of your time?  You could browse social media or check your email, but how about meeting a fascinating person and learning something relevant that will broaden your ...read more
“The Name of God is Mercy” is the title of a new book set to be released in 86 countries on Tuesday (12 Jan), in which Pope Francis reveals his vision of God’s mercy in a series of interviews with Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli. Several extracts were made available by the publisher, Piemme, ahead of ...read more
Pope Francis delivered an address to the Corps of Diplomats Accredited to the Holy See on Monday morning, during the course of his traditional exchange of New Year’s greetings with the diplomats at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Below, please find the full text of the official English translation of the Holy Father’s prepared ...read more
Two weeks ago we looked at why we need mercy and last week we reflected on Don Francisco’s beautiful song, “Adam, Where Are You?” Last week  we also saw what the Church teaches about Original Sin: Once we were in a state of Original Grace. Original Sin is the state of deprivation of that state, ...read more
Here is a look at what’s been happening and what we’ve been reading about across the country this week: With all the news about Syria and the refugee crisis, it can be easy to forget that there are other parts of the world suffering as well. Here is a look at how one Canadian organization ...read more
History On November 16, 1989 on the campus of the Central American University in San Salvador, six Jesuit priests were pulled from their beds in the middle of the night and executed. The military officers who carried out the killing went unpunished for decades. Five of six Jesuits were Spanish citizens. In 2008 the Spanish ...read more