Dear Friends in Christ, Here are several important dates in November: 1. Saturday 1 November is the Solemnity of All Saints, the annual celebration of the Church Triumphant, the great cloud of witnesses who with the angels already stand at the Throne of Grace and worship the Lamb once slain. This feast originated in the…

Dear Friends in Christ, 1978 was the year of the three popes. Blessed Paul VI died on 6 August 1978 after serving as Bishop of Rome for 15 years, and John Paul I was elected on 26 August. Then after only 33 days in office, John Paul I died of a heart attack in his…

Dear Friends in Christ, Most of us, I suspect, keep multiple calendars, and we make plans for important events in our lives by the week, month, and year. These events — in the past, present, and future — we often think of as a time line. This much is so obvious that it doesn’t occur…

Dear Friends in Christ, This year the Solemnity of All Saints falls on a Saturday which means (according to the inscrutable wisdom of the USCCB) that the usual obligation for this holy day is lifted this year, so we will have one Mass for All Saints’ Day at 10 am on Saturday 1 November. This…

Dear Friends in Christ, The Synod of Bishops is a permanent consultative body in the Church established by Pope Paul VI in the years just after the Second Vatican Council, and it meets periodically to allow representatives from the episcopal conferences of every nation to deliberate on matters of general concern to the universal Church…