Dear Friends in Christ, The city of Rome is famous for its seven hills, all of which are on the east side of the Tiber River. Not counted among those seven hills are two more that are on the west side of the Tiber: the Vatican Hill and the Janiculum Hill. The Pontifical North American…

Dear Friends in Christ, As He was ascending to the glory of the Father, Jesus said, “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). And He also taught us: “Amen, amen, I say to you: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,…

Dear Friends in Christ, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the one, only, living and true God, and He gradually revealed himself to Abraham and his descendants in order to make of them a chosen people. Through Moses, God gave to the children of Israel the high privilege and sacred duty of announcing…

Dear Friends in Christ, The Jewish feast of Passover commemorates the deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, and from that day of liberation, Moses led the people to the holy mountain where he had seen the living God in the bush which burned without being consumed. There on Mount Horeb Moses…

Dear Friends in Christ, Holy Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus returned to the glory of his Father forty days after his Resurrection, and for that reason, the Church traditionally celebrates the Ascension on the Thursday after the 6th Sunday of Easter — forty days after Easter Sunday. In recent years, however, the liturgical…