WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the administration’s ongoing effort to remove illegal immigrants, President Trump has ordered the visa status reviewed of anyone with one of those weird "squiggly line n’s" in their name.
Read More
NEW YORK CITY — New York City has moved to adopt a new system whereby the mayorship will be awarded to the first candidate who can bench press the bar.
Read More
| Picture of the day |
|---|
|
|
Eruption of Strokkur (Icelandic for “churn”) a fountain geyser located in the Haukadalur geothermal area, southwest of Iceland.
|
O gracious Father, Maker and Preserver of heaven and earth, who in the beginning didst institute matrimony, thereby foreshadowing the mystical union of the Church with our Savior Christ, who, during His ministry upon earth, did honor marriage with His first miracle: help me, I pray Thee, by Thy grace to live in holiness and purity with the wife whom Thou hast given me. Mortify in me all violence of earthly passion, all selfishness and inconsiderateness (here name any besetting sin which may be …
Read MoreA reading from the Letter to St. Paul to the Thessalonians
1:1-5, 8b-10
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen.
For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
In every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us
what sort of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead, Jesus,
who delivers us from the coming wrath.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
23:13-22
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.
You do not enter yourselves,
nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You traverse sea and land to make one convert,
and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna
twice as much as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say,
‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,
or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
one who swears by the temple swears by it
and by him who dwells in it;
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God
and by him who is seated on it.”
This takes away the ability to understand the revelation of God, to understand the heart of God, to understand the salvation of God—the key to knowledge we could say that it is a serious forgetfulness. Forgetfulness of the gratuity of salvation, forgetfulness of God’s closeness, and forgetfulness of mercy. And thus, distancing oneself from salvation is also at the root of “taking away the key of knowledge”. (…) This is happening today”, because “the Pharisees, doctors of the law, are not things of days gone by: even today there are many of them”. For this reason, it is necessary to pray for us pastors, so that we do not lose the key to knowledge and we do not close the door on ourselves and on the people who want to enter. (Pope Francis, Santa Marta, 19 October 2017)
Read More
Whether you’re interested in history, technology, or a mix of both, these train museums will keep you entertained for hours.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/TAL-lead-image-TRAINMUSEUMS0825-b13b37a07e6a4737871a7541ffb48485.jpg)
Pope Leo XIV gives his Sunday Angelus address from the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 24, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Aug 24, 2025 / 10:10 am (CNA).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked his country’s Independence Day on Sunday by posting a letter from Pope Leo XIV in which the pope assured him of prayers for Ukrainians suffering in the war and urged that “the clamor of arms may fall silent and give way to dialogue.”
“With a heart wounded by the violence that ravages your land, I address you on this day of your national feast,” the pope wrote in the letter, which Zelenskyy shared on the social media platform X on Aug. 24. The Vatican’s official media outlet, Vatican News, published an article attributing the message to Pope Leo XIV.
“I wish to assure you of my prayer for the people of Ukraine who suffer from war — especially for all those wounded in body, for those bereaved by the death of a loved one, and for those deprived of their homes,” the pope said. “May God himself console them; may he strengthen the injured and grant eternal rest to the departed.”
The pope said he was entrusting Ukraine “to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace,” and prayed that “the path to peace for the good of all” would be opened.
Zelenskyy, in his X post, thanked the pope: “I am sincerely grateful to His Holiness for his thoughtful words, prayer, and attention to the people of Ukraine amid devastating war. All of our hopes and efforts are for our nation to achieve the long-awaited peace. For good, trust, and justice to prevail. We appreciate @pontifex’s moral leadership and apostolic support.”
The papal message was one of a flurry of Independence Day letters Zelenskyy posted online from world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Charles III of Britain, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, French President Emmanuel Macron, and King Felipe VI of Spain.
Ukraine’s Independence Day, celebrated annually on Aug. 24, commemorates the country’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.
The pope’s message came two days after he called for a worldwide day of fasting and prayer for peace, coinciding with the Aug. 22 feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In July, Zelenskyy met Pope Leo at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence, in their second encounter since the pope’s inauguration Mass in May. According to the Vatican, they discussed “the urgency of pursuing just and lasting paths of peace,” and Pope Leo reaffirmed his willingness to host representatives of Russia and Ukraine for possible negotiations.
I am sincerely grateful to His Holiness for his thoughtful words, prayer, and attention to the people of Ukraine amid devastating war. All of our hopes and efforts are for our nation to achieve the long-awaited peace. For good, truth, and justice to prevail. We appreciate… pic.twitter.com/QeO2u43jiY
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 24, 2025
null / Credit: Srdjan Randjelovic/Shutterstock
Philadelphia, Pa., Aug 24, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Nina Marie Corona thought she was just checking the box like any good cradle Catholic when she sat down in a pew over a decade ago. From her perspective at the time, she wasn’t there for anything dramatic — just the usual holy day of obligation Christmas Mass. Her heart wasn’t in it though. Addiction had crept into her family’s life, and her entire world felt like it was falling apart. So, while others sang and smiled and shook hands at the sign of peace, she wept quietly.
Alone. A stranger. In a church filled with people.
“I remember looking and thinking, you know, why does nobody know that I’m going through this?” she said. “Like, I need you people, you know? Where else do I turn?”
Already immersed in theology classes triggered by a retreat she had attended, Corona — who once ran a successful food manufacturing business — turned to an educational pursuit that sought to weave her spirituality with her social conscience.
In the years that followed, that moment of personal desperation developed into a multipronged outreach titled Afire and launched an international multimedia ministry called “We Thirst: Christian Reflections on Addiction,” which is now in university and seminary libraries, including Trinity College Dublin, and has been shown in churches across the United States and beyond.
The five-part parish-based series is part catechesis, part communal healing, blending Catholic spirituality with the biological, psychological, and social realities of addiction. People have watched it in living rooms, church halls, and classrooms. It’s been used by priests, parents, social workers, and people recovering from addiction. It has freed people to talk about addiction, to open up, to stop hiding.
“They drop the armor,” she said. “They receive the gift of courage to face reality. That’s when healing can begin.”
The way it works is simple. You watch the series as a group — maybe over five weeks, maybe as a weekend retreat, and then you talk — not about solutions or strategies at first, but about what’s real: fear, guilt, grief, love, hope. Each session incorporates comprehensive educational presentations with prayer, music for reflection, and imagery to enlighten and inspire.” On the final night of each series, attendees are encouraged to discern next steps in their own communities.
“I initially didn’t know what they should do, but over time I realized those things that were helpful to me and my family,” she explained. “So, we eventually created kits with leader and member manuals to help guide groups through a discernment process. The leader’s manual has been granted an imprimatur.”
Each parish group is given space to listen to one another, assess the specific needs in their community, and create a plan — whether that’s hosting prayer gatherings, offering support to families affected by addiction, starting recovery ministries, or assembling care packages for local recovery homes. The work is deeply local and highly personal, but its spiritual and emotional resonance is what fuels a broader growth.
Among the programs now offered by Afire Ministries are weekly Vespers via Zoom, an online Advent Prayer Calendar, and Set Hearts AFIRE — an evangelization resource designed to equip both experienced ministers and everyday Catholics to share the Gospel. The program provides everything needed to present the material, including fully developed scripts, music, media, and opportunities for personal witness.
Also forthcoming is Graced Collaboration, an innovative faith-based recovery program developed by Corona during her doctoral studies. It integrates evidence-based scientific approaches with the spiritual wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
“I can’t do this alone,” Corona said. “We need more people stepping up.”
One of the newest groups has formed at St. Isidore in Quakertown, where Sharon Butler is a parishioner. “My daughter has been battling addiction for a very long time,” she said. “My husband and I… we’ve always had each other, but I never went to anything. People would suggest Al-Anon or different groups, but I just didn’t go.”
This was different, she said. Right from the start. “It was very inspiring,” Butler said. “I couldn’t wait for the next week. Each session gave me something to think about. It all just spoke to me.”
The formula is repeated throughout Afire’s various programs, Corona said. And, she believes, God’s fingerprints are all over it.
“I didn’t know how to listen for God’s voice at first, but once I did, he didn’t stop,” she said. “I know the resistance. The shame. You think you’ve heard it all — another addiction talk, more statistics, more blame. But this is different. This is about healing hearts, not just solving problems. It’s about rediscovering our humanity and God’s love for us in the middle of pain.”
She continued: “I believe strongly that God wants to work this way through every person. So many of us are asleep. We’re distracted, numb. But if we just pause — listen — we’ll hear him. And he’ll move. That’s what happened to me. I just finally stopped long enough to listen.”
This story was first published by Catholic Philly and has been reprinted with permission. It is part of the Face of Hope, a series of stories and videos “highlighting the work of those who make the Catholic Church in Philadelphia the greatest force for good in the region.”
Read More
St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio. / Credit: LO Kin-hei/Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 24, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
As federal budget cuts halt programs for people in need, Catholic Social Services (CSS) in Columbus, Ohio, is encouraging volunteers to step up and become community heroes. Modeling the good Samaritan, people are being invited to join the new “Super Neighbor” initiative to lend a hand to others in need, beginning with seniors who need help.
“You don’t have to wear a cape to show up and be a super neighbor,” president and CEO of CSS, Kelley Henderson, told CNA. As the program kicks off, the organization is calling on people who want to “make an impact by being present, showing up, and serving with the love of Christ.”
CSS is a Catholic Charities member agency for the Diocese of Columbus. It works with 168 other agencies across the country to support the needs of the local ordinary but also works on national policy issues, national funding, and advocacy work.
In the Columbus Diocese, CSS serves communities within 23 counties in Central and Southern Ohio through “a myriad of programs that operate to address acute and crisis needs, whether they’re of an older adult, a family with children, or a person living with a disability,” Henderson explained.
The organization’s work is “grounded in the good Samaritan parable in Luke 10” that reminds us that everyone is our neighbor. “It’s a core part of our Catholic social teaching, is this solidarity.”
‘Neighbors serving neighbors’
CSS programs stem from its motto: “Neighbors Serving Neighbors.” The Super Neighbor initiative was formed out of a belief that volunteerism is “an easy, structured way for people in a local parish to get involved and serve,” Henderson said.
Super Neighbor was designed “to pair a volunteer from the parish with an older adult who might be living alone. They’ll go by and visit with them, play cards, go get a haircut, or meal plan … It’s really designed to go deep and build relationships with people.”
“Social isolation is a real challenge in our community, and as Catholics, we’re called to respond to the signs of our time, and isolation is a major sign,” Henderson said. “We really see that it not only has negative health impacts on people who are isolated, but it really is not being a good neighbor. We reach out and spend time with people.”
The initiative follows other senior-oriented programs that CSS has offered including the Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent programs, which were both catered to community relationships with seniors.
Both programs were mostly federally funded for the last 30 years, primarily through the AmeriCorps agency. The funds helped “lower-income seniors receive a little support money and travel reimbursement to be able to go out and spend time with others in the community.” But as federal funding cuts have been made across the nation, the programs are unable to operate as usual.
“Regardless, we’re committed to serving,” Henderson said. “We’ll find new innovative ways to serve, and Super Neighborhood is one of them.”
“I really see beauty and value in volunteerism. I think volunteers can not only see the face of Christ in those we serve but be the face of Christ. And be the hands and feet of who we’re called to be in the community.”
What is unique about Super Neighbor is it doesn’t just have one type of volunteer. The program opens the doors for all kinds of people to serve and be served.
Historically, volunteers are people who have extra time. Henderson explained that it tends to be people who have retired, those winding down their careers, or parents with children in school, but CSS and Super Neighbor bring in an even larger demographic.
“We’re beginning to not only see the folks that have that discretionary time, but we’re seeing people make time available,” Henderson said. “One of our local Catholic high schools started a Catholic Social Services Club, and the kids are making time to volunteer.”
Employers around the diocese are even beginning to offer volunteer time off, including CSS, which gives its staff allotted time to serve the community. “They can take two hours a quarter to volunteer at a place of their choosing,” Henderson said.
“The culture of giving back is really inspiring to see right now. And we’re using that as an opportunity to be that resource for people.”
The future of ‘Super Neighbor’
Although it is a new initiative, three parishes have committed to be a part of the effort. There are already 60 volunteers that have signed up who will begin the program with home visits with seniors in late September.
While prioritizing seniors, CSS is working to expand Super Neighbor to reach even more groups of people. It is working to place volunteers in local schools to be “homework helpers or tutors,” to connect with younger generations.
“My hope is by the Advent season, we have a couple hundred super neighbors signed up, which is really important because the impetus of the launch of this program was to have a hope-filled response to some of the cuts that we’re facing federally.”
Despite “a tightening fiscal environment … it’s an opportunity for the Church to show up,” Henderson said. “The Church is generally the one that shows up first.”
Read MoreMars is just less than 3° south of the gorgeous double star Porrima (Gamma Virginis) this evening. At magnitude 1.6, Mars is about a full magnitude brighter than Porrima (magnitude 2.7); the star will appear to the planet’s upper right in the western sky an hour after sunset, when they are roughly 7° high. ToContinue reading “The Sky Today on Sunday, August 24: Virgo’s double star, Porrima”
The post The Sky Today on Sunday, August 24: Virgo’s double star, Porrima appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read More