Kevin James, a comic and TV and movie star, opened up to Catholic Spirit about how important his faith is and the challenge of acting versus using it to project his Catholicism.
Category: Faith & Life
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Rosario Livatino – “a martyr of justice and faith”
Rosario Livatino, a mafia-assassinated judge was praised again by Pope Francis, last month, during a congregation of the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists at the Vatican’s Benediction Hall. Livatino who also became Blessed in May 2021 was singled out by the Pope.
How about heaven?
It is noteworthy to underline that the textbooks of classical moral theology start with the ultimate end, which is the first in intention and the last in execution. The ultimate end is the beatitude, heaven, eternal life: union with God. We all have been created by God to inhabit “the heavenly city.”
Being prepared or superficial?
The first two days of the Easter Triduum, Holy Friday and Holy Saturday, are truly singular from the point of view of the liturgical signs and their balance is rather delicate. It is expected that on these austere days, the candles will be completely extinguished and the altar will be bare. In its concrete realization, this indication undergoes difficulties that many have pointed out, which, however, must be overcome in order to give the two days a liturgical configuration that is truly consistent with the mystery celebrated and suitable for expressing it effectively.
Mary’s majesty and mercy
In the medieval image kept in Santa Maria in Trastevere, the Madonna is the queen of mercy, indeed she is merciful as a queen. Basically, it summarizes what will be sung a few centuries after the making of this icon in one of the Marian antiphons still best known today: Salve Regina, mater misericordiae. Mary is queen and mother of mercy and the two are not in contradiction.
HEROES OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH IN THE ORIENT (1) – Afonso Mendes, patriarch of Ethiopia
Afonso Mendes was born in Santo Aleixo, a village in the Portuguese municipality of Moura, in 1579. Raised on the border, Afonso was still young when he joined the Society of Jesus.
The triumphant song of Christmas time
Let us go to Bethlehem to meet the Lord, this is what Adeste Fideles wants to tell us, hoping that we are listening.
Being a Christian in a secularized society
Christmas lights and markets: what a contrast to a liturgical Advent! What we say in catechesis loses all meaning in the streets decorated for ‘feasts’. Should we resign ourselves or rejoice, adapt or resist?
LESSONS FROM THE MAGI (III) – Wise men change
The apostles are a proof of the transforming contact with Jesus. Their own mothers would have been surprised to see them transformed from quarrelsome brutes to well-mannered gentlemen, from proud and ambitious recruits to humble servants, from impulsive characters to prudent leaders, from cowardly weaklings to brave martyrs.
LESSONS FROM THE MAGI (II) – Wise men kneel
Pope Francis declared on April 14, 2013 in St Paul’s Outside the Walls: “[W]e have to empty ourselves of the many small or great idols that we have and in which we take refuge, on which we often seek to base our security. They are idols that we sometimes keep well hidden; they can be ambition, a taste for success, placing ourselves at the center, the tendency to dominate others, the claim to be the sole masters of our lives, some sins to which we are bound, and many others. This evening I would like a question to resound in the heart of each one of you, and I would like you to answer it honestly: Have I considered which idol lies hidden in my life that prevents me from worshiping the Lord? Worshiping is stripping ourselves of our idols, even the most hidden ones, and choosing the Lord as the center, as the highway of our lives.”