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A 600-year-old church in southern Germany drew some 1,200 people to a Taylor Swift-themed worship service on Sunday, local media reported. Heidelberg’s famous Church of the Holy Spirit, originally Catholic and now Protestant, hosted a liturgical service bearing the title “Anti-Hero — Taylor Swift Church Service,” in an effort to attract younger people, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported. “The Church of the Holy Spirit has always been a place of encounter and exchange,” said Heidelberg Pastor Christof Ellsiepen. “That’s why a pop-music religious service fits so perfectly. With it, we are giving space to the questions and issues that occupy the...

SÃO PAULO, Brazil (RNS) — Conservative Christians are accusing the pop star Madonna, who gave a free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach May 4, of including satanic rituals in the show, with catastrophic consequences for Brazil. The concert, the last stop on Madonna’s The Celebration Tour, drew more than 1.6 million Brazilians and fans from neighboring countries and was aired in its entirety on Rede Globo, the national TV network. Besides a diverse cast and some sexual play that LGBTQ+ Brazilians and other minorities said spotlighted their communities, the show projected images of Brazilian human rights icons, including...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One.” John 17:14–15Unfortunately, the evil one is real. He is the highest of the fallen angels who retain their natural spiritual power given them at their creation. God created all angelic creatures with the purpose of serving His holy will. The Scripture reveals that there are nine levels or “choirs”...

15 May 2024 Wednesday of the 7th week of Eastertide Altar of Saint Isidore the Laborer Parish Church in Lucena City, the PhilippinesReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 20:28-38 ©I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, and its powerPaul addressed these words to the elders of the church of Ephesus: ‘Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feed the Church of God which he bought with his own blood. I know quite well that when I have...

[Catholic Caucus] She Confronted the Pope About the Latin MassWas she the cause of the 1984 Indult?At OnePeterFive we promote what we term the “godfathers of Tradition” – those men and women who fought for the ancient Roman Rite and the Faith since the Iconoclastic revolution of the 1960s. As younger generations provide fresh energy to the Trad movement, it is not only an obligation of justice and piety to give our Trad godparents their due, but it is also a spiritual necessity in the new period of iconoclasm which was inaugurated by Traditionis Custodes.The figures of Dietrich and Alice...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” John 15:16After Judas betrayed our Lord, the Apostles gathered together to pick someone to succeed him. They decided it should be someone who had been with them from the beginning. They prayed for guidance and cast lots “and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles” (Acts 1:26). Little is known about the ministry...

Tuesday 14 May 2024 Saint Matthias, Apostle Feast St. Matthias Catholic Church, Sterling Heights, MIReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Red. Year: B(II).First readingActs 1:15-17,20-26 ©'Let someone else take his office'One day Peter stood up to speak to the brothers – there were about a hundred and twenty persons in the congregation: ‘Brothers, the passage of scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, foretells the fate of Judas, who offered himself as a guide to the men who arrested Jesus – after having been one of our number and actually sharing this ministry of ours. Now...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholic priest: Dignitas Infinita a ‘faithless’ document with little to say about salvationIf hell is empty, there is no need for a cross and redemption, no Church and no grace. Even human dignity is then just a man-made vehicle, and despite its beautiful title, 'Dignitas infinita' is a faithless text for a faithless world.This essay by Fr. Joachim Heimerl was originally written in German. It has been translated and published with the permission of Fr. Heimerl.(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Robert Sarah recently caused a stir when he spoke of the “atheism” that is spreading in the Church. He was...

[Catholic Caucus] Fiducia Supplicans: Another Homosex-Blasphemy in a Church"Triggered by Francis' homosexual propaganda piece 'Fiducia supplicans', a homosexual [pseudo] blessing was staged in the Nuestra Señora de Belén Church in Miajadas, Diocese of Plasencia, Spain.One of the two homosexual concubines admitted on a social network that their complicity in sin was hardened and had lasted for 30 years."We were very happy to be able to do it in the Church, to be the first homosexual couple of many to come," he announced.It seems that the initiative for the sacrilege came from Don Enrique Gómez Rodríguez, the parish priest, as can...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis’s “Creative Fidelity to Tradition” and the Complete Impotence of the Vatican IIFor you know, venerable brothers, that these bitter enemies of the Christian name, are carried wretchedly along by some blind momentum of their mad impiety; they go so far in their rash imagining as to teach without blushing, openly and publicly, daring and unheard-of doctrines, thereby uttering blasphemies against God. They teach that the most holy mysteries of our religion are fictions of human invention, and that the teaching of the Catholic Church is opposed to the good and the prerogatives of human society.” (Blessed Pope...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” John 16:33What did Jesus tell His disciples that produced the “peace” of which He spoke? He is especially referring to His entire Last Supper Discourse from which we have been reading. The words spoken throughout this discourse are meant to give the disciples, and us, “courage” and the ability to conquer the trouble imposed upon us by the world. Throughout Jesus’ discourse, He especially points to the unity...

13 May 2024 Monday of the 7th week of Eastertide Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima, Ourém, Portugal Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 19:1-8 ©The moment Paul laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on themWhile Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples. When he asked, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ they answered, ‘No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.’ ‘Then how were you baptised?’ he asked. ‘With...

DOJ’s report on FBI leaked memo on traditionalist Catholics leaves many questions unanswered, omits Biden admin’s targeted persecution of Catholics.In mid-April, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Joe Biden administration released a 10-page report to Congress stating that those who penned an internal memo dated January 23, 2023, likening traditionalist Catholics to violent extremists “failed to adhere to FBI standards” but displayed no proof of “malicious intent”. The memo was subsequently leaked to the public.Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s recent April report to Congress claimed that it found no proof that anyone instructed either of the unnamed authors of...

(For those living in Dioceses celebrating the Ascension this Sunday, Click Here for the My Catholic Life! meditation thread for the Ascension)Daily Readings from the USCCB“Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” John 17:17–19What does it mean to “consecrate” something or someone? Consecration is, of course, a very familiar term within our faith. We speak of the bread and wine being consecrated and becoming the Body, Blood, Soul and...

Sunday 12 May 2024 The Ascension of the Lord SolemnitySt. Pancras, Glendale NYReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).These readings are for the Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.These readings are for the day of the feast itself.These readings are for the Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.First readingActs 1:1-11 ©Jesus was lifted up while they looked onIn my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up...

Those of you fortunate enough to live in a diocese where the Ascension is observed on its proper Thursday will be able to hear proclaimed this Sunday the proper Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Pre-empting this Sunday by the Solemnity of the Ascension is a bit unfortunate, because it damages the pattern of the Lectionary. During the later Sundays of Easter, we read from the Last Supper Discourse (John 13-17), culminating in the Seventh Sunday, on which we read the grande finale of the Last Supper Discourse, namely the High Priestly Prayer (John 17). Ironically, although John 17...

In most of the USA, Ascension Day is observed this Sunday. I wish the traditional observance on Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter was retained, but reality is what it is. Therefore, this weekend we will look at the powerful readings for Ascension Day. This is an unusual Lord’s Day, in which the “action” of the Feast Day actually takes place in the First Reading. We typically think of all the narratives of Jesus’ life as recorded in the Gospels, overlooking that Acts records at least two important narratives about the activity of the Resurrected Lord (Acts 1:1-11; also...

Joking Pope refers to prayers against him inside the VaticanROME – Almost anyone who’s ever met Pope Francis in person has heard some version of his standard laugh line. It generally goes like this: When the visitor assures the pope that he or she is praying for him, the pontiff, with a twinkle in his eye, will ask a simple question.Pro, o contra?That is, are you praying for me or against me? It’s a jocular way of acknowledging that Francis understands he tends to be a lightning rod, stirring both passion and outrage.On Friday, however, the pontiff added a new...

Catholics hold rosary rally in reparation for cathedral funeral of pro-abortion DemocratIn response to the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark being used for the funeral of pro-abortion Congressman Donald Payne, Jr., a LifeSite League member and fellow Catholics held a rosary rally in reparation.Catholics recently held a Rosary rally in reparation for the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark being allowed to be used for the funeral service of non-Catholic, pro-abortion Democratic Congressman Donald Payne, Jr.Prior to Payne’s May 2 funeral, a LifeSite League member had contacted the cathedral, which is...

11 May 2024 Saturday before Ascension Sunday Saint-Gengoult, Toul, France Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II).First readingActs 18:23-28 ©Apollos demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the ChristPaul came down to Antioch, where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers. An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual earnestness and was accurate...