Pope Francis is restoring to us a sense of Church in the midst of the world, a Church for the sake of the world. This is what I mean. Just this morning, when speaking at the General Audience, Pope Francis said we are privileged to carry out a mission of being a leaven of hope in a world wounded by sin and evil. It is hard enough to have hope ourselves, but he asks us to do more, to be hope for others who are suffering from evil and despair.The Pope said we are called to be "so many poi...

Today CNS is featuring the new series Gospel Time Trekkers, fiction for kids ages 6-9. A couple years ago Sr. Grace, when she was editor of our children’s magazine, started writing fiction for kids. “As an editor of a magazine for children, I started reading a lot of kids books. Each Saturday I would check out books from the library just to see what kids today were reading. I realized again the power of a good story, and the powerful influence what we read has on us. I had loved read...

Before Karol Wojtyla was elected to pope and became John Paul II, he had already written what was arguably his greatest work. Let that sink in for a moment. The great saint who gave us fourteen encyclicals such as Ecclesia De Eucharistia, Fides et Ratio, and Evangelium Vitae had already written a work greater than perhaps all of his encyclicals put together. This book was entitled Love and Responsibility, and if you love reading (soon-to-be) Saint John Paul II's writings then you'll definitely w...

After I had a stroke at 21 years old, it took many years of introspection and struggle to dig deep enough into my soul to trust God again—to know, to be absolutely certain, that God always takes care of me. Years later when I watched a friend suffer with PTSD, I had to face that same question anew. With absolute certainty I could trust that my life was in God’s hands and that no matter how things turned out God’s hands were good and safe, but how do I encourage another to so trust?Would God ...

Catholic Social Teaching invites us to make a difference by participating in all the dimensions of life from family to the local community and the broader society.  Marriage and family are central to how societies organize themselves and are to be strengthened and supported by all public and private means. This includes the way economic, legal, and social systems are established and function for the good of all in societies.The source of family, community and the courage to participate in l...

When Pope Francis talks about Jesus in The Light of Faith (Lumen Fidei), he gives us many clues on how to define faith. It’s wonderful to be able to define words because a clarified and broadened understanding of a concept or term frees us to choose, to make modifications or U-turns in those places in which we feel called by God.So what are the clues about faith that Pope Francis gives us when he speaks about the fullness of Christian faith, that gift given to us by the Lord? Most simply, he st...

by Jean Dimech-Juchniewicz in Facing Infertility: A Catholic Approach.When God created Adam and Eve, he created them for one another. Men and women are made to physically and spiritually complement one another. When Adam saw Eve for the first time, he exclaimed in utter joy, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” And the author of Genesis continues, “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen 2:23–24). Though A...

by Angela Franks, PhD in Contraception and Catholicism, releasing Nov. 2013A Catholic who has a big family and eschews contraception has likely had the following experience: Someone dismisses NFP by saying, “But that method doesn’t work; look how many kids you have.” In response, I like to say, “Define ‘work.’” If I had wanted to, in theory, I could have foregone the children I do have by using NFP to avoid pregnancy. But NFP has worked on me at a much d...

by The Archdiocese of Boston in Transformed in Love: Building Your Catholic Marriage.Just as an architect has a purpose for his plans, so too, God has a purpose for sexual intercourse and marital sexuality. Marital sexuality is an important, beautiful, and powerful part of marriage. God created sexual intercourse! He wants us to have a fulfilling, lasting, loving, sexual relationship. As married couples, we need to cherish sexual intimacy.“God created mankind in his image; in the image of God h...

by Katie Elrod and Paul Carpentier, MD, CFCMC, in Women, Sex, and the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching, edited by Erika Bachiochi.Every child, born or unborn, created as a result of loving married intercourse, or in a petri dish to be transferred to the womb, left indefinitely in cryostorage, or used in scientific experimentation, shares equally in this inalienable human dignity.Moreover, each child is equal in dignity to his or her mother. This is why the desire for a child, albeit a very r...