How many priests can say their apostolic endeavors brought relief to galley slaves, were involved in international diplomacy — or were abducted by pirates?  Well, my friends, hold onto your hats as we explore the tumultuous life of St. Vincent de Paul. 

Sometimes, we Catholics get our heads stuck on a particular challenge in the church and don’t realize how it may be affecting other faith traditions. So it is with “The Great Dechurching” (Jim Davis and Michael Graham, Zondervan Press, 2023), a thoughtful and accurate depiction of the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history.

While as a deacon and a writer I tend to pray about the challenges that the Catholic Church faces (scandals, politics, programs, recovery from COVID, etc.), I completely missed the broader trends affecting virtually all Christian churches in America.

Voles, pocket gophers, squirrels, and snakes live right alongside us Coloradans. As gardeners we have absolutely no interest in “sharing our space” but the cold hard fact is that we really have no say in the matter. But, maybe, just maybe by the grace of God and with few Hail Mary’s we can learn how to manage these creatures and live peacefully.

Let me just get this out of the way:  the band Black Sabbath is not for everyone.  If their choice of band name is not enough to turn off good and proper people, the anecdotes of their excessive living are sufficiently dissuasive.  It is an infamy that stems, in large part, from their lead singer Ozzy Osbourne who, for those of my generation, was the subject of playground legend for biting off the head of a live bat during a concert in 1982 (which is not fiction, by the way).

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” exclaimed a very concerned Dorothy in the classic 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.”

Here in Colorado, gardeners are just as exasperated by our “wildlife vs. garden plants” situation.

Editor’s Note: Following is the text of a talk delivered by Stephen Ambuul, a recent graduate of the Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Walsingham, at the school’s annual gala and auction on March 25. The gala raised more than $100,00 for the school.

With the recent coronation of King Charles, I was reminded about the Saturday afternoon last September, when I spent an hour in the adoration chapel at Holy Apostles Church.

"You say to-may-tow, I say to-maw-tow, you say po-tay-to, I say po-taw-tow”. Ah, you can close your eyes and join Luis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald finishing the lyrics to that catchy, Ira Gershwin, tune.  

This month marks the eight-year anniversary of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter, “Laudato Si’” (On Care for Our Common Home).  When it was initially published in May 2015, it received both praise and criticism from Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  In a somewhat less politically polarized world than the one we are living in today, Francis’ plea for environmental consciousness and care became linked with partisanism.  Progressive, non-Catholics for whom much of the Church’s moral teaching is objectionable, nonetheless praised the letter, while some conservative Catholics took exception, mostly to what were regarded as critiques of capitalism. 

Following the death of Margaret della Metola in 1320, every step taken by the Roman Catholic Church to investigate her sanctity has been done quietly and on the cheap. Mother Church’s reticence in this regard over the past 700 years seems quite perplexing.