Posted on 03/26/2026 03:03 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Continuing his series of Wednesday general audiences on the Second Vatican Council and its documents, Pope Leo XIV emphasized on March 25 that the Church’s hierarchy is divinely instituted and not of human origin.
Posted on 03/26/2026 03:03 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, announced that Venerable Fulton Sheen will be beatified on September 24 in St. Louis, at
The Dome at America’s Center.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will preside at the beatification Mass.
“This is a moment of immense grace for the Church—especially for us in the Diocese of Peoria, where Archbishop Sheen was born, ordained, and first served as a priest,” said Bishop Tylka. “His life and ministry continue to inspire countless people to know and love Jesus Christ more deeply. Through his preaching, teaching, and personal witness, he brought the light of faith to millions, calling each of us to a deeper devotion to the Eucharist and to Our Blessed Mother.”
The beatification of Archbishop Sheen (1895-1979) was postponed in 2019 amid concern about the possibility that he might be linked to the assignment of abusive priests during his brief tenure as bishop of Rochester, New York (1966-1969). The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and agreed to a $246-million settlement last year.
Posted on 03/26/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
The weekday Masses towards the end of Lent are like a Passion Play. The Gospels, as one scene after the other, show the mounting hatred and growing tension. This is the "Abraham Mass," telling of the inheritance received through Abraham. The Opening Prayer reminds us of our great inheritance received from Christ. --The Vatican II Weekday Missal
Posted on 03/25/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
Again Lent's austerity is interrupted as we solemnly keep a feast in honor of the Annunciation. The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is a mystery that belongs to the temporal rather than to the sanctoral cycle in the Church's calendar. For the feast commemorates the most sublime moment in the history of time, the moment when the Second Divine Person of the most Holy Trinity assumed human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Thus it is a feast of our Lord, even as it is of Mary, although the liturgy centers wholly around the Mother of God. --The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Posted on 03/24/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
We have another ancient beautiful Lenten lesson. The division between Jesus and His enemies becomes more critical, more sharp. There are references in both readings to "being lifted up." This reminds us of the crucifixion on Calvary and of events coming ten days from now. --The Vatican II Weekday Missal
Posted on 03/23/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
We begin the fifth and final full week of Lent. In previous times the crosses and statues in church were veiled at this time to indicate Passion Time. Now the liturgical readings, day after day, tell of the lowering storm clouds that next week will break open. Today's ancient Lenten readings taught the penitents (and teach us) that every sin is adultery to God--and is pardonable by Christ. --The Vatican II Weekday Missal
Posted on 03/22/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
From the Gospel of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year A: Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, He will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise." Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." (John 11: 21-27)
Posted on 03/21/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent in the early ages of Christianity, was called Sitientes, taken from the first word of the original Introit of the Mass meaning "Thirsting." The Church was addressing her catechumens in the words of Isaiah and invites them to thirst after the grace to come and receive it in the holy Sacrament of Baptism. This marked the last day of the Lenten season before entering into Passiontide. In the current Liturgical calendar the last day of Lent before Holy Week would be Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent, but the beginning of the Paschal Triduum on Holy Thursday evening marks the official end of the Lenten season.
Posted on 03/20/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
The hostility of the enemies of Jesus becomes increasingly clear, and the agitation around His person continues with greater intensity; but He awaits His "hour." Satan and the forces of evil will appear to triumph, but the real victory will come and that is God's. --St. Andrew Missal
Posted on 03/19/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
The Church celebrates the Solemnity St. Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. St. Joseph was probably born in Bethlehem and probably died in Nazareth. His important mission in God's plan of salvation was "to legally insert Jesus Christ into the line of David from whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be born, and to act as his father and guardian" (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy). Most of our information about St. Joseph comes from the opening two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel. No words of his are recorded in the Gospels; he was the "silent" man. We find no devotion to St. Joseph in the early Church. It was the will of God that the Virgin Birth of Our Lord be first firmly impressed upon the minds of the faithful. He was later venerated by the great saints of the Middle Ages. Pius IX (1870) declared him patron and protector of the universal family of the Church.
