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Brooklyn church celebrates 170 years of faith, community and resilience
NEW YORK — After enduring fire, flood, recession, a pandemic and changing times, a Brooklyn church still stands to celebrate its 170th anniversary on Sunday.
Much as visitors to Red Hook experience today, the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s clock tower was among the first sights immigrants spotted arriving in New York Harbor, said ...Read more
Trump's border adviser blasts US Catholic bishops over criticism of immigration raids
White House border adviser Tom Homan lambasted the Catholic Church on Friday over its stance against the Trump administration's mass deportations.
"The Catholic Church is wrong, I'm sorry," Homan told reporters outside the White House. "I'm saying it not only as the border czar, I'm saying it as a Catholic."
Homan described himself as a "...Read more
In honor of a patron saint, Catholic groups pray, protest outside Miami immigration court
MIAMI — One day every year, Catholics around the world honor Saint Frances Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants who spent much of her life working with marginalized Italians flocking to the United States in the early 1900s.
That day, Nov. 13, was Thursday and in Miami, faith leaders and advocates for immigrants used the celebration of ...Read more
US Catholic bishops take stand against Trump immigration tactics, winning praise at churches
LOS ANGELES — For the first time in 12 years, U.S. Catholic bishops have issued a unified statement to support the country's immigrants and oppose the Trump administration's "indiscriminate mass deportations of people."
The move marked a voice of support for immigrants — long a vital part of the U.S. Catholic Church — amid a year of ...Read more
US Catholic bishops oppose Trump's 'indiscriminate' deportations in a rare statement
LOS ANGELES — For the first time in 12 years, U.S. Catholic bishops issued a unified statement Wednesday to support the country's immigrants and oppose the Trump administration's "indiscriminate mass deportations of people."
The special statement was issued during the bishops' annual gathering in Baltimore. It was the first time since 2013 ...Read more
The God Squad: Non-church wedding & the destiny of the soul
Q: I am a Catholic woman who is engaged to be married this summer. My fiancé, who is divorced, does consider himself Catholic but is not practicing and never attends services with me. Several months ago, I approached one of the priests in my parish about our wedding and asked to have our services at a catering hall and to have it performed by a...Read more
A Pennsylvania synagogue opened its doors to a local church. A 'deeply profound' partnership ensued
PHILADELPHIA — Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky and Reverend Adam Hearlson seem like they've been friends forever.
Witkovsky, 41, is the senior rabbi at Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El (TBH-BE), a Conservative movement synagogue in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Hearlson, 44, is the pastor at Overbrook Presbyterian Church (OPC), in Philadelphia.
Sitting in the ...Read more
Moody Bible Institute sues Chicago Public Schools for religious discrimination
CHICAGO — Moody Bible Institute is suing the Chicago Board of Education for alleged religious discrimination after the college was barred from the district’s student teaching program.
The Christian college alleges Chicago Public Schools will not allow it to participate in the program unless it signs the district’s non-discrimination ...Read more
The God Squad: What it means to be God-fearing
Q: I read your column and enjoy and reflect upon your wise words. Could you please define and elaborate upon what the expression "God-fearing" means? My husband and I are Roman Catholics and disagree on its meaning. Please help! – (from J)
A: A wonderful question, dear J. One of the ...Read more
Pope Leo speaks out on reports of ICE refusing Communion for detained immigrants
Pope Leo XIV urged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to respect the spiritual rights of individuals in ICE detention after Catholic clergy members said they were prohibited from giving Communion to immigrants at a Chicago-area facility.
On Nov. 1, ICE officials refused to let a group of clergy members led by Bishop José María Garcia-...Read more
The God Squad: Does Halloween have a spiritual value?
Holidays are not all of the same rank.
Some holidays come to us with outstanding spiritual resumes. There is no question that Easter and Passover and Ramadan arrive in the sacred calendar with the highest religious credentials. They tell the story of our faiths. They are decorated with rituals that both inform and ...Read more
The God Squad: Can a Jew wear a cross?
Q: I am the daughter of Holocaust survivors who both recently passed. I was brought up in a very conservative home where we went to synagogue every Saturday. We kept kosher and observed all the holidays. As an adult, I have become much less religious but maintained all of the Jewish traditions with my children. Although I maintain ...Read more
The God Squad: Lilith
Q: Dear Rabbi Gellman, several weeks ago, you had a column in our Patriot News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Lilith. I accidentally threw out the paper without cutting that article out. Several times I have tried to access it, but I cannot remember the date and also tried to Google your column on Lilith, to no avail. Could you please send ...Read more
The God Squad: The soul is the form of the body
Q: I just read your column about Heaven, and loved it. I, too, believe our souls are reunited with those we have lost. My question is, when you said the concept of Heaven began in the rabbinic times, do we know what caused them to think this after never having believed in Heaven before? Thank you for your columns. I find them enjoyable and ...Read more
Meditation 4/17 - 4/23: Be Filled With Joy - Rms 15:7-13 NASB
May you be filled with joy
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,
"THEREFORE I WILL ...Read more
Meditation 9/25 - 10/1 - The Lord's Servant CEV
Everyone, listen,
even you foreign nations
across the sea.
The LORD chose me
and gave me a name
before I was born.
He made my words pierce
like a sharp sword
or a pointed arrow;
he kept me safely hidden
in the palm of his hand.
The LORD said to me,
"Israel, you are my servant;
and ...Read more
Looking Unto Jesus: Our God and Saviour!
Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ;
Titus 2:13 KJV
_______________
My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my
savior-- from violent men you save me.
2 Samuel 22:3 NIV...Read more
Meditation 9/28 - 10/4 - The Lord's Servant CEV
Everyone, listen,
even you foreign nations
across the sea.
The LORD chose me
and gave me a name
before I was born.
He made my words pierce
like a sharp sword
or a pointed arrow;
he kept me safely hidden
in the palm of his hand.
The LORD said to me,
"Israel, you are my servant;
and ...Read more
Looking Unto Jesus: Our God and Saviour!
Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ;
Titus 2:13 KJV
_______________
My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my
savior-- from violent men you save me.
2 Samuel 22:3 NIV...Read more
Meditation 9/28 - 10/4 - The Lord's Servant NLT
Listen to me, all of you in far-off lands!
The LORD called me before my birth;
from within the womb he called me by name.
He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.
He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.
I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.
He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel,
and you will bring ...Read more
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