By Eileen Connelly, OSU Bradley Barnes recalls the youth ministers who inspired him when he was a child and in his teenage years. Now he hopes to do the same for the young people at Guardian Angels Parish in Mt. Washington, where he has served as coordinator of youth ministry …

By Tessa Gervasini Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 25, 2025 / 07:00 am Father Burke Masters’ first dream was to be a major league baseball player, but after feeling a call from God to the priesthood he now uses the sport “to speak about Jesus and the Church.” “I played college baseball …

By Walt Schaefer Missionaries, the Cincinnati Reds, the Venezuelan Air Force. A number of improbable things came together in 1990 to create Davey Concepción Field in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. • Cincinnatian Mike Gable, his wife, Kathy, and their four young sons had been assigned to serve as lay Maryknoll missioners in …

Shine On | by Dominick Albano It’s February, and for some people, this month symbolizes love. It makes them think of Valentine’s Day or maybe, the coming of Lent… or just taking time away to someplace warmer. For me, when the calendar turns to February, I can only think of …

The 1988 film Bull Durham opens with a voiceover by a main character, Annie Savoy, rhapsodizing about the beauty of baseball. “I believe in the church of baseball,” Annie begins, followed by a rather dubious inventory of gurus and other religions she has tried to follow. After a brief soliloquy …

My life’s greatest regret happened during a baseball game my nine-year-old son was playing in. It’s a day I hate to remember, and yet I can’t forget it. Bottom of the last inning, my son’s team was up by one run, with runners on second and third base and two …

The director of L’Osservatore Romano reflects on The Lord of the Rings, a precious source of inspiration for politics today. By Andrea Monda Seventy years ago, in January or February 1956, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a letter to Michael Straight, editor of New Republic, in which he mentioned a “ferocious” letter he …

ACROSS 1 It becomes the Blood of Christ 5 Not fer 9 Some outdoor gear 13 Precious metals, to Pedro 14 The “B” of N.B. 15 Distinctive dress worn by religious 16 Artist Chagall 17 Picnic intruders 18 Delight 19 “___ boy!” 20 Views 21 In a bit 22 First …

Shine On | Dominick Albano A few years ago, I was to lead a parish mission at a church in California, and before the first night began, I slipped into a pew at the front of the sanctuary to pray. The church was empty. Quiet. Still. When I finished praying, …

The late American Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified at a Mass presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on September 24, 2026, in St. Louis, Missouri, according to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. By Deborah Castellano Lubov and Robin Gomes Venerable Fulton J. Sheen of the …