Do you think God only calls extraordinary people to do something special? Here you will find regular people, like you and me, who heard the invitation from God. They responded, and today walk with our people, faithful to God’s wishes. How will you respond?

Don’t be overwhelmed by social problems. Start with analysis.By Santiago Cortés-Sjöberg“When I read the paper and I see all the troubles going on,” Susana says, “I am really scared.”Juan shrugs his shoulders. “They keep telling us we need to get involved,” he says. “But I can’t do anything. I am just one person, and the problems are too big.”It is normal to feel that way, but that does not mean we cannot do anything for those in need. We can and as Christians, we should!We must not only recognize the problems but also discover the causes of such unjust situations. It is only then that we can...
Your family may not understand your callBy Sister Dominga Zapata, S.H.In the Hispanic culture, maternity seems to be the highest thing a woman can desire. A woman becomes a real woman, so to speak, when she is a mother. This is the principle of life, so sacred in our community. You could say that the center of the Hispanic family is the mother.The mother is the one who carries the family forward; she is the one deserving of all respect. She is the bearer of life from the author of life, God. It is easy to see why Hispanics are so devoted to Mary: Mary is the prototype of the bearer of life....
I was a renewed person but also enlightened with gifts that were not of myself but of God’s grace.by Leanne TracyCollege consisted of late nights talking with friends and sharing stories from the heart. In high school this was usually not the case. My friends and I rarely stayed up talking about matters of the heart. My senior year though, I vividly remember sitting in a friend’s driveway for hours with so much to talk about.When our high school youth group started the Life in the Spirit Seminar, the Holy Spirit was taking hold of our lives and the depth of conversation was now unlimited. The...
Who says you don’t count?By Father Domingo Rodríguez, S.T.Who says you are a loser? Have you ever heard people say that we came into this word to suffer? That we need to resign ourselves to our lot because that is just the way things are? Think again!•    Aurora López couldn’t read because she had never had a chance to go to school. With lots of effort and perseverance she learned, got an elementary education, and went on to get her GED diploma. Then she started a small business.•    Marta Sánchez lived in a poor neighborhood of a big city, riddled with drugs,...
Interview with Gustavo Larrazábal, cmf, friend of Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and now Pope Francis How did you meet the present Pope? The then Cardinal Bergoglio gave homilies and spoke about various interests close to his heart, such as civic involvement and education. He went to Claretian Publications in Argentina where I was the director to ask if we were interested in publishing them. And we published all his works, with the exception of two: his biography and conversations with a Rabbi, which were published by Vergara. Everything else we did. And I was the one...
Pope Francis receives Fisherman's ring and Papal pallium March 19, 2013. (Romereports.com) (-ONLY VIDEO-) Before the start of his Inaugural Mass at St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis received the Papal pallium from Protodeacon Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, and the Fisherman's ring from Cardinal Dean Angelo Sodano.  During the brief ceremony, Protopriest Cardinal Godfried Danneels led a prayer for the Pope. Through these rites, the Pope officially begins his role as the Shepherd of the Catholic Church. Pope's Homily during Inauguration Mass Full Text:Dear Brothers...
By Rosendo Urrabazo, C.M.F.“I know that guy!” was my first reaction to our new Pope Francis I.Like many people around the globe, I was anxiously awaiting the white smoke from the make-shift chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. I could not return to my work until I knew who the new pope would be.A group of us at the provincial headquarters of the Claretian Missionaries in Chicago had just finished lunch when the white smoke appeared. When the new pope finally came out, wearing his white robes and simple cross, I was surprised that none of the so called “front-runners” made it.I was even more...
Opening our eyes and our hearts to the Stranger among usBy Elena SeguraThis is an abridged version of a talk given at the fourth annual Celebration Conference on Effective Liturgy, “Eucharist without Borders,” held April 11-13,2012, in Rio Rico, Arizona.I was born in Peru in a very small rural town called Talavera. At age 7, I was brushing my teeth and looking at the mountain that faced my house, when I saw several little people moving from one side of the mountain to the other. In about an hour and a half they arrived in town. Later I realized that these girls were my classmates, who walked...
It’s past time for the U.S. Catholic Church to make Hispanic ministry, especially to second-generation Latinos, a priority in everything we do. The editors interview Timothy Matovina, a professor of theology, Executive director at the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, Author of Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America’s Largest Church (Princeton University Press, 2012) and of Guadalupe and Her Faithful: Latino Catholics in San Antonio, from Colonial Origins to the Present (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)When Catholic parishes...
John Carlos Frey puts faith in moviesBy Tara Dix“Write about what you know” is the advice any good English teacher gives. So when John Carlos Frey decided to write a screenplay, it was only natural that the subject matter be the U.S.-Mexico border, which lies less than 100 yards from the house where he grew up. On a daily basis he used to see immigrants crossing that line, being chased by border patrol agents, hiding in his family’s garage and yard.As a young teenager he watched his mother, a native of Mexico and legal immigrant to the U.S., get summarily deported because she was walking in...
 

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