Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church

Newly ordained Father Erlin Pérez Vásquez shares his journey to the priesthood and the incredible blessings he received along the way. Erlin Pérez Vásquez was born on Dec. 8, 1999, the solemnity of the Immaculate [...]

Some books are discovered quietly. Others arrive with insistence. “You have to read this,” a friend says, pressing a well-thumbed paperback into your hands. “Trust me.” Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series became exactly that kind of phenomenon. Passed between sisters, book clubs, colleagues, and neighbors, the sweeping saga of seven women tracing their origins across Read More…

Lucinda Riley’s ‘Seven Sisters’: A legacy beyond the page

Pope Leo XIV voiced concern on Sunday about developments in the Middle East and Iran, urging the parties involved to stop what he called a “spiral of violence” before it becomes an “irreparable abyss.” “Stability [...]

Perhaps when we think of excommunication, we think of a cardinal or bishop wagging his finger at a person in some sort of Church court. Excommunication is typically seen by the media or movies as some sort of punishment that the Catholic Church deals out when she really wants to make sure that an individual Read More…

What does it mean to be “automatically” excommunicated?

At the start of the conflict in Iran, the bishops of the two vicariates that oversee the gulf countries of Arabia and more than 2 million Catholic faithful there issued statements. Both prayed, “May Our Lady of Arabia, our mother, watch over us all.” The two statements are brief, and encouraged the faithful to be Read More…

“May Our Lady of Arabia watch over us all”

Bowman’s ability to see the dignity of each individual, and embrace all gifts and cultures, is an essential message for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. African American Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman’s ability to bridge [...]

I can’t help but think that we’re thinking about chastity all wrong. Precisely backwards, in fact, and this mix-up is behind the reason so many of us struggle to be chaste. We’re picturing a constant battle against sin, the relentless process of leaving something we desire behind. In this scenario, chastity can be conceived as Read More…

We’re getting chastity all wrong, and that makes it harder

When pizza magnate Tom Monaghan founded Legatus in 1987, its members had as their mission to “study, live and spread the Catholic faith” in their families, businesses, and communities. Today, almost 40 years later, that [...]

I recently returned from delivering a lecture at the annual Los Angeles religious education congress and, as is my custom when possible, turned it into a “bring-a-kid-to-work” adventure. This time, my middle-school daughter and I [...]

Everyone remembers when the world was shut down during the great lockdown of 2020. However, there are some things that we are in danger of forgetting, not least of which is the way that the Covid pandemic was used as a pretext to declare war on religion and religious liberty.