Angelus News | January 9, 2026

ANGELUS

WHEN A

DOOR OPENS

How we found hope

in the Holy Year

January 9, 2026 Vol. 11 No. 1

January 9, 2026

Vol. 11 • No. 1

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ANGELUS

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ON THE COVER

CNS/PABLO ESPARZA

A pilgrim touches the Holy Door upon entering Rome’s Basilica

of St. John Lateran in November. The 2025 Jubilee Holy Year

brought millions of pilgrims to Rome, inspired countless events,

and even saw the election of a new pope. But what was it all

for? On Page 10, the three winners of Angelus’ “Jubilee graces”

writing contest give their personal responses to our question:

Where did you find hope this Jubilee Year?

THIS PAGE

OSV NEWS/COURTESY LATIN

PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM

Children perform the Nativity as Cardinal

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,

visits Holy Family Church in Gaza City

on Dec. 20, during his Christmas pastoral

visit with a community that has endured two

years of war.

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Always Forward - newsletter.angelusnews.com

CONTENTS

Pope Watch............................................... 2

Archbishop Gomez................................. 3

World, Nation, and Local News...... 4-6

In Other Words........................................ 7

Father Rolheiser....................................... 8

Scott Hahn.............................................. 32

Events Calendar..................................... 33

13

16

18

20

22

26

28

30

A nun looks back at a year of welcoming U.S. Jubilee pilgrims to Rome

When cancer threatened Christmas, this teacher’s students stepped in

Photos: Cathedral hosts annual memorial for LA’s homeless dead

Why Pope Leo’s favorite author is no spiritual lightweight

Elise Ureneck: What to tell girls who don’t want to get married

Robert Brennan on ‘Train Dreams’ and what an adult film should be

Does the new ‘Knives Out’ have Catholic characters that convince?

Heather King: The 1960s tale of another Kennedy family

January 9, 2026 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH

Leo talks to his team

The following is adapted from Pope

Leo’s Dec. 22 Christmas address to members

of the Roman Curia, or Vatican

bureaucracy.

By her very nature, the Church is

outward-looking, turned toward

the world, missionary. The mission

of Jesus on earth, which continues

in the Holy Spirit through the Church,

becomes a criterion for discernment

in our lives, in our journey of faith, in

ecclesial practices, and also in the service

we carry out in the Roman Curia.

Structures must not weigh down or slow

the progress of the Gospel or hinder the

dynamism of evangelization; instead,

we must “make them more mission

oriented.”

We need an ever more missionary

Roman Curia, in which institutions,

offices, and tasks are conceived in light

of today’s major ecclesial, pastoral, and

social challenges, and not merely to

ensure ordinary administration.

At the same time, in the life of the

Church, mission is closely linked to

communion.

Communion in the Church always

remains a challenge that calls us to

conversion. At times, beneath an

apparent calm, forces of division may

be at play. We can fall into the temptation

of swinging between two opposite

extremes: uniformity that fails to value

differences, or the exacerbation of

differences and viewpoints instead of

seeking communion. Thus, in interpersonal

relationships, in internal office

dynamics, or in addressing questions

of faith, liturgy, morality, and more

besides, there is a risk of falling into rigidity

or ideology, with their consequent

conflicts.

Yet we are the Church of Christ, his

members, his body. We are brothers

and sisters in him. And in Christ,

though many and diverse, we are one:

In Illo uno unum.

We are called, especially here in the

Curia, to be builders of Christ’s communion,

which is to take shape in a synodal

Church where all cooperate in the

same mission, each according to his or

her charism and role. This communion

is built not so much through words and

documents as through concrete gestures

and attitudes that ought to appear

in our daily lives, including in our work.

I would like to recall what St. Augustine

wrote in his “Letter to Proba”:

“In all human affairs, nothing is truly

cherished without a friend.” Yet he

asked, with a note of bitterness, “But

how seldom in this life is such a person

found whose spirit and conduct may be

trusted with full confidence?”

At times this bitterness finds its way

among us as well, when, after many

years of service in the Curia, we observe

with disappointment that certain

dynamics — linked to the exercise

of power, the desire to prevail, or the

pursuit of personal interests — are slow

to change. We then ask ourselves: is

it possible to be friends in the Roman

Curia? To have relationships of genuine

fraternal friendship?

Amid daily toil, it is a grace to find

trustworthy friends, where masks fall

away, no one is used or sidelined,

genuine support is offered, and each

person’s worth and competence are

respected, preventing resentment and

dissatisfaction. Such relationships

call for a personal conversion, so that

Christ’s love, which makes us brothers

and sisters, may shine through.

Papal Prayer Intention for January: Let us pray that praying

with the Word of God be nourishment for our lives and a

source of hope in our communities, helping us build a more

fraternal and missionary Church.

2 • ANGELUS • January 9, 2026

NEW WORLD OF FAITH

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

Seeing with the Samaritan’s eyes

On Dec. 21, at the Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels, Archbishop José

H. Gomez led interfaith leaders in a

memorial service for homeless men and

women who died on the streets in the Los

Angeles area during the past year. The

following is adapted from his reflection

on the Parable of the Good Samaritan

(Luke 10:25–37).

We gather once again to

remember our brothers and

sisters who died without a

home and with no one to pray for them.

Each was a child of God, created in

love, and created in God’s image. God

knew their names and had a plan for

their lives.

This is what troubles us. Year by year,

so many of our brothers and sisters lose

their way and end up on the streets; too

many cannot find a place in our society

and wind up falling through the cracks.

We wonder why, and there are no easy

answers. The questions themselves are

not easy; any solutions seem beyond the

possibilities of our politics. At the heart,

we are confronted with the mystery of

God’s providence and human suffering.

For me the mystery is not only why

God allows some people to suffer. The

mystery is why some people have compassion

in the face of suffering, while

others remain indifferent.

The parable that we just heard is like a

mirror. Jesus holds this mirror up to our

conscience and asks each of us what we

see.

Tonight, he is asking you and me:

“Which of these three, in your opinion,

was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”

There is another question that he

leaves unstated, and that is — which of

these three are you?

Love is the measure of the human

heart, and our love is judged by the

mercy that we show to our neighbors,

especially the weakest and most vulnerable.

In the parable, the priest and the

Levite ignored the robbers’ victim; both

made the decision to move over to the

other side of the road to avoid the man.

The Samaritan traveler also saw the

man, and Jesus tells us that he “was

moved with compassion at the sight.”

The Samaritan’s compassion is more

than feeling, his compassion moves him

to action. He draws close to the man,

treats his wounds, and takes him to a

place where he can recover.

Not only does he serve the man, he

pays out of his own pocket to ensure that

the man will get the care he needs.

The Samaritan then expands the circle

of compassion, inviting the innkeeper

to join him in seeing this man as his

neighbor and his responsibility.

It is a beautiful story of mercy and we

are moved every time we hear it.

What Jesus seems to be teaching us in

this parable is that there are two ways of

“seeing.”

There is one way that opens our heart

to see others as our brothers and sisters,

that enables us to see their dignity as

children of God.

But there is another way of “seeing”

that leaves us blind, that closes our heart

and makes us believe that the poor are

somebody else’s problem, not ours.

One way of seeing makes us a

neighbor, the other makes us a stranger.

I worry sometimes that we are becoming

a society of strangers, that we are

too isolated, too turned in on ourselves;

I worry that we are losing our capacity to

see others as Jesus calls us to see them.

“Which of these three, in your opinion,

was a neighbor?” No one else can

answer this question for you.

But brothers and sisters, you and I

are here tonight because we know the

answer. We know that “the one who

showed mercy to him” was the one who

was a neighbor.

Now Jesus is sending us out with that

knowledge. The last words of his parable

are a command: “Go and do likewise!”

Go and do! These are action words!

Go! And see others as the Samaritan

saw them, with eyes of compassion.

Do! As the Samaritan did: picking up

our neighbors when they fall, binding

their wounds, giving them a place to

stay so they can get back on their feet.

I pray that in this new year, each of us

in our respective religious communities,

will make a new resolution to be a

Let us go and spread the circle of compassion in

our society, inviting others to see as we see, with

the eyes of a neighbor.

neighbor to those in need.

Let us go and spread the circle of

compassion in our society, inviting

others to see as we see, with the eyes of

a neighbor.

Let us do this to honor the memory of

our brothers and sisters who died on the

streets this past year. Each of them had

a name and each of them was a soul

beloved by God.

We pray that they will find rest and

comfort now in his loving arms, and

that the home they could not find on

earth, they will find forever with him in

heaven.


WORLD

■ Turkey: Roman era ‘Good Shepherd’

fresco found in burial tomb

The Good Shepherd

depiction found Dec.

9 in the Iznik chamber

tomb. | COURTESY

ARKEOLOJI HABER

Archaeologists have uncovered a rare depiction of Jesus as the Good

Shepherd in a burial tomb in Turkey from Roman times.

The well-preserved fresco near Iznik, the town where the Nicene Creed

was adopted in A.D. 325, shows a youthful, clean-shaven Jesus carrying a

goat across his shoulders. Researchers believe the fresco dates to the 3rd

century A.D., when Christians were widely persecuted in the Roman Empire,

and noted it’s a rare example of Jesus portrayed with Roman attributes.

Archaeologist Gulsen Kutbay believes the artwork is possibly the “only

example of its kind in Anatolia,” the ancient region that makes up most of

Turkey.

Kutbay’s team announced the discovery just a week after Pope Leo XIV

visited Iznik to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

Bringing back the light — Rabbi Levi Wolff lights a menorah as people pay respects at Bondi

Pavilion Dec. 15 to victims of a shooting during a Jewish holiday celebration at the beach in Sydney,

Australia. The country’s prime minister called the attack, in which two gunmen opened fire and killed

15 people at a Hanukkah celebration, an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the

nation. | OSV NEWS/HOLLIE ADAMS, REUTERS

■ Jimmy Lai’s conviction: A

necessary step toward freedom?

Supporters of Hong Kong media tycoon and

pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai hope his

recent conviction will clear the way for his

release from prison.

Lai, 78, was jailed in 2020 for allegedly violating

the Chinese territory’s national-security law

and convicted of multiple counts of seditious

activity Dec. 15. As he awaits sentencing,

experts say conviction is punishable by life in

prison.

But Bill McGurn, a columnist for the Wall

Street Journal and Lai’s godfather, said “everyone

knew he would always be convicted.”

“It’s important because we have to get it out of

the way,” McGurn told EWTN News Nightly.

“Jimmy cannot be released until he was convicted,

and that’s why we had to wait all these

years for the trial and then his conviction.”

Those calling on Hong Kong to release Lai

have included President Donald Trump, the

United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, and several

Catholic bishops from around the world.

Pope Leo XIV has not commented on his case.

■ Chilean bishops have

mixed feelings over new

Catholic president

Chile’s bishops congratulated the country’s

new Catholic president-elect, a father of nine

who attends Mass, but are concerned about his

anti-migrant rhetoric.

José Antonio Kast’s campaign focused on

Chile’s rising crime and migration rates,

promising expulsions and to build a wall along

the country’s border with Peru and Bolivia. He

won with more than 58% of the vote in a Dec.

14 runoff.

In their congratulatory message, the bishops

told the conservative politician that these times

“demand clarity, generosity, and a deep commitment

to the common good” and that they

are “worried about the growing denigration of

migrants and vulnerable people.”

The country’s senior bishop, Cardinal Fernando

Chomali of Santiago, has expressed worry

about the “tone” of the recent campaign and

warned that mass expulsions of immigrants

would “generate profound economic damage:

reduced productivity, increased costs, loss of

formal employment, and upward pressure on

prices.”


NATION

■ Brown University victims

remembered for faith

One of the students killed in the Dec.

13 Brown University shooting was an

Episcopalian who regularly attended

Mass and other events at the school’s

Dominican-run Catholic Center.

Victims Ella Cook, a sophomore from

Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov,

a junior from Virginia, were both

remembered for their religious faith in

the shooting’s aftermath.

“Brown lost a bright light with Ella’s

passing, but we entrust her to Our Lord

Jesus, who she loved and believed in,

confident in his loving mercy,” Father

Justin Bolger, chaplain, told the National

Catholic Register. “We have offered

Masses for her repose and for Mukhammad,

the other deceased. We are praying

especially for Ella’s family and their

consolation.”

The morning before the shooting,

Umurzokov had been in contact with his

parents to plan a Muslim Umrah pilgrimage

to Mecca together as a family.

A quarterback for Jesus — God gets the glory of Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who

won the Heisman Trophy Dec. 13, a devout Catholic who frequently credits his faith in God and Jesus

Christ for his success. The 22-year-old began his acceptance speech by giving glory to God and is known for

incorporating daily Mass and Bible studies into his routine. His mother, Elsa, suffers from multiple sclerosis

and in a recent essay for The Players Tribune praised him as a “person of faith, who leans on God and trusts

Him, even when it’s an uneasy road.” | OSV NEWS/TODD VAN EMST, HEISMAN TRUST, POOL VIA USA TODAY

SPORTS, REUTERS

■ New York,

new archbishop

Pope Leo XIV named a

fellow southside Chicago

native to replace New York’s

Cardinal Timothy Dolan,

who turned the standard

retirement age of 75 earlier

this year.

Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, 58,

has led the Diocese of Joliet,

Illinois, since 2020. Before

that, he was an auxiliary

bishop in Chicago for two

years and as a priest served as

a seminary formator, missionary

in El Salvador, and vicar

general in Chicago.

In an interview this year,

Archbishop-designate Ronald A. Hicks and Cardinal Timothy Dolan at a Dec.

18 news conference at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. | OSV NEWS/

BRENDAN MCDERMID, REUTERS

Hicks said the house where he was raised in the Chicago suburb of South Illinois,

Illinois, was 14 blocks away from the home of Robert Prevost in neighbouring Dolton.

Hicks is fluent in Spanish and said that he was “formed by the Latino church.” When

asked at a Dec. 18 press conference announcing his appointment about his approach

to issues like the clerical sex abuse crisis and immigration, Hicks said he was “very

aware that these are complex and challenging days, especially as we face issues of life,

faith, justice, peace, and healing.”

■ Catholic flight

attendant settles lawsuit

with United

A Catholic flight attendant who

sued United Airlines for wrongful

termination has settled with the

airline.

Ruben Sanchez charged that

United Airlines dismissed him

because he had defended Catholic

moral teachings on gender in

X (formerly known as Twitter)

posts. He also sued his union, the

Association of Flight Attendants,

for failing to protect him.

Sanchez said that a passenger

reported him to United after

overhearing him express concerns

about “Pride Month” in a private

in-flight conversation with another

Catholic flight attendant.

Details about the settlement

have not been released, but

Sanchez was supported by X,

which cited its corporate stand for

free speech.


LOCAL

Memorable milestone — Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, second from left, along with LA auxiliary

bishops Albert Bahhuth, far left, and Slawomir Szkredka, far right, helped celebrate San Bernardino Bishop

Emeritus Gerald Barnes’ 50th anniversary of his priesthood on Dec. 13. | DIOCESE OF SAN BERNARDINO

■ San Diego auxiliary

named new bishop of

Monterey Diocese

Pope Leo XIV appointed Ramón Bejarano,

an auxiliary bishop of San Diego, as

the new bishop of Monterey, California on

Dec. 17.

The Diocese of Monterey has been

without a bishop since July 2, when Bishop

Daniel E. Garcia was appointed the new

shepherd of the Diocese of Austin, Texas.

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Slawomir

Szkredka had been serving as apostolic administrator

until a new bishop was named.

Bejarano, 56, was born in Texas, raised

in Mexico, and ordained a priest for the

Diocese of Stockton in 1998. Pope Francis

appointed him an auxiliary bishop of San

Diego in 2020.

“We will lose a wonderful person, a gentle

soul and a strong advocate for peace and

justice,” San Diego Bishop Michael Pham

said in a statement.”The Diocese of Monterey

will gain a bishop who has the heart

of the Good Shepherd.”

■ Marycrest Manor named

one of the nation’s best

nursing homes

Marycrest Manor, a skilled nursing home

in Culver City run by the Carmelite Sisters

of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles

since 2002, was named among the nation’s

best facilities in 2026 by U.S. News & World

Report for both its short- and long-term care.

Marycrest earned a five-star rating in

Overall Quality, Health Inspection, Quality

Measures, and Staffing, while also receiving

U.S. News & World Report’s highest rating

for Health Outcomes and Process.

U.S. News & World Report analyzed nearly

15,000 nursing care facilities nationwide.

Fewer than 19% of those are recognized as

“Best Nursing Homes” in short- or longterm

care, and even fewer in both categories.

“We know this is a very difficult rating to

obtain,” said Sister Veronica del Carmen,

RN, LNHA, the facility’s administrator. “It’s

very important that our archdiocese and

families know we’re caring for our elders, including

our elderly priests with dignity and

respect, and most especially with love.”

■ Hannon

Foundation

announces

more than

$600K in

LA grants

The William H.

Hannon Foundation

awarded

$660,000 in

grants for 2025 to

support Catholic

education and

social services

throughout the

Archdiocese of

Los Angeles.

Dr. Christian De Larkin, left, president at St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy in

Downey, receives a grant from Hannon Foundation President Kathleen Hannon

Aikenhead. The high school received about $160,000 from the foundation for

2025. | HANNON FOUNDATION

This year’s grants included support for scholarship and tuition-award

programs, health care, and mental-health services, retreats, and spiritual

formation.

The foundation was started in 1983 by the late William H. Hannon, a

Catholic philanthropist and real estate developer. His niece, Kathleen Hannon

Aikenhead, today serves as the foundation’s president.

“We are proud to continue the tradition of investing in mission-driven organizations

that meet people where they are, strengthen families, and expand

opportunity throughout Los Angeles,” said Aikenhead in a statement.


V

IN OTHER WORDS...

Letters to the Editor

Of euthanasia and euphemisms

The interview with Matt Vallière in the Dec. 26 issue reminded me of

a sign a co-worker had in their cubicle at my first job called “How [Poop]

Happens.” In colorful language, it describes how a bad idea or plan becomes “good”

through a series of euphemisms and altered wording.

This has happened with euthanasia. Nobody is for prolonged suffering or limits on

our autonomy, but on the surface they sound “good.” There will be advocates claiming

that assisted suicide is “noble” or that there were no other options. But we know

that suffering can’t be entirely removed, and that our autonomy is flawed in that we

make bad decisions and then stand on our heads to make justifications for them.

Legislation that protects the dignity of human life is important, but even definitive

legislative victories never seem to be that definitive. As Catholics, we can’t let

legislation do all our work. We have the responsibility to show that suffering is not

some stand-alone “bad” thing. With suffering comes mercy and compassion and

purification.

The purest and most powerful autonomy brings with it sacrifice, love, and unexpected

joy. The postponed mountain biking trip or unplanned long car ride to visit

a sick relative has an unexpected depth that we would never experience if we were

only doing the math.

— Mark Sullivan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

A call to mental disarmament

In an interview question to Matt Valliére in the Dec. 26 Angelus, Pablo Kay mentioned

that “some people compare the assisted suicide issue with abortion.”

That’s fine, but I submit the issue may also be framed through the pacifist lens of

war, in this case the war on human dignity, which is every bit as militaristic, since it

involves people using tools to take a targeted human life.

The solution? As the late Sister M. Fides Shepperson wrote: “Mental disarmament

must precede military.”

Minds must be changed, even perhaps one single mind, as in the case of Delaware’s

legislation. Civil authority must legislate for the common good. In what

world would the Canadian legislation be considered in the common good? There is

a reason the dignity of the human person is the keystone of Catholic social teaching,

and our bishops and priests should be among those leading the civilized world to

mental disarmament.

— Dr. Michael Szatkowski, board-certified in neonatal-perinatal medicine

Y

Continue the conversation! To submit a letter to the editor, visit AngelusNews.com/Letters-To-The-Editor

and use our online form or send an email to editorial@angelusnews.com. Please limit to 300 words. Letters

may be edited for style, brevity, and clarity.

Faith with a Filipino flavor

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Digital team produced

a highlight video from the Simbang Gabi celebration at

the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Dec. 15. |

ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES

To view this video

and others, visit

AngelusNews.com/photos-videos

Do you have photos or a story from your parish

that you’d like to share? Please send to editorial@

angelusnews.com.

“Let me begin with

potentially my first

controversial statement: I’m

a Cubs fan.”

~ Newly named New York Archbishop Ronald

Hicks, at a Dec. 18 press conference to announce

his appointment after Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s

resignation.

“If we are a flower in his

garden, he wants us to

bloom.”

~ Vicente Del Real, in a Dec. 20 Catholic News

Agency article on how the Iskali nonprofit

group is helping young Latino Catholics through

mentorship, professional development, and

evangelization.

“He could be an example

to the world that God

exists — that modern‐day

miracles do happen.”

~ Suze Lopez, in a Dec. 10 article published by

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on her delivering a

baby despite a rare abdominal ectopic pregnancy.

“It literally means bird poop

on a twig.”

~ Susie Dent, a British lexicographer, in a Dec. 17

NPR article on how mistletoe became a holiday

tradition.

“Young people don’t ask

about married priests or

ordaining women anymore.

They ask about life, love,

death, suffering. There’s a

spiritual thirst.”

~ Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo of Ajaccio,

France, in a Dec. 20 interview with Italian Catholic

newspaper Avvenire.


IN EXILE

FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father

Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual

writer; ronrolheiser.com

Who would have thought it?

I

once had the privilege of visiting

the Holy Land. It’s a strangely

different place. Soaked in history,

in struggle, in religion, in blood. Virtually

every inch of its soil has been

soaked in blood, including the blood

of Jesus. History leaps out at you from

every stone.

Ancient things come to the surface

there and mix with the things of

today. When you stand in its sacred

spots, you begin to understand why

Moses was told to take his shoes off

and why, through the centuries, so

many wars have been fought over

this small strip of desert. Aptly named

the Holy Land, I walked its ground,

barefoot in soul.

Of all the things I saw there, including

the tomb of Jesus, few touched

me as deeply as did the Church of the

Visitation. It stands in sharp contrast

to most of the other churches there

that mark the key events in Jesus’ life.

Unlike most of the other churches,

the Church of the Visitation is a very

modest building. You don’t see any

gold or marble. Its wooden walls and

oak ceiling are plain and mostly bare.

However, on the front wall, behind

the altar, there is a painting that

depicts the scene of the Visitation,

and it was this painting that struck me

deeply.

It’s a picture of two peasant women,

Mary and Elizabeth, both pregnant,

greeting each other. Everything about

it suggests smallness, littleness, obscurity,

dust, small town, insignificance.

You see two plain-looking women,

standing in the dust of an unknown

village. Nothing suggests that either

of them, or anything they are doing

or carrying, is out of the ordinary or of

any significance. Yet, and this is the

genius of the painting, all that littleness,

obscurity, seeming barrenness,

and small-town insignificance makes

you automatically ask the question:

Who would have thought it? Who

would ever have imagined that these

two women, in this obscure town, in

this obscure place, in this obscure

time, were carrying inside of them

something that would radically and

forever change the whole world?

Who would have thought it? Yes.

Who would have thought that what

these obscure peasant women were

gestating and carrying inside of them

would one day change history more

than any army, philosopher, artist,

emperor, king, queen, or superstar

ever would?

Inside them, they were gestating

Jesus and John the Baptist, the

Christ and the prophet who would

announce him. These two births

changed the world so radically that

today we even measure time by the

event of those births. We live in the

year 2026 after that event.

There’s a lesson here: Never underrate,

in terms of world impact,

someone living in obscurity who

is pregnant with promise. Never

underestimate the impact in history

of silent, hidden gestation. How can

any of us have any real significance in

our world when we live in obscurity,

unknown, hidden away, unable to do

big acts that shape history?

We can take a lesson from Mary

and Elizabeth. We, too, can reshape

history.

If we can grasp this, there will be

more peace in our lives because

some of the restless fires inside us

will torment us less. In brief, there’s a

perpetual dissatisfaction inside us that

can only be stilled by accepting something

we might term the martyrdom of

obscurity, that is, the self-sacrifice of

accepting a life in which we will never

have adequate, satisfactory self-expression.

That acceptance can help

still that pressure inside us, which

pushes us to be known, to make a

difference, to make our lives count in

terms of the big picture.

We all know the feeling of sitting

inside our own lives and feeling unknown,

small-time, undistinguished,

and frustrated because our riches are

unknown to others. We have so much

to give to the world, but the world

doesn’t know us. We yearn to do great

things, important things, things that

affect the world beyond the boundaries

of the small towns we live in

(even when we are living in large

cities).

What can help bring some peace

is the image expressed in that painting

in the Church of the Visitation,

namely, that what ultimately changes

the world is what we give birth to

when, in the obscurity and dust of our

small towns and in the frustration of

lives that forever seem too small for

us, we become pregnant with hope

and, after a silent gestation process,

one not advertised or known to the

world, we bring that hope to full term.

When I was teaching at Newman

College in Edmonton, our president

then was a Holy Cross priest who

brought us some Maritime color.

When surprised by something, he

would exclaim: “Who would have

thunk it?”

Yes, two pregnant women, 2,000

years ago, of no status, isolated, standing

in the dust, forever changing the

world? Who would have thunk it?


WHERE

DID YOU

FIND

HOPE?

The faithful touch the

special processional cross

used at the Cathedral of

Our Lady of the Angels to

open the Jubilee Holy Year. |

JOHN RUEDA

We asked you to tell

us what difference the

Jubilee Year made in

your lives. Here are the

winning entries.

A

few months ago, as the end of

the 2025 Holy Year drew near,

Angelus reached out to readers

with a question: Where did you find

hope during this Jubilee Year?

In our announcement, published in

these pages and on our social media

channels, we explained that because

the theme of this year’s Jubilee chosen

by Pope Francis was “Hope does not

disappoint” (Romans 5:5), we wanted

to hear stories of hope: conversions,

answered prayers, graces received,

and even miracles experienced in the

context of the Jubilee.

We received a wide selection of

submissions from readers of different

backgrounds and experiences. But the

winning selections stood out not only

for their candor and humanity, but

because they helped show us what this

Jubilee Year of Hope was really about.

We hope they do the same for you, too.

A family pilgrimage:

Rome or bust

This Jubilee Year gave me a powerful

experience to see the beautiful things

God can do.

This past summer, I went on a pilgrimage

to Rome with my family (my

parents, aunt, five siblings, and a few

friends from our church community)

for more than two weeks. It was great,

but it was not easy. We went by plane,

train, bus, and, most of the time, on

foot through different countries toward

Italy to pray and celebrate Mass with

thousands of other young people.

In France, I really enjoyed Lourdes.

The focus on honoring Mary was

important for me because without her,

there would be no Jesus. There was a

long procession where we prayed the

rosary with many people in different

languages. At the front of the line, there

were many sick and disabled; several

with Down syndrome. This was special

for me because my younger brother

has Down syndrome and he is always

cheerful. The joy that they had, the joy

that my brother has every day, is like

experiencing heaven on earth despite

the sufferings and challenges they have.

When we got to Italy, we visited many

churches dedicated to saints that gave

their lives for their faith. Visiting these

places gave me a great example of how

to live my life as I figure out my way

and my vocation. One highlight was

“Sant’ Agnese in Agone,” a church in


Rome where St. Agnes was martyred at

about the age I am now. She was very

brave and stayed true to her faith in the

face of death. It reminded me that God

can take us home at any age, but to

always stay faithful to the Lord.

We also visited the Vatican and passed

through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s

Basilica to experience God’s forgiveness

and mercy. Near the door, we prayed

near the tomb of St. Pope John Paul II.

I learned more about his life, and even

though he lost his family at a young

age, instead of being angry and giving

up, it strengthened his vocation to

become a priest. He served the people

and became a great pope and now

saint. He said, “Do not be afraid, open

wide the doors to Christ,” the same

way the Holy Door was open for us as

pilgrims. It taught me that even when

things are at their worst, God is always

with us like he was with John Paul.

The whole experience gave me hope

in God’s promise of eternal happiness

in heaven. I felt very close to God

during this pilgrimage. The common

theme of our pilgrimage was that you

can find happiness even in suffering.

I also realized that I can be happy

without TV and video games during

the trip. I would definitely do it again,

maybe even with my family … I would

Matthew (middle, in blue)

with his family in St. Peter’s

Square in Rome last summer.

| SUBMITTED PHOTO

not have had this amazing

experience without them!

— Matthew Costumbrado

(13), Riverside

Tears, sickness, and

true hope

The pilgrimage I made

during this year’s Jubilee

of Hope will be the most

memorable one for me.

When I was still healthy and

working, I made pilgrimages

to the holy sites as my priority

in life. Along with daily

Mass, it was my chosen way

to strengthen my faith.

Then, I suddenly got sick

from an autoimmune disease

that required seven long

years of dialysis and eventually

a kidney transplant.

During those bleak years, I

thought that I would not be

able to do another spiritual

pilgrimage again, although I

never lost the gift of hope. I

can feel his love for me even

in my darkest hours.

God really knows our deepest desires

because, through our Blessed Mother,

I, together with my five other siblings,

their spouses and my daughter, Jackie,

Mary Brion in St. Peter’s Square in Rome

during a Jubilee of Hope pilgrimage in

October. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

were able to sign up and go together

on a pilgrimage for the Jubilee of

Marian Spirituality offered by Chaplet

Tours.

During our time in Italy, we visited

Turin, St. Padre Pio, Lanciano, St.

John Bosco, and Loreto. But in Assisi,

where the body of the new St. Carlo

Acutis is, I was so touched to see a lot

of younger people lined up to venerate

this millennial saint who died of a

painful illness at 15.

The experience of passing through

the Holy Doors at Rome’s four major

basilicas in Rome brought me to tears

of joy and gratitude for the love that

only our God can give me. He knew

exactly what I needed most. I will

never forget the sound of the pilgrims

singing and praying in different languages.

I have not been in the best of health

after the transplant, so I am grateful for

the penance and the spiritual joy that

I have experienced during this Jubilee

of Hope 2025.

— Mary Brion


God’s plan and a lunchtime

surprise

In the past few years of my life, I

haven’t been much of a “go-getter.”

Battles with mental health, my

suffering faith, and an overall stagnation

in my personal development all

left me “floating in the wind,” so to

speak. There was no such thing as a

solid “five-year plan” outside of vague

intentions to finish school, teach, publish

written work, and have a family

someday. Instead, there was a kind

of deadness within my soul where

nothing grew.

Coming out of a recent season of

battling against obsessive-compulsive

disorder and into the new year of

2025, I had one resolution at the age

of 24 — get a driver’s license.

Spoiler alert: I haven’t gotten the

license (yet). But what God gave me

this Jubilee Year of Hope was so much

more.

He gave me a

seedling in the

arid desert of my

heart — a bud yet to

bloom, but growing

stronger every day.

Meeting my now

boyfriend, Michael,

in an almost chance

kind of way — over

a random lunch

table at this year’s

Live Action Young

Leaders Summit —

was like catching lightning in a bottle.

Add to the fact that both of us bonded

partially over a love of St. Pope John

Paul II. He became a real patron for

our relationship — he who gave so

many young people hope during his

life now touched ours.

And working alongside my life

coach, Monica, was like receiving a

pair of “hope goggles,” a “renewal of

Tacianna Bennett, left, with her

boyfriend, Michael, whom she met

at the Live Action Young Leaders

Summit. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

[the] mind” that allowed the desires of

my heart to awaken once more and actually

take root — my love for writing

and a desire to move past old patterns

in my spiritual and mental life that

left me stuck and resentful. With all

this and more, I’ve learned what hope

looks like, and it’s real. God is real.

— Tacianna Bennett, St. John Vianney,

Hacienda Heights

An Encino parish’s Jubilee mini-pilgrimage

Parishioners of Our Lady of Grace in

Encino process through the Cathedral

Plaza during their Dec. 20 Jubilee

pilgrimage. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

Deacon Miguel Zamora spent

this Holy Year 2025 visiting

nearly a dozen parishes and

prayer groups around the Archdiocese

of LA to speak about the Jubilee: what

it is, why it’s important, and how to receive

the plenary indulgence associated

with it.

Every time, Zamora would encourage

people to do the “homework” of visiting

a Jubilee pilgrimage site in 2025 to

receive the indulgence. But he hadn’t

delivered that message to his own parish,

Our Lady of Grace in Encino, until

a few weeks ago, when pastor Father

Marinello Saguin asked him to preach

the homily at a Sunday Mass.

After the Mass, Saguin approached

him with an idea: Why don’t we rent

some buses and go to the cathedral as a

community?

“God put that in his heart, because

I didn’t say anything,” Zamora told

Angelus. “He suggested what I’ve been

telling all these people they should do,

but I didn’t tell him. He’s my pastor. I

don’t want him to feel like I’m telling

him what to do!”

So on the morning of Dec. 20, Saguin

showed up at the Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels with 100 Our Lady

of Grace parishioners to pray before the

Jubilee cross and celebrate Mass.

Saguin credits Our Lady of Grace’s

deacon couples, including Miguel and

Lupe Zamora, and its Hispanic ministry

leaders for organizing the pilgrimage.

The parish has helped the needy this

year with groceries and other resources,

but Saguin believes it was important

to “have a spiritual component to our

Jubilee experience.”

“In a time of fear, uncertainty and

much division, we wanted to bring our

Hispanic community together so that

we can live by the words of St. Paul

that ‘hope does not disappoint,’ ” said

Saguin.

— Pablo Kay


QUIET MIRACLES IN THE

ETERNAL CITY

The Sisters of Mercy

who staff the Bishops’

Office for U.S. Visitors to

the Vatican greet visitors

and hand out tickets to

Pope Francis’ weekly

General Audience at

the Casa Santa Maria

in Rome Feb. 4. | CNS/

LOLA GOMEZ

Before crossing Rome’s Holy Doors, thousands

of American Jubilee pilgrims checked in with a

team of nuns. Here’s what they saw.

BY SISTER MARIE

THÉRÈSE SAVIDGE, RSM

Over the past year, me and several fellow Religious

Sisters of Mercy of Alma have had the privilege of

working at the Bishops’ Office for United States Visitors

to the Vatican here in Rome — during a Jubilee Year.

Our mission has been welcoming record numbers of

pilgrims from all over the U.S to help them prepare for “a

moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord

Jesus, the ‘door’ (cf. John 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the

Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere, and to all

as ‘our hope’ (1 Timothy 1:1)” (Pope Francis, in “Spes Non

Confundit,” (“Hope Does Not Disappoint”) bull announcing

the 2025 Jubilee Year).

It has been a remarkable experience of God’s grace and

mercy.

The visitors have come from all walks of life: first-time

visitors to Rome, veteran pilgrims of past jubilees, young

couples, babies in arms, elderly parents accompanied by their

grown children, religious sisters, priests, and bishops.

But when they show up to our office, housed at the Casa

Santa Maria (the residence for U.S. priests studying in

Rome), a few steps from the Trevi Fountain, they all come

with the same intention: to see the pope.


As they enter, they are greeted by smiling sisters and seminarians

and directed to a table where they can collect their

tickets. Then they are invited to stay for an orientation — a

brief explanation of the Wednesday General Audiences, with

some helpful tips to make their experience enjoyable and

spiritually fruitful. Finally, they have an opportunity, if they

desire, to prepare spiritually for the audience by receiving the

sacrament of reconciliation.

The Visitors’ Office has been offering this service since the

early 1970s, but this year has had some unique and unpredictable

differences.

The holy Jubilee Year of Hope began on Christmas Eve,

2024, with the opening of the first Holy Door in St. Peter’s

Basilica. Visitors came as usual in January and February

to attend Pope Francis’ weekly audiences.

Then, as spring approached, Francis fell ill, and weekly

activities at the Visitors’ Office took on a different flavor.

Without papal events, there were no tickets to distribute.

But our office continued to open its doors on Tuesday

afternoons for a period of adoration and prayer for the

Holy Father in the Casa Santa Maria’s chapel, dedicated

to Our Lady of Humility. It was a privilege to witness the

faith of the handful of visitors each week who came to

take time out of their pilgrimage schedule to pray and

intercede for Francis.

In April, we distributed tickets to Easter Mass in St.

Peter’s Square, and we prepared pilgrims for the possible

Urbi et Orbi blessing, not knowing whether Francis would

be well enough to offer the blessing this year. We certainly

never guessed that it would be the last day the world

saw him.

When Wednesday audiences resumed May 21 following

the election of Pope Leo XIV, the response was remarkable.

We were used to welcoming about 900 people in

peak seasons. But for Leo’s first audience, more than

1,800 came, and since then pilgrims have continued to

come in larger numbers than ever. Leo has been giving

his weekly catechesis in Italian, while also delivering

Pilgrims and tourists

cross the door of the

Visitors’ Office in

Rome earlier this year.

| CNS/LOLA GOMEZ

his own summaries in Spanish and

English.

At first, it was almost a surreal experience

to hear the pope speaking English

at an audience. An American-born

pope has also been a gift for the newlywed

couples who have been coming

in the hundreds this year to attend

the Wednesday audiences in their

wedding garments, reminding us that

the Church in America is replete with

young adults generously seeking the

Lord’s will for them in the sacrament of

marriage.

The work of the Visitors’ Office may

be similar from week to week, but it is

never dull.

The greatest miracle we witness on a

weekly basis is the quiet miracle of mercy

that takes place in the confessional.

Every Tuesday afternoon, several young

American priests, living here at the Casa Santa Maria while

pursuing studies in Rome, generously volunteer their time

to hear the confessions of the pilgrims who desire to receive

God’s healing mercy in this sacrament.

Many of the weeks this Jubilee Year, there have been five or

six priests hearing confessions

at a time for nearly three hours.

Amid the bustle of the ticket

distribution and orientations,

we are continuously reminded

A priest from the Casa Santa Maria

stands by for English-language

confessions with pilgrims earlier

this year. | SUBMITTED PHOTO


each week of the miracles taking place in our very midst, as

God’s mercy is freely dispensed to all who ask for it.

At the Visitors’ Office, through the generosity of Holy Cross

Family Ministries and the Knights of Columbus, we have

also been able to offer free rosaries and a series of catechetical

booklets.

Every now and then, we hear from pilgrims about the ways

they put these popular materials to use.

One week, a man came looking for “booklet number 7” in

the catechetical series. He had heard from a friend that we offered

the booklets, and he was eager for his own copy of that

one. Others take booklets to share with family and friends,

and to inform their own faith. We have also enjoyed meeting

teachers, school chaplains, nurses, and others who have asked

for rosaries to take back home, blessed by the pope at his

audience, to give to those they serve.

We even had a very special visit from a boy in primary

school who would not be in Rome long enough to attend an

event with Leo, but who wanted to “take a blessing” back to

his classmates at home. Before he came to Rome, we were

able to take rosaries to an audience to have them blessed by

Leo, and this young boy was thrilled when he came to collect

the rosaries to take them back for his schoolmates. We later

heard that his school was blown away to receive such a gift.

Thankfully, opportunities to pray and celebrate our hope

in Christ Jesus have not been limited to those Wednesday

audiences and weekly encounters at the Visitors’ Office.

Especially since the election of Leo in May, there have

A welcome

table with free

rosaries and

booklets at

the Visitors’

Office in Rome.

| SUBMITTED

PHOTO

been Saturday Jubilee audiences with the pope and an

extraordinary number of papal Masses. And as pilgrims from

around the world have made their way toward the four major

basilicas in Rome, we have regularly witnessed large groups

praying and singing, often carrying a Jubilee cross.

For us, their faith and enthusiasm is a sure sign that faith

in Jesus Christ, our hope, is alive and well throughout the

world.

Sister Marie Thérèse Savidge, RSM, is a member of the

Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma. She currently serves as coordinator

for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Visitors’

Office in Rome.

THE CREW THAT SAVED

CHRISTMAS

Some of the students at St. Francis High School in La Cañada

Flintridge pose in front of Eli Hallak’s decorated house in Stevenson

Ranch, which raises money for charities. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

When a teacher

couldn’t decorate his

home due to a cancer

diagnosis, his students

at St. Francis High

School in La Cañada

Flintridge stepped up.

BY GREG HARDESTY

Eli Hallak’s wife, Patrice, jokes that

his obsession with going all out

each year to decorate their home

for Christmas is a kind of sickness.

Hallak, the veteran teacher and head

athletic trainer at St. Francis High

School in La Cañada Flintridge, sees it

differently.

For him, the elaborate scene of 68,000

lights synchronized to music, a mini-train,

two 8-foot-tall teddy bears, and

a snow-blowing snowman — among

other characters — is his way of giving

back to the community.

One year, his elaborate scene on Cotton

Blossom Lane in Stevenson Ranch

even served as a live backdrop for local

TV station NBC4 Los Angeles for an

entire month. Donations from visitors

have been used to raise money for local

charities, including the Boys & Girls

Club of Santa Clarita Valley.

But this year, when a life-threatening

cancer diagnosis put Hallak’s seasonal

showcase in serious jeopardy, he found

himself on the receiving end of generosity

from current and former students

in his kinesiology and rehabilitation

class.

Over two weekends, 10 of them spent

two days following his instructions as

they hauled out the decorations from a

10-foot-by-25-foot storage unit, assembled

the displays, connected the wiring,

and figuratively tied a bow around it all

when everything looked perfect.


“The boys saved Christmas, really,”

said Hallak, choking up as he recalled

their response to his harrowing health

odyssey. “It’s so heartfelt.”

Colleagues and alumni say the spontaneous

act of kindness was a fitting

tribute to a man who’s been a compassionate

and trusted mentor over his 28

years at the all-boys school.

Lifelong obsession

Hallak recalled as a 4-year-old being

enchanted by Christmas displays.

“It just stuck with me my whole life,”

he said.

When he got his driver’s license, he

cruised the neighborhoods and told

himself: When I own a house, I’m

going to decorate it.

That would turn out to be an understatement.

He and Patrice moved into their

3,200-square-foot-home in 2002, when

their oldest daughter, Madeline, was 2.

He started by putting up a few Christmas

lights, and three reindeer representing

the three of them.

Three years later, he put up a fourth

reindeer for newborn daughter Elizabeth.

But things started getting nutty

about 15 years ago.

“I knew if I started, I might not stop,”

Hallak said. “It’s just my personality.”

The home electricity bill reached

meteoric levels each November and

December until Hallak had solar panels

installed on his roof.

One year, a neighbor left a $20 bill

and a note in his mailbox offering to

help with the expense.

“I knew I couldn’t keep that money,”

said Hallak.

So he decided to funnel all visitor

donations to charities.

A challenging year

In June, Hallak was diagnosed with

essential thrombocythemia, a form of

myeloproliferative neoplasm — a rare

blood cancer that can be treated and

managed but requires lifelong medical

attention.

The cancer first manifested itself as a

deep-vein thrombosis in Hallak’s left leg

that grew to 14 blood clots in all four

extremities. Over the summer, he lost

60 pounds. On a good day, he was able

to walk around his four-home cul-desac.

Recently, Hallak’s illness was compounded

by hypercytokinemia, the

“cytokine storm” that occurs when the

body releases excessive pro-inflammatory

signals (cytokines), which can lead

to widespread tissue damage, organ

failure, and potentially death.

That condition is being managed with

medication, and on Nov. 1, Hallak

returned to teaching full time.

But given his physical condition,

decorating his home solo was out of the

question. So Hallak hired professionals

to decorate his roof and eaves and

relied on his students to handle the rest.

‘The least I could do’

St. Francis senior Joey Marrs led the

students’ efforts. He became close to

Hallak after breaking his leg during

a football scrimmage right before his

third year.

“He was such a help to me that it was

the least I could do,” Marrs said.

Fellow senior Stephen Fredricks

described the decoration as “incredibly

meaningful.”

“We know how important the Christmas

season is to him, his family, and

his community,” said Fredricks. “It felt

right to give back to someone who has

supported, motivated, and impacted so

many student athletes.”

For his part, Hallak finds it difficult to

talk about the students’ act of gratitude

without getting emotional.

“So many people criticize this generation

as being obsessed with social media

and only thinking about themselves or

wanting to be an influencer, and here

they are giving a Saturday or a Sunday

of their time to drive all the way out to

their teacher’s house to help him.”

Andrew Burghdorf, president of St.

Francis and a former student-athlete

who benefited from Hallak’s care,

praised his “tireless dedication, deep

compassion and unwavering commitment

to excellence.”

“Coach Hallak has always modeled

selfless service for our students, and

now we’re seeing the return on that

lesson.”

Principal Tracy Traver says the gesture

shows that St. Francis is “more than a

school.”

“We are a brotherhood rooted in

faith, love, and solidarity,” said Traver.

“Through their efforts, our young

men exemplified what it means to be

a Golden Knight — stepping forward

with compassion, strength, and service

to lift one of their own.”

The Hallak House at 25086 Cotton

Blossom Lane, Stevenson Ranch, will

be decorated until Jan. 1. Some visitor

donations this year will go to cancer

research where Hallak was treated: Providence

Saint Joseph Medical Center in

Burbank, home of the Roy and Patricia

Disney Family Cancer Center.

Greg Hardesty was a journalist for the

Orange County Register for 17 years

and is a longtime contributing writer to

the Orange County Catholic newspaper.

Eli Hallak, far left, teacher and head athletic

trainer at St. Francis, with some of the students

who helped decorate his house after his cancer

diagnosis. | SUBMITTED PHOTO


A CITY’S

COMMON

CALLING

Battery-charged candles bore the names

of local homeless people who died in

the past year. Eighty-four of the 1,564

candles were nameless, indicating the

number of dead who went unidentified.

Families, civic leaders,

and high-schoolers

offered prayers at an

interreligious memorial

service for LA’s

homeless dead.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN RUEDA

More than 600 people gathered

at the Cathedral of Our Lady

of the Angels the evening of

Sunday, Dec. 21, to remember the 1,564

people who’ve died while homeless on

the streets of Los Angeles and Ventura

counties over the last year.

Since 2022, the cathedral has hosted the

Homeless Persons’ Interreligious Memorial

to mark National Homeless Persons’

Memorial Day, observed every Dec. 21

to coincide with the longest night of the

year.

The prayer service, presided by Archbishop

José H. Gomez, featured speakers

from local Christian, Jewish, Muslim,

and Hindu congregations who minister

to the homeless. Several other religious

and community leaders also participated.

“I think there’s a common calling and

a vocation here for all faith traditions,

for all who value the dignity of human

beings, to look to full dignity,” said pastor

Tim Compton of the Hollywood Church

of Christ.

Editor’s note: Archbishop Gomez’s

remarks from the prayer service are on

Page 3.

Students from several

LA Catholic high

schools brought the

memorial candles to

the cathedral sanctuary

during the service.


Pastor Tim Compton

of the Hollywood

Church of Christ

speaks at the Dec. 21

memorial service.

Archdiocesan interfaith

officer Father Alexei

Smith helps Auxiliary

Bishop Matt Elshoff

light a candle.

Msgr. Tim Dyer (bottom left), pastor of

St. Patrick Church in South LA, brought a

bus of parishioners to the prayer service.


The cook who

prepared a pope

Brother Lawrence depicted

in a book published

by Fleming Revell Co.,

circa 1900. | WIKIMEDIA

COMMONS

Why does Pope

Leo XIV consider

an obscure 17thcentury

French

lay brother

his spiritual

inspiration?

BY MATTHEW

LEONARD

I

know I wasn’t

the only one to

suddenly pick up

their long-neglected

copy of Brother Lawrence’s

“The Practice of the

Presence of God” (ICS Publications,

$14.87) a few weeks ago.

That was when, in remarks to reporters

on the plane ride back to Rome

from his apostolic voyage to Lebanon,

Pope Leo XIV cited the short book as

key to understanding his spirituality.

“It describes, if you will, a type of

prayer and spirituality where one simply

gives his life to the Lord and allows

the Lord to lead,” said Leo during the

Dec. 2 press conference. “If you want

to know something about me, that has

been my spirituality for many years.”

Re-reading the famous spiritual classic

this time, I was less interested in its

content and more in opening a window

into the interior life of a pope the world

is still getting to know.

But what exactly was it that attracted

a 21st-century Vicar of Christ to a

17th-century Carmelite lay brother

known for spending most of his life in

the monastery kitchen?

The answer — at least in part — arrived

very quickly.

A few lines into the book, I came

across this striking line: “We ought to

give ourselves up to God, with regard

both to things temporal and spiritual,

and seek our satisfaction only in the

fulfilling of His will, whether He lead

us by suffering or by consolation.”

There you have it. If that didn’t appeal

to the spiritual father of more than a

billion souls, I don’t know what would.

Of course, he’s not alone. For several

centuries, millions have been spiritually

enriched by the teaching of this tiny

tome.

Lawrence’s core message is plain but

profound, accurately summarized by

the book’s deceptively simple title: all

about the practice of the presence of

God. That’s it. No syllogisms. No tightly

constructed systematic theology. No

high-brow philosophical arguments.

He simply wants us to live as if we are

always with Our Lord.

That said, given the lack of academic

rigor and brevity of his work, it is tempting

to dismiss Lawrence as nothing

more than a holy helper or spiritual

servant, as some have. They mistakenly

view his counsel on continuous

conversation with God as lightweight,

more akin to a spiritual “easy-listening”

radio station.

On the contrary, it’s obvious that this

unassuming keeper of pots and pans


had a serious interior life, reaching

spiritual heights achieved by very few.

I’d even venture that critics would be

hard-pressed to identify which famous

Carmelite shared spiritual advice like,

“To attain to this state [of union], we

must mortify the senses … we must

leave behind the creature.”[1] Was that

John of the Cross — or the guy washing

dishes? Or what about this one: “I

make it my business only to persevere

in … an habitual, silent, and secret

conversation with God, which causes

me joys and raptures inwardly, and

sometimes also outwardly, so great that

I am forced to use means to moderate

them and present their appearance to

others.” Teresa of Ávila — or “God’s

cook”? Hmm.

Read his book, and you’ll see that

Lawrence was anything but a spiritual

“lightweight.” For a man viewed by

some as nothing more than a “less anxious

Martha,” he appears to be quite

steeped in the rich spiritual tradition

of his religious order. He even anticipates

the famous “little way” of another

Carmelite great, St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Nearly two centuries before her birth

he wrote, “The littleness of the work

lessened not one whit the value of the

offering, for God regards not the greatness

of the work, but the love which

prompts it.”

And this littleness is at the heart of

one of the central themes of “The

Practice of the Presence of God.”

Namely, the necessity for a total surrender

to God: If we trust that God is

truly our loving Father who wants only

the best for us, why wouldn’t we give

ourselves over to him in every aspect of

our lives?

On the topic of prayer, Lawrence

echoes St. Paul’s admonition to “pray

constantly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “It

[is] a great delusion,” wrote Lawrence,

“to think that the times of prayer ought

to differ from other times.”

For Lawrence, life is prayer. It is

meant to be a constant union and

communion with God. After all, is

there ever a moment when we’re not

supposed to be in the presence of God?

Yet, all too often we tend to compartmentalize

our spiritual lives from daily

activity. We easily slip into the habit of

“saying” our prayers, checking them

off our spiritual “to do” list so we can

move on to everything else that needs

doing.

Even the way we speak of the “active-contemplative”

life can artificially

separate what should never be divided.

Yes, there is a real need for activity. Yes,

work needs to be done. But Lawrence

would remind us, “For me the time of

action does not differ from the time of

prayer, and in the noise and clatter of

my kitchen, while several persons are

together calling for as many different

things, I possess God in as great tranquility

as when upon my knees at the

blessed sacrament.”

As a Discalced Carmelite lay brother,

Lawrence’s life moved to the rhythms

of the monastery. Rather than separate

Mary and Martha, he practiced the

“one thing necessary” (Luke 10:42) in

both the chapel and the kitchen. For

him, it all flowed together in “unceasing

acts of love and worship, of contrition

and of simple trust, of praise and

prayer, and service; at times indeed

life seems to be one long unbroken

practice of His Divine Presence.”

At the end of the day, “The Practice

of the Presence of God” is a call “to be

wholly devoted to Him” from the heart

of a man who has experienced the

breathtaking grace of God.

“It is our one business, my brethren,

to worship Him and love Him, without

thought of anything else.” Taken

together, it’s all a sentiment — and a

summons — worthy not just of a pope,

but of every one of us.

Matthew Leonard is a Catholic

author, podcaster, and filmmaker. His

work can be found at ScienceOfSainthood.com.

Pope Leo XIV prays as he stands on the

central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at

the Vatican after his election as pope on

May 8. | CNS/LOLA GOMEZ


SAVING MOTHERHOOD

To young women shaped by today’s media culture, starting a family makes

less sense than ever before. Where can they find better examples?

BY ELISE URENECK

God willing, in a few weeks time,

I will be giving birth to my

fourth child, our first daughter.

The targeted ads I’ve been served are

filled with darling clothes and hairbows

to purchase.

But my news feed is a different story.

Those algorithms show me a myriad of

depressing statistics about how young

women view marriage and motherhood

today.

The starkest so far has been the recent

Pew Research Center poll revealing

that 12th-grade girls are now less likely

than boys to want to get married someday,

with the share of girls who want to

marry dropping 22 percentage points

from 1993 to 2023. While 61% of girls

now want to marry, 74% of boys still do.

It’s the first time a gender gap like this

has been documented.

Why the shift? The Pew analysis

offered three conclusions:

First, girls are more aware of the potential

for unequal burdens in marriage,

such as unpaid care work. Second, they

report an increased emphasis on career

and personal success before family life.

Third, there is greater social acceptance

of diverse family structures, making

marriage one option among many.

Where are girls getting these ideas?

Maria Baer, journalist and co-host of

the “Breakpoint This Week” podcast,

and Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology

at the University of Virginia and senior

fellow at the Institute for Family Studies,

have one answer: Big Tech.

“We live our lives online, and we

decide how to live, in part, by watching

what everyone else is doing (online),”

they recently wrote in Deseret News.

Christina MacDougall

places a wedding band

on Julio Prendergas’s

finger as Msgr. Francis

J. Schneider officiates

their wedding Mass

Aug. 20, 2021, at

St. John the Baptist

Church in Wading

River, New York. |

CNS/GREGORY A.

SHEMITZ


“The result is pushing both men and

women away from marriage, by making

it harder for men to rise to the occasion

of becoming marriageable and by

making it harder for women, especially

the liberal women who spend the most

time online, to see the point of marriage

in the first place.”

My own Instagram feed gave me a

window into what the authors mean.

There I saw a viral clip of Stevie Nicks,

the famous singer-songwriter of Fleetwood

Mac, speaking to CBS about an

abortion she had when the band was

three years into its successful run.

“It would have destroyed Fleetwood

Mac if I’d had a baby,” she said. “It

would have been a nightmare scenario

for me to live through.” The news

program went on to note how Nicks

was the first woman to be inducted into

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

The message: Ambition and babies are

incompatible.

Emma Watson, the British actress of

“Harry Potter” fame, also recently commented

that societal pressure on women

to get married is a type of “violence.”

If that’s true, why do married women

consistently report greater happiness

than their unmarried or childless peers?

Sorting through the high-schoolers’

objections has been an exercise in

thoughtfully mapping out what I hope

to convey to my daughter about marriage,

ambition, and a meaningful life.

First, the question of unequal burdens.

The cost of living, housing, and

persistence of the “two-income trap,”

(alongside goods like post-pandemic

flexible work schedules) all mean that

in half of U.S. marriages, the man and

the woman are working outside of the

home in some capacity.

That also means they now increasingly

share responsibility for domestic duties.

NBC News calculates that men spend

around 100 minutes a day doing things

like cooking and laundry, both characterized

as “core housework.”

The message young girls are receiving,

however, is that the work of the home

should be an equal 50/50 split. As the

BBC put it, “organising a playdate,

booking the kids’ medical check-ups …

working out how to hide vegetables in

their evening meals, or ensuring there’s

enough on the shopping list … on their

A file photo shows a family praying during Mass

at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle

Church in Washington. | OSV NEWS/JACLYN

LIPPELMANN, CATHOLIC STANDARD

own, these may all seem like small

tasks — but they mount up. And if you

ask heterosexual couples with children

which partner is most likely to handle

them, it is probable that most would

offer up the same answer: the mother.”

This natural propensity for home economics

is now called “emotional labor,”

and wives are expressing frustration that

their husbands are not sharing the load.

I get it. There are moments in any

given day in which I’m simultaneously

cooking an early dinner, answering a

work message, and packing up for swim

lessons. I send our birthday and Christmas

cards. I know which uniform my

children wear for regular school days

and Mass days at their parochial school.

This is not because my husband

doesn’t want to help in these areas. It’s

because these things do not naturally

come to his mind. His gifts are elsewhere,

in areas in which I’m deficient

— like cleaning the gutters, taking out

the garbage, and repairing appliances

— all of which should be counted as

“core housework,” in my opinion, because

the house would be falling down

without them. This is to say nothing of

our lawn, which would be brown if I

were in charge.

What I want my daughter to see is

that my husband and I have different

strengths and weaknesses, and that

when we need help, we ask for it. I’ll

tell her to look for a man who is capable

of sacrifice and to become a woman

capable of the same. And to leave the

math at the door.

SHUTTERSTOCK


Second, I want her to know that

women’s work in and out of the home

is valuable. They both require time

management, communication, and

managing other people’s growth.

She will know that ambition is good

and is compatible with family life.

That is, if it’s the kind described by the

authors of “Holy Ambition: Thinking

as a Catholic Woman at Work and

at Home” (Ave Maria Press, $18.95):

“Our career ambitions should include

how we can breathe life into others

through our work. Our financial ambitions

should include how we can give

back to the Church and support people

less fortunate than themselves. Our

personal ambitions should include

goals for our relationships. Our health

ambitions should help us to care for

ourselves and the people we love.”

But I also hope she understands

that she can’t have it all at the same

time. This is what many women now

characterize as living according to

“seasons.” They step in and out of the

workplace to varying degrees while

raising their children.

“Many of the women who view their

lives in this way say they think of

themselves as existing in between the

extremes of tradwives (who treat caring

for their homes and families as a more

permanent, full-time job) and girlbosses

(who center their lives around

work),” the author of a recent profile

in The Wall Street Journal writes.

This is what I saw my mentors doing:

making calculated choices about work,

marriage, and motherhood based on

what reality presents to them. That

includes biology and fertility windows

as well as the needs of one’s family. It

involves the careful evaluation of job

opportunities as once in a lifetime or

one among many that will come down

the road.

I hope my daughter will also see that

a good husband and father might have

to take some career hits, too. He’ll

have to say no to some opportunities if

he’s going to be present to his wife and

kids and invested in their well-being.

His growth might be slower and steadier

than his childless or uninvolved

peers.

Last, I want my daughter to think

in terms of vocation, not lifestyle:

Marriage is one option among several,

even for Catholics who think in terms

of supernatural callings.

We know that “choice paralysis,”

in which one’s future is wide open

with endless possibilities, is a path to

unhappiness. What helped me — and

will help my daughter — is meeting

women who find joy in giving themselves

away to others, whether in

marriage, consecrated life, or single.

Maybe that’s the answer. Young girls

need real-life messengers more than

messages. They need to see for themselves

how marriage and motherhood

make for a meaningful life.

“Modern man listens more willingly

to witnesses than to teachers, and if he

does listen to teachers, it is because

they are witnesses,” wrote St. Pope

Paul VI. With my daughter’s birth approaching,

I’ve got some work to do on

my witness. You can say I’m motivated.

Elise Ureneck is a communications

consultant writing from Rhode Island.



AD REM

ROBERT BRENNAN

A little film about ‘little’ people

Felicity Jones and Joel

Edgerton in “Train

Dreams.” | ©2025

NETFLIX VIA IMDB

If you want to make an impression

at the Christmas party this year,

announce how you lament that

mainstream Hollywood stopped making

adult films by 1980.

Before your hostess bops you over the

head with the charcuterie board, you

add the caveat that by “adult” films you

mean films about grownups and for

grownups. When it looks like she still

may come after you with the ladle from

the punch bowl, further explain how

the onset of the summer blockbuster

and the “three-day weekend” holiday

premieres recalibrated the Hollywood

movie-making machinery, creating

the “tent pole” film industry. The

result has been the mass production of

hundreds of comic book movies, sci-fi

fantasy films, and other over-the-top

action films that defy gravity, logic, and

credulity.

The cottage industry of small, independent

films was the response to this,

and that is why most films nominated

for Best Picture at the Oscars these

days are films with tiny niche audiences,

which most people watching the

awards shows on TV have never heard

of.

I miss those days when “big” films

came with lofty ideas, big production

values, and big performances. Now it

seems the “big” pictures Hollywood

produces must have at least a robot

or crazed AI computer, or have a plot

wrapped around some massive international

conspiracy theory that everybody

seems to know about but the protagonist

of the film.

It is not impossible, though, to find

small films with adult themes. Thanks

to the revolutionary world of streaming,

producers can make a good living making

the kinds of films that few people

see but win awards and prestige. The

problem is finding one of these films

that does not assault one’s Catholic

sensibilities.

The Netflix movie “Train Dreams”

is not really about trains, or dreams for

that matter. The protagonist does not

fly, he is not from another planet, and

he does not possess a diabolical secret

he must tell the world before it is too

late. He is just a board-certified male

human being with longings and hope

and in need of completing himself in a

marital union. Not exactly the stuff of

“Transformers VIII,” but a movie with

profound simplicity and gentleness, all

wrapped up in a dream-like reality.

The location is the American Northwest.

The time is the early part of the

20th century, and the man works with

his hands. We see him wielding axes

and pushing and pulling a giant handsaw

built for two as he builds railroad

bridges and provides raw material that

would help build 20th-century America.

That is a “big” thing, but it happens

from the labor and the lives of a lot of


Robert Brennan writes from Los Angeles, where

he has worked in the entertainment industry,

Catholic journalism, and the nonprofit sector.

“little” people whose everyday existences

would make any movie executive

break out in a yawn.

And that is who our protagonists are

in this film: a simple man and a simple

woman. They meet at church. They

fall in love. They have a little girl. I

can almost hear the studio commissary

conversation about such a plot line

sounding so weird. With his craftsman’s

skills, the man builds a modest house

near a river. The man and the woman

have the kind of symbiotic relationship

most marriages before the Industrial

Revolution had.

The woman did not leave the home

… and the husband did not either,

unless he was out in a field plowing,

sowing, or reaping. If there is a villain

in this piece, it just may be the mechanical

revolution that dragged men

out of their homes and away from their

families. That is a central plot point to

this film, as the man must spend inordinate

amounts of time away from home

to work as a lumberman so he can

provide for that very family he misses

so much.

The man’s long times of separation

from his family are painful, the scenes

of his returns joyful. The couple dream

of the day when he will not have to

leave so often and that dream turns

into a jointly agreed-upon strategy to

open their own sawmill close to home.

To make their dream a reality, the

husband must go out on one last big

job to raise the capital for the sawmill

venture.

This film may not include an alien

invasion, but plenty happens in “Train

Dreams.” It just does so to the rhythmic

cadence of ordinary people living

ordinary lives. There is a stillness about

the film, emphasized by the loving

bond between two married people

living life on the same page. Like all

good art, there is conflict and yes, there

is tragedy as well.

“Train Dreams” could have taken

the uncomplicated way out, and there

is a moment toward the end where

one is lured into thinking a “Hollywood”

ending may be on the way. But

these filmmakers resisted that, and by

resisting, pulled the audience out of

its dream and into the grown-up adult

world where endings are never so definitive

in one direction or the other.

This little film about “little” people

celebrates the uniqueness and inherent

value of every single person no matter

what their lot in life may be. And if

God can feel it every time a sparrow

falls to the ground, imagine how he

feels about a man and a woman, loving

each other and loving their child, while

they travel together through this vale

of tears.


NOW PLAYING WAKE UP DEAD MAN

HOLLYWOOD,

HELP MY UNBELIEF

When it comes to avoiding Catholic stereotypes, ‘Wake Up Dead

Man’ is an improvement. Why is it still not convincing?

Josh O’Connor and Daniel

Craig in “Wake Up Dead

Man.” | ©2025 NETFLIX

VIA IMDB

BY JOSEPH JOYCE

There’s an episode of “Seinfeld”

where Jerry’s friend, a Catholic

convert to Judaism, starts telling

Jewish jokes while still telling his

old Catholic ones. An annoyed Jerry

reports this to a local priest, who asks if

it offends him as a Jewish person.

“No,” he insists, “it offends me as a

comedian!”

Several people have asked me if

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out

Mystery” (streaming on Netflix) is

acceptable viewing for Catholics. I’m

flattered by my sudden promotion to

czar of Catholic cinema, but like Jerry,

the comments offend my creative scruples

more than any religious ones.

The third of the “Knives Out”

movies, “Wake Up Dead Man” opens

not with hero detective Benoit Blanc

(Daniel Craig), but young priest Jud

Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor). Father

Jud is a former boxer with tattoos peeking

out from under his clerical attire.

In what’s either a tribute to or a theft

from the plot of 1952’s “The Quiet

Man,” he came to his vocation after

killing a man in the ring. His resulting

pacifism has led him to not only put

down the gloves, but to believe in reconciling

the world, not fighting it.

Jud represents a rare creature in

modern Hollywood blockbusters: a

nice, normal cleric. I’ve seen numerous

reviews from lapsed Catholics who

insist they would have stayed if their

priest growing up was like Jud, which

is funny because I find him far more

familiar than most priestly depictions.

Noting his niceness and normalness,

the Church packs him off to serve as

associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpet-


ual Fortitude, hoping such normalness

might have an influence on Msgr.

Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).

Wicks is a caricature of the Church’s

more traditional wing, convinced that

the world is at war with her. He has

scared off all parishioners save a cadre

of disciples, casting himself as their

only solution to problems he creates.

It’s really no wonder (and no spoiler)

that Wicks winds up the cadaver in

our murder mystery, though how he

got inside a locked vestry is more of a

question.

“Wake Up Dead Man” is entirely fair

to Catholics, assuming your metric

isn’t hagiography. The wickedness

of Wicks is counterbalanced by the

cuddliness of Jud, and the film seems

less interested in judging theology

than temperament. Writer/director

Rian Johnson classifies himself as a

nonbeliever, in distinction from an

atheist. You sense he shares the same

conclusion as his Benoit Blanc: still

skeptical but recognizing merit when

he sees it.

The real issue with the film is not his

unbelief, but his latent Protestantism.

Johnson was raised Evangelical and

admits he wrote about Catholicism

both to create a little distance from

his past, as well as the more practical

concern that the churches of his childhood

“looked like Pottery Barns,” as he

told America Magazine.

I can’t blame him for making the

switch. Catholic aesthetics are too inherently

cinematic for their own good

and few directors resist the temptation.

If aliens learned about humanity

from the movies, they’d assume every

Christian was Catholic and every city

was Vancouver.

The issue is that Johnson’s Protestant

upbringing doesn’t translate so easily,

and even when he does the research

he lacks the muscle memory to capture

the nuance.

It’s in the small things, like characters

saying “take” my confession instead of

hearing it. And it’s in something much

larger, like the entire character of

Wicks, a Pentecostal preacher trussed

up in a cassock, the type of man who

delivers sermons and not homilies.

Catholic homilies don’t have so much

brimstone; if we did, our churches

would at least be warmer in the morning.

A priest can easily be a tyrant,

it’s just that his tyranny should have a

Catholic strain to it. Also, curiously,

Wicks is seemingly the only Rad Trad

in America with no interest in Latin.

Wicks’ followers have the same odd

abstraction. Catholics come in all

shapes and stripes, but no one here has

the true tenor of a believer.

It’s not that the actors don’t do anything

wrong, but to borrow a phrase

from Justice Potter: I know a Catholic

when I see one. There’s a joke nowadays

that certain actresses can’t do

period pieces because their faces look

like they know what an iPhone is. In

“Wake Up Dead Man” no one’s face

carries the shadow of CYO dances, or

sharing a bedroom with one or more

siblings. Josh O’Connor was raised but

not maintained Catholic, yet at least

understands those minute rhythms.

He’s the only character here you could

find at a fish fry.

I can still roll with all this, but the

truly unforgivable sin of this film is

how you can’t solve the mystery. A

whodunnit is not merely a genre: it’s

a ritual, a promise. The structure matters

as much to me as the content, and

the cardinal rule is that you lay out all

the clues, giving us at least the chance

to solve the mystery, even when you

wind up surprised the 400th time in a

row. Johnson’s whodunnits follow the

tropes but usually throw in a second

act twist that re-contexualizes what

came before, ending with revelations

you couldn’t have possibly deduced.

It’s more magic trick than mystery,

leaving the audience dazzled, which

they then mistake for satisfaction.

By the end I’m left rather like Benoit

Blanc. There’s goodwill and generosity

here, and I’m largely sympathetic

to its aims. Yet at the end of the day

I remain a skeptic, offended not as a

Catholic but as a sleuth.

Joseph Joyce is a screenwriter and freelance

critic based in Sherman Oaks.

Josh Brolin in a scene from the

film “Wake Up Dead Man.” |

©2025 NETFLIX VIA IMDB


DESIRE LINES

HEATHER KING

A Catholic portrait of the

Kennedys — in a mill town

The Rumford Paper Mill by the

Androscoggin River in Maine

forms part of Monica Wood’s

memoir “When We Were the

Kennedys: A Memoir from

Mexico, Maine,” a portrait of a

Catholic family in the 1960s. |

SHUTTERSTOCK

We Were the

Kennedys: A Memoir

“When

from Mexico, Maine”

(Mariner Books, $14.95) is the story of

a Catholic, blue-collar childhood, the

trauma of losing a parent early, of love

of family and place, and of forgiveness.

It’s a perfect book, in other words, for

Christmas.

Written by New York Times best-selling

author Monica Wood, the book

begins in April 1963.

Towering over the town of Mexico,

Maine, and its adjacent, larger neighbor,

Rumford, was what residents called

“the mill”: the Oxford Paper Company.

“That boiling hulk on the riverbank,”

Wood describes it, “the great equalizer

that took our fathers from us every day

and eight hours later gave them back,

in an unceasing loop of shift work.”

If Oxford Paper was Mexico’s North

Star — for a time at least, a beneficent

God — Albert Wood, “loose with

laughter, physically tough, a natural

lightheart,” was the patriarch and North

Star of the author’s family.

He and Mrs. Wood have five children.

Two are older: Barry, 27, married with

children, lives nearby. Anne, the oldest

daughter at 21, is already ultra-conscientious,

daintily beautiful, and

teaching Spencer’s “The Fairie Queen”

at a local high school.

Then had come three late-life daughters:

Betty, mentally disabled, Monica

(Monnie), and Cathy, the youngest.

All three attend St. Theresa’s, a local

French Catholic elementary school.

They eat their oatmeal each morning

with a resident parakeet perched on the

rim of their bowl and a tabby twining

between their legs, as their mother

presses their uniforms piece by piece

at the ironing board, sending them off


Heather King (heather-king.com) writes memoirs, leads workshops,

and posts on Substack at “Desire Lines: Books, Culture, Art.”

HARPERCOLLINS

with starched collars, neatly pleated

skirts, and their lunch bags.

The town is a melting pot: French,

Italian, Polish. Their father has brought

his heart, his work ethic, and his lilting

phrases from Canada’s Prince Edward

Island: “Desperate-handsome,” “For

crying out gently,” “Fearful-grand.”

They live on the third floor of a

triple-decker apartment house. On the

ground floor are their scrimp-and-save

landlords, the Norkuses, Lithuanian

refugee/immigrants. “Make stop you

jump!” they yell at the girls who constantly

run up and down the stairs, and

“No bring friend!”

As the story opens, Monnie is in fourth

grade, Cathy and Betty are in second.

They’re getting ready for school one

morning when the news comes: their

father has died in a neighbor’s driveway,

felled instantly by a heart attack.

The memoir constellates around this

unthinkable, unspeakable loss. “I’ve lost

my best friend!” keens their mother,

who spends several months in bed.

The family is shattered, forever, but

somehow they keep going. Anne is

their guiding light. The neighbors bring

tuna casseroles, soda bread, and offers

of help.

Denise Vaillancourt, whose parents

welcome Monnie to their own crowded

table, becomes a lifelong friend.

Then there’s Father Bob, their mother’s

brother, who wears his collar and

“blacks” wherever they go. The girls

burst with pride when Father visits their

classroom: Toll booth collectors wave

them through: “Go right ahead, Father,

no charge.”

Their lives are shot through with the

Church’s angels, saints, and prayers, its

quirks, its rituals, and rules.

“Like most Irish Catholic families

in 1963, mine had a boiled dinner on

Sundays after Mass and salmon loaf on

Fridays. We had pictures of Pope John

and President John and the Sacred

Heart of Jesus hung over our red

couch… We went to Mass on Sundays

and high holy days, singing four-part

Tantum Ergos from the choir loft.”

On overnight visits to the rectory,

Father Bob says a private Mass for “his

girls.” Afterward, “we’d rush the sacristy

to watch him shed his vestments,

smooth out their gilded folds, and

hang them in a closet made special.

He stashed the chalice and paten.

Everything so tidy, so proper … we

learned the after-Mass protocol the way

children in other places learn to trim a

sail or wax their skis.”

Betty is neither sentimentalized, nor

indulged, nor immune from teasing.

She’s simply a cherished member of

the family, accepted and accommodated

without question, without comment.

When JFK is assassinated, the same

year their father dies, their mother

feels an instant sense of identification.

Jackie, Caroline, and John-John have

also lost a husband and father. Jackie,

too, bravely attended the funeral Mass,

well-behaved children in tow. The

extended Kennedy family, like the

Woods, even has a child with Down

syndrome.

So deep is “Mum’s” imagined bond

with the Kennedys that she marshals

the whole family to take a road trip to

Washington, D.C. En route, they stop

in Baltimore to pick up Father Bob,

who it turns out, has been in a Catho-

lic hospital drying out: “Just nervous,”

Mum smooths over his alcoholism.

“The Catholic tradition of my childhood

— which I recall with affection,

some awe, and a measure of yearning

— did not allow for randomness. …

Wherever you fit into the plan — giving

Communion or receiving Communion;

top of the class or mentally

retarded; working or on strike; whole

and happy or hacked to pieces by grief

— you fit. That was the Plan’s cruel

beauty. You wept if you had to, hid

your face and gnashed your teeth, but

you knew that if you repaired to your

bed of pain it was because God wanted

you there — only you, only there — to

complete the unknowable requirements

of something great and vast and

ultimately beautiful.”

“Believe it or not, this was a comfort.”

It still is.

Merry Christmas.


LETTER AND SPIRIT

SCOTT HAHN

Scott Hahn is founder of the

St. Paul Center for Biblical

Theology; stpaulcenter.com.

How an ancient grinch tried to steal Christmas

The Arians were heretics who denied that Jesus was

true God.

Now don’t get them wrong — they’d insist — they

held Jesus in great esteem. He was the greatest of God’s

creatures. But, still, he was only a creature. He was god-ish,

because God made him that way, but he wasn’t God the

way God was God. He couldn’t be, they’d tell you, because

a trinity of persons is an impossibility. Three does not equal

one. And, anyway, an infinite being could never be contained

by a finite body.

Before long, they rationalized their “Jesus” down to a really

nice guy, to whom

God had given superpowers

at his baptism

in the River Jordan.

Thus, the feast of the

Baptism of the Lord

was (after Easter)

their great annual

celebration. That

feast, they said, was

the anniversary of the

Nazarene carpenter’s

promotion to demigod

and Messiah.

They had little

use for Christmas,

and even less for

Epiphany, because

these feasts presented

inconvenient data —

a baby boy already

identified as God’s

Son and humanity’s

Savior. They wrote

anti-Christmas carols,

with dismal (but

memorable) refrains

that denied Jesus’ coequality

and coeternity

with the Father:

“There was when he

was not,” they sang.

“There was a time

when he was not.”

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that this heresy took the

intellectual world by storm. In the mid-fourth century, St.

Jerome complained, “the world awoke to find itself Arian.”

That’s how quickly the emperors and academics — and,

sad to say, many bishops — got swept away by the fad. A few

intrepid Christians dared to oppose it. Some chose to die,

and others to suffer exile and hardship, rather than betray

the truth of Christmas. But the idea had powerful advocates,

and a few of them were emperors, and that kept the campaign

well-funded for much of the fourth century. When St.

Athanasius stood up for the Nicene faith, the Emperor Constantius,

who was

“The Nativity,” by Robert

Campin, 1375/1379-

1444, Netherlandish. |

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Arian, taunted him,

saying he stood alone

against the world.

Eventually, however,

the Catholic

faith triumphed,

not because it raised

money, or raised an

army, but because

of Christmas and

Epiphany and the

characteristic joy of

these feasts.

And Christmas joy

overflows through an

entire octave (eight

days) and then into

an entire season, ending

only on the feast

of the Lord’s Baptism,

which in the

United States is Sunday,

Jan. 11, 2026.

So I hope you’re still

celebrating. If you’re

not, then start it up

again.

Long before the

Grinch came to steal

Christmas, Arius gave

it his level best. That

wasn’t good enough,

thanks be to God.


■ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28

Closing of the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year. Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 10 a.m.

Archbishop José H. Gomez will preside a Mass with special

prayers marking the conclusion of the Holy Year. “Te Deum,”

a traditional hymn of thanksgiving, will be sung after holy

Communion.

■ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7

Organ Concert Series: Patricia Wang. Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 1 p.m.

Visit olacathedral.org.

“Is Your Faith Alive?” Weekly Series. St. Dorothy Church,

241 S. Valley Center Ave., Glendora, 7-8:30 p.m. Runs

Wednesdays through May 13, 2026. Deepen your understanding

of the Faith through dynamic DVD presentations

by Dr. Brant Pitre, Chris Stefanik, the Augustine Institute,

and Matthew Leonard. Free events, no RSVP required. Call

626-335-2811 or visit the Adult Faith Development ministry

page at stdorothy.org.

Solemn Vespers. Our Mother of Good Counsel Church,

2060 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, 7 p.m. OMGC will

hold Solemn Vespers services with choir and organ, chants,

hymns, psalms, and canticles, on the first and third Wednesdays

of each month. The first Wednesday will include

Benediction. Call 323-664-2111 or visit omgcla.org.

■ THURSDAY, JANUARY 8

St. Padre Pio Mass. St. Anne Church, 340 10th St., Seal

Beach, 1 p.m. Celebrant: Father Al Baca. For more information,

call 562-537-4526.

■ SATURDAY, JANUARY 10

New Year Silent Saturday Centering Prayer. Holy Spirit

Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. With

Sister Chris Machado, SSS, and the Centering Prayer Team.

Visit hsrcenter.com or call 818-784-4515.

“Epiphany: The Light has Overcome the Darkness”

ACTheals Retreat. St. Andrew Church, 538 Concord St.,

El Segundo, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. With Father Alexei Smith. Cost:

$35/person, includes continental breakfast and light refreshments.

Lunch not included. RSVP by Jan. 9. Call Bernadette

St. James, PsyD., at 310-991-2256 or visit ACTheals.org.

■ SUNDAY, JANUARY 11

Virtual Diaconate Formation Information Day. Zoom, 2-4

p.m. Presentation available in Spanish. Email NGDubon@

la-archdiocese.org.

■ TUESDAY, JANUARY 13

Memorial Mass. San Fernando Mission, 15151 San Fernando

Mission Blvd., Mission Hills, 11 a.m. Mass is open to the

public. Limited seating. RSVP to outreach@catholiccm.org

or call 213-637-7810. Livestream available at CathoicCM.

org or Facebook.com/lacatholics.


Marriage Preparation Session. Sacred Heart Church, 344

W. Workman St., Covina, 8:45 a.m.-5 p.m. Two sessions

available per month, one in English and one in Spanish. Engaged

couples and those already in a civil union are welcome

to attend. All sessions require in-person attendance of both

bride and groom for the full eight-hour session. Cost: $150/

couple. Visit familylife.lacatholics.org.

Methodology in Catechesis and Faith Development.

Zoom, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. With Prof. Douglas Leal, MA Pastoral

Ministry. The session introduces participants to the major

theories of human development, faith development, and

the method of Shared Christian Praxis. Cost: $50/person.

Breaks and lunchtime included. Visit lacatholics.org/events.

■ SUNDAY, JANUARY 18

Feast of Santo Niño. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,

555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, Sinulog, 2 p.m. at the plaza,

pre-liturgy, 3 p.m., Mass 3:30 p.m. Principal celebrant:

Father Crespo A. Lape, MJ. Bring Santo Niño statues for a

special blessing. Contact Romy Esturas at 213-393-9405 or

romyesturas@hotmail.com.


OneLife LA. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555

W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 1:30-6 p.m. Day includes a

gathering at the Cathedral Plaza, inspiring talks and live

music, walk for life, and the Requiem Mass for the Unborn

celebrated by Archbishop José H. Gomez. Visit onelifela.

org.

‘Hastening the Kingdom’: Catholic Bible Institute Talk

Series. Zoom, 7-8:30 p.m. Presenter: Chris Seeman, Ph.D.,

professor of theology at Walsh University. What does it

mean to look forward to the resurrection of the dead and

the life of the world to come? Visit lacatholics.org/events.

■ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28

Ethical Leadership Lunch. Cathedral of Our Lady of the

Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Catholic leaders from the business world are invited to discuss

how ethical business practices can positively impact

our community. Visit lacatholics.org/events.

■ FRIDAY, JANUARY 30

Journey Through Grief Weekend Retreat. Holy Spirit

Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 5 p.m.-Sun., Feb.

1, 1 p.m. With Cathy Narvaez. Visit hsrcenter.com or call

818-784-4515.


Women’s Discernment Retreat. Our Lady of the Angels

Center, 5435 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Free

retreat hosted by Called LA, led by the Inter-Congregational

Vocations Ministry, for women ages 18-39. Hospitality

and lunch included. Contact Jillian Cooke with questions or

RSVP at 213-751-4778 or email calledla@la-archdiocese.

org.

■ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4

Organ Concert Series: Juhee Lee. Cathedral of Our Lady

of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 1 p.m. Visit

olacathedral.org.

Solemn Vespers. Our Mother of Good Counsel Church,

2060 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, 7 p.m. OMGC will

hold Solemn Vespers services with choir and organ,

chants, hymns, psalms, and canticles, on the first and third

Wednesdays of each month. The first Wednesday will include

Benediction. Call 323-664-2111 or visit omgcla.org.

■ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5

San Fernando Mission Guides Meeting. San Fernando

Mission Cantwell Hall, 15151 Mission Blvd., Mission Hills,

1 p.m. Meetings on the first Thursday of each month, open

to new prospective docents, performing tours mainly for

California fourth-graders. Call John Panico at 661-877-

7528 or email jdpanico@gmail.com.

Items for the calendar of events are due four weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be emailed to calendar@angelusnews.com.

All calendar items must include the name, date, time, address of the event, and a phone number for additional information.


Angelus News | January 9, 2026 | Vol. 11 No. 1

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