Angelus News | April 3, 2026

ANGELUS

BEHIND

THE VEIL

A biblical mystery’s

Easter message

April 3, 2026 Vol. 11 No. 7

ANGELUS

April 3, 2026

Vol. 11 • No. 7

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ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

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DAVID SCOTT

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PABLO KAY

pkay@angelusnews.com

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MIKE CISNEROS

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RICHARD G. BEEMER

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HANNAH SWENSON

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ON THE COVER

SHUTTERSTOCK

A detail from the Shroud of Turin showing what some believe is an

imprint of the face of Christ. On Page 10, biblical scholar and episcopal

vicar for the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region Auxiliary Bishop Slawomir

Szkredka explains why the “Sudarium,” or face veil, referenced in John’s

Gospel account of the Resurrection is more than just an accessory to

the Easter story. And on Page 13, Mike Aquilina details the strange

history of the relic in a remote part of Spain that some believe to be the

authentic “Sudarium.”

THIS PAGE

CNS/VATICAN MEDIA

Pope Leo XIV poses with former

classmates who graduated with him

from the lower school of St. Mary of

the Assumption in Chicago in 1969,

after the general audience in St. Peter’s

Square at the Vatican on March 18.

The pope is holding their eighth-grade

graduation class photo.

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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

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Angelus News

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14

16

20

What LA Arab Catholics think about the Iran conflict

Meet some of the LA Archdiocese’s record-setting converts

How Beirut’s Christians are facing yet another war

@AngelusNews

angelusnews.com

lacatholics.org

24

26

Did South America’s greatest modern writer revert to Catholicism?

Robert Brennan on an unplanned Lenten sacrifice: No internet

Sign up for our free, daily e-newsletter

Always Forward - newsletter.angelusnews.com

28

30

Amy Welborn proposes five movies with a surprising Easter message

Heather King: The unique life of Matt Talbot, the sober penitent

April 3, 2026 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH

Another kind of blindness

The following is adapted from the Holy

Father’s homily during a visit to Rome’s

Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Ponte

Mammolo on Sunday, March 15 (“Laetare

Sunday”).

At present, many of our brothers

and sisters throughout the world

are suffering because of violent

conflicts, caused by the absurd claim

that problems and differences can

be resolved through war, whereas we

must engage in unceasing dialogue for

peace.

Some even go so far as to invoke

God’s name in these choices of

death, but God cannot be enlisted by

darkness. Rather, he always comes to

bestow light, hope, and peace upon

humanity.

No matter how deep the abyss into

which a person may fall because of

their sins, Christ comes to bring a

brighter light, capable of freeing them

from the blindness of evil, so that they

may begin a new life.

The encounter between Jesus and

the man born blind (cf. John 9:1–41)

can, in fact, be likened to the scene of

a birth, through which the man, like a

child coming into the world, discovers

a new world, seeing himself, others,

and life through the eyes of God (cf. 1

Samuel 16:9).

In the “sign,” in the miracle, Jesus

reveals his divine power and the man,

as if retracing the gestures of creation

— the mud, the saliva — once again

fully reveals his beauty and dignity as a

creature made in the image and likeness

of God. Thus, having regained his

sight, he becomes a witness to the light.

Of course, this involves a great deal

of effort: he must get used to so many

things previously unknown to him,

learn to distinguish colors and shapes,

and rebuild his relationships — and

it is not easy. Indeed, the hostility

surrounding him grows, provoking

him, and not even his parents have

the courage to defend him. Then, it

is above all Jesus who is put on trial,

accused of having violated the Sabbath

in order to heal him.

Thus, another form of blindness is

revealed in those present, one that is

different and even more serious: that

of failing to see, right before their eyes,

the face of God, for which they trade

the possibility of a saving encounter for

the sterile security afforded by the legalistic

observance of a formal discipline.

Faced with such obtuseness, Jesus

does not stop, showing that no “Sabbath”

can stand in the way of an act

of love. After all, the meaning of the

Lord’s Day is precisely to celebrate the

mystery of life as a gift, in the face of

which no one can ignore the cry for

help from a brother or sister who is

suffering.

Perhaps, at times, in this sense, we

too can be blind, when we fail to

notice others and their problems. Jesus,

however, asks us to live differently, as

the early Christian community well

understood, where brothers and sisters,

constant in prayer, shared everything

with joy and simplicity of heart (cf. Acts

2:42–47).

Not that tribulations and obstacles

were absent, even in those days. But

they did not give up: strengthened by

the gift of baptism, they strove nonetheless

to live as new creatures, living

in communion and peace with all, and

finding in the community a family that

accompanied and supported them.

Papal Prayer Intention for April: Let us pray for priests going

through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may

find the accompaniment they need and that communities

may support them with understanding and prayer.

2 • ANGELUS • April 3, 2026

NEW WORLD OF FAITH

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

The sacrament of Easter

Baptism is the sacrament of Easter.

Our Lenten journey of penance,

purification, and conversion leads

all of us to the baptismal font at the

Easter Vigil.

This is true in a literal way for the

“elect,” who will be baptized that night.

But it is also true for the “candidates”

— those already baptized in other

Christian traditions — who will be

received into full communion with the

Church on one of the Sundays during

the Easter season.

Baptism is also the meaning of this

season for baptized Catholics, as we

will renew our baptismal promises on

Easter.

This year, the family of God in the

Archdiocese of Los Angeles is blessed

to welcome more than 8,500 new

Catholics — 2,452 elect and 6,146

candidates.

We thank God for this grace and pray

for the souls of these men and women

who will become our brothers and

sisters in this beautiful mystery, the

sacrament that brings them into full

communion with his Catholic Church.

During Lent, we prepare for Easter as

our ancestors did, following the traditions

established by the apostles in the

years after Our Lord’s resurrection.

The Church intends the Sunday

Gospels during Lent to be a kind of

“baptismal itinerary,” leading us on a

journey of faith and conversion to Jesus.

The journey begins in the desert, where

Jesus is revealed as the “new Adam,”

the true Son of God who overcomes

the devil’s temptations, and by his

obedience overturns the first Adam’s

original sin.

The following Sunday, in his transfiguration,

Jesus is revealed as the

fulfillment of all that God promised

through Moses and Elijah and the

prophets. The Father speaks from a

bright cloud, declaring that Jesus is his

own beloved Son, and commanding us

to listen to him.

In the Transfiguration, we see the

“end game,” the promise of our faith.

If we listen to Jesus, follow his way for

our life, we will be transfigured into his

likeness, and one day we will see the

living God in glory, face-to-face.

The first two Sundays reveal Jesus,

who he is, and what he promises. The

next three Sundays are the spiritual

heart of Lent. From St. John’s Gospel,

we hear three stories of the encounter

with Jesus that leads to conversion and

the gift of faith.

These stories — of the Samaritan woman,

the man born blind, and Martha,

Lazarus’ sister — are beautiful and rich

in baptismal imagery.

These are stories of the human search

for God — the woman’s thirst for living

waters, the blind man’s desire for the

light of the world, Martha’s longing for

the resurrection and life.

And in these figures, we are meant to

see the journey of our own lives. The

questions that Jesus puts to them, he

also puts to us, calling us to a series

of “scrutinies,” in which we open our

hearts to his searching gaze.

The heart of the matter for us, as it was

for them: do we believe that Jesus is the

living God — the Son of God, the Son

of Man, the Savior of the world, the

Christ who was promised?

Through this encounter, Jesus is inviting

us to make our own profession of

faith, or to renew the profession of faith

we made in our baptism. He wants us

to say with the blind man: “I do believe,

Lord!” And with Martha: “Yes, Lord. I

have come to believe!”

Of course, if Jesus is who we believe

him to be, if in him we truly meet the

living God, then our lives can never

stay the same. We need to change, to

repent, to immerse our lives in his. We

need to ask him, like the woman at the

well: “Give me this water, so that I may

not be thirsty.”

We are ready after this for Passion

Sunday and Holy Week, where we will

follow him on the final path that leads

to his suffering and death for us on the

cross on Good Friday.

Finally, on Easter, we put off our old

lives and give ourselves to Jesus. We

become a new creation in the waters

of baptism, plunging ourselves into the

mystery of his life, death, and resurrection

for us.

Baptism makes our lives a beautiful

adventure.

There is nothing more beautiful

than to know Jesus and his love. Now,

like those figures in the Gospel, like

Jesus wants us to use our lives to speak to people

of his love and friendship.

countless Catholics down through the

centuries, he is sending us out into the

world.

Baptism is a mission. Jesus wants us

to use our lives to speak to people of

his love and friendship. He wants us to

invite others to meet him, to listen to

him, and to wash in the living waters.

Happy Easter! Pray for me and I will

pray for you.

May holy Mary be a mother to all of

us. And may she help us to enter more

deeply into the love of her Son, and the

gift of our baptism.


WORLD

■ Could 2028 mark the end of

‘La Grande Trappe’?

The monks of the world’s most famous Trappist

monastery may leave by 2028, the abbey announced.

The March 5 announcement from La Trappe

Abbey in Normandy — once known as “La Grande

Trappe” — confirmed that a lack of vocations has

led the community to consider a departure.

“Reflections are underway with other communities

to find solutions that are more suitable, economically

and spiritually relevant. The context is

harsh, for several decades already, and many other

abbeys have already changed hands,” the statement

read.

La Trappe was the site of St. Charles de Foucauld’s

conversion in 1890. Built to accommodate

hundreds of monks, the monastery now houses

only 12. Other monastic communities in France

are also facing a similarly rapid decline, according

to statistics.

■ Vatican to UN: Eradicate

surrogacy ‘in all its forms’

The Holy See urged the United Nations to completely eradicate

surrogacy to protect women and children from the “exploitation and

violence” associated with the practice.

In a message delivered while the United Nations held its “70th

Commission on the Status of Women” in March, the Vatican acknowledged

that while many believe surrogacy to be “a compassionate

solution for those wishing to be parents,” it commodifies kids and

risks treating them as “a flawed ‘product’ or a problem to be solved”

rather than welcomed as a gift.

The Vatican has long opposed surrogacy on moral grounds, but last

month’s statement used some of its strongest language yet.

Studies of women who agree to become surrogates show that they

often face economic pressures, creating the opportunity for exploitation

of poor women. The statement questions whether “the surrogacy

industry could survive if poverty were eradicated.”

■ Iran cardinal flees to Rome

amid military clashes

Iran’s only Catholic bishop was evacuated from the country days

after the United States and Israel began their bombing campaign.

The residence of 62-year-old Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, a

Franciscan friar from Belgium, is on the grounds of the Italian Embassy

in Tehran, just a mile from where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

was targeted and killed in an Israeli airstrike. When Italy decided

to close the embassy and relocate staff to Azerbaijan, Mathieu had

no choice but to join them. By March 8, he had reached Rome,

where he met with Pope Leo XIV.

Mathieu said he’d left Iran “not without regret and sorrow for our

brothers and sisters in Iran.”

“Until I return there, pray for the conversion of hearts to inner

peace,” he told Belgian Catholic outlet CathoBel.

Mathieu is the only priest in his diocese. The Roman Catholic

Church in Iran has only about 2,000 known members, most of

whom are non-Iranians, out of a population of roughly 90 million.

Love at the Oscars — Irish Catholic actress Jessie Buckley surprised

with a pro-life and pro-family message — reassuring young women

that they can prioritize both their career and their family — upon

accepting the Oscar for best actress for “Hamnet” March 15. “I would

like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart. We

all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all

odds,” said Buckley, before praising her husband, Fred: “I love you.

You’re the most incredible dad. You’re my best friend, and I want to

have 20,000 more babies with you. I do! I do!” | OSV NEWS/MIKE

BLAKE, REUTERS

Cardinal Dominique

Mathieu with Pope Leo

XIV on March 11 after

evacuating from Tehran. |

OSV NEWS/SIMONE RISO-

LUTI, VATICAN MEDIA


NATION

Newcomers in New York — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Archbishop Ronald A.

Hicks were all smiles at the 265th St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the Big Apple March 17. Mamdani, a socialist and

practicing Muslim, took office this year and faced criticism for not attending Hicks’ installation Mass in February.

But the two have spent time together since, and Mamdani even attended St. Patrick’s Day Mass celebrated by

Hicks that day. | OSV NEWS/EDUARDO MUNOZ, REUTERS

■ Pope Leo to accept Liberty Medal

via telecast in Philadelphia

The National Constitution Center (NCC) will present Pope Leo XIV with the

Liberty Medal July 3 in honor of his commitment to religious freedom, the organization

announced March 16.

The pope will accept the award via telecast and offer live remarks during an event

on Independence Mall in Philadelphia as part of Independence Week celebrations

for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The award was

coordinated, in part, with Leo’s alma mater, Villanova University.

“From its founding, America has understood liberty of conscience as essential to

human freedom and self-government,” Mike George, chair of the NCC Board of

Trustees, said in a statement. “Pope Leo XIV’s moral leadership and his defense of

religious freedom and free expression embodies these enduring principles.”

■ Bishop, governor call for prayer amid Nebraska fires

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, called for prayers as the state battles

its worst wildfire in history.

Four fires have burned more than 700,000 acres and killed one, triggering a state

of emergency March 13 and a ban on burning through March 27. On March 14,

the state’s governor, Jim Pillen, declared publicly: “I think it’s important that all

Nebraskans pray.”

Conley said that his travels through western and central Nebraska to administer

confirmations were affected by the fires.

“Pray that God’s hand may calm the winds and bring much-needed moisture to

help with the fight,” Conley said. “We ask the Lord to take control of the fires that

are out of control and bring about a quick and safe resolution for all.”

■ Ehrlich, father of

population restriction

movement, dies at 93

Paul R. Ehrlich, famous for his 1968

book “The Population Bomb,” which

triggered decades of overpopulation

panic, died March 13 at the age of 93.

“The battle to feed all of humanity

is over,” opens Ehrlich’s book. “In the

1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions

of people will starve to death in spite

of any crash programs embarked upon

now.”

Ehrlich’s predictions led to the founding

of Zero Population Growth and

lasting political pressures to sponsor

contraception, abortion, and other

interventions to combat population

growth. None of his claims — including

that England would be eradicated

as a country by 2000 — proved true.

But critics have lamented that his

work left a lasting mark on public

sentiment.

“Whenever civilization despaired,

there was Paul Ehrlich to tell us it was

all our own fault, and that it would be

better if most of us simply didn’t exist,”

wrote political scientist Darel E. Paul

for Compact magazine March 18.

“Ehrlich’s anti-birth, anti-human

ideology continues to shadow every

conversation about demographic

change,” wrote liberal scholar Elliot

Haspel for online journal UnHerd.

Paul R. Ehrlich

in 1974. |

WIKIMEDIA

COMMONS/

ILKA HART-

MANN


LOCAL

■ San Diego

Chaldean bishop

arrested on fraud

charges

A Chaldean Catholic bishop

in San Diego pleaded not guilty

to charges of embezzlement

and money laundering, as the

Vatican announced Pope Leo

XIV had accepted his resignation

in February.

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta of

the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy

of St. Peter the Apostle in San

Diego appeared at a March 9

arraignment hearing on 16 felony

counts of financial crimes.

Among the accusations were

claims that Shaleta had taken

hundreds of thousands of dollars

in cash from his cathedral and attempted

to reimburse the missing

funds with checks signed by him

from a charity account.

Shaleta was also accused of

regularly visiting a Tijuana nightclub

that operates as a brothel.

If convicted on all charges,

which represent financial losses

exceeding $200,000, the bishop

faces 15 years in state prison, the

San Diego District Attorney’s

office said.

The Chaldean Catholic

Church is one of the 23 Eastern

Catholic churches that, with the

Roman Catholic Church, comprise

the universal Church.

OSV NEWS/CHALDEAN EPARCHY OF ST. PETER

THE APOSTLE OF SAN DIEGO

■ LA Catholic colleges collaborate for diabetes patent

Loyola Marymount University and Mount Saint Mary’s University, both in Los Angeles,

have jointly received a U.S. patent for a treatment that protects pancreatic cells damaged

by Type 2 diabetes.

Unlike treatments that manage blood sugar or replace insulin, the schools’ patent targets

the loss of insulin-producing beta cells and keeps them healthy.

“We designed a small protein fragment that acts like a shield,” said David Moffet, Ph.D.,

LMU’s associate dean and professor. “It keeps the harmful proteins from sticking together

and forming the fibers that damage cells. In our lab models, the cells stay healthier when

this peptide is present.”

The patent stems from a 16-year collaboration between Moffet and Mount Saint Mary’s

biology professor Luiza Nogaj, Ph.D., supported by nearly $1.2 million in National Institutes

of Health (NIH) grants.

The collaboration involved more than 200 undergraduate researchers from both universities

conducting hands-on research, experimentation, and testing.

When the saints come running in — The cheer team and mascot for St. Anthony High School in Long Beach pose

during the Saints 5K fundraising event on March 14. More than 500 runners registered and nearly $98,000 was raised

from the event, which goes toward supporting tuition assistance. | LUCIE ANDERSON

■ LA Archdiocese cancels annual Cesar Chavez Mass

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles canceled its annual Mass in honor of Cesar Chavez

amid new revelations of alleged sexual abuse by the late civil rights icon.

The Mass was canceled by the Chavez family days before a March 18 New York Times

report published evidence that the labor leader had groomed and sexually abused underage

girls during the farmworker rights movement in California.

“We agreed with the family’s decision,” the archdiocese said in a statement. “The recent

news reports of the allegations are disturbing.”

Celebrated each year at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels around March 31, a

federal holiday and Chavez’s birthday, the Mass draws hundreds of farmworkers and labor

activists to commemorate his legacy.

Since the revelations, murals and statues statewide honoring Chavez had been removed

or covered, while California lawmakers had stripped his name from the holiday, redesignating

it as “Farmworkers Day.”


V

IN OTHER WORDS...

Letters to the Editor

Surprise from a Catholic scientist

Kudos to Angelus and Mike Aquilina for the essay on Nicholas Steno

that ran in the March 6 Angelus.

In elementary school, high school, and college, I received varying but pretty

consistent versions of the legend of Galileo Galilei: how the Catholic Church’s

opposition to science and truth tried to suppress people like him, and tried to drag

the world back into the Dark Ages.

Stories like Steno’s challenge that narrative. He was a scientist who put everything

in God’s hands … including his own achievements and intellect. And then amazing

things happened, for which we should still be grateful today. The Church’s

commitment to science and reason made so many of his achievements possible.

I also really appreciated the part about Steno’s conversion from Lutheranism, and

his background in mathematics.

— Vivian Macalline, Los Angeles

Correction

Msgr. Michael Lenihan’s name was misspelled on Page 39 (a Q&A with Bishop

Joseph Brennan) in the March 20 issue of Angelus.

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.

A memorable milestone

“The death and pain caused

by these wars is a scandal

for the entire human family

and a cry that rises to God.”

~ Pope Leo XIV, in his March 22 Angelus address

delivered at St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

“Arabic is not the enemy.

Many of us are bilingual.”

~ Rimon Wehbi, a linguist, in a March 16 National

Geographic article on a war-torn village in Syria

fighting to keep Christ’s language alive.

“God always makes good of

even our faithlessness and

our mistakes.”

~ René Echevarria, executive producer of “The

Faithful: Women of the Bible,” in a March 21 OSV

News article on his new drama series.

“This is a story about a life

of service that didn’t end at

death.”

~ Kyle Herber, president and CEO of Live On

Nebraska, in a March 13 People article on a World

War II veteran becoming the oldest organ donor in

the U.S.

“We’ve got business up top,

fun on the bottom.”

~ Travis Laub, in a March 13 NBC San Diego article

on 100 workers doing a remote work meet-up on

the sand at Pacific Beach.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Digital team produced videos in celebration of Archbishop José H. Gomez’s 15th

anniversary in LA and 25th anniversary as a bishop. His anniversary Mass was held March 26 at the Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels. | 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.

“My sister from Florida is

in town, so I said, ‘Let’s go

transport salamanders!’ ”

~ Gretchen Dillon, in a March 18 Syracuse.com

article on volunteers helping salamanders cross the

road in Central New York.


IN EXILE

FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father

Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual

writer; ronrolheiser.com

Reality’s immune system

Thomas Moore, the author of

“Care of the Soul” (Harper

Perennial, $10.29), teaches

that our most important spiritual task

is to listen to the promptings of our

own soul. If listened to in honesty, it

will guide us, protect us, and keep us

healthy.

I heard him present this to an audience

in a church setting, and after he

had finished his presentation, someone

voiced this strong objection: “I’m

a married man, what if my soul tells

me to have an affair?” Moore responded

to this effect: Your soul will never

tell you that. Your soul is your moral

and spiritual immune system. Just as

your physical immune system will

never prompt you to do things that are

bad for your physical health, so too

your soul will never prompt you to do

things that are bad for your moral and

spiritual health. Your soul, just like

your body, has an immune system that

protects your health.

What Moore says of the individual

soul is also true for the soul of this

world. Reality has an immune system,

a moral arc, which protects our health

and lets us know when it is violated.

This has various expressions. For

example, Jesus teaches this clearly:

“The measure you measure out is the

measure that you will receive” (Mark

4: 24). What’s implied here is that

reality has a moral structure, ultimately

grounded on love that cannot be

violated without consequence. It gives

back in kind, rewarding goodness with

goodness and malice with malice.

The air we breathe out is the air we

will reinhale (even true literally).

In Buddhism and Hinduism this

takes expression in what they call the

Law of Karma. In street language, the

Law of Karma teaches that what goes

around comes around. Reality is so

structured that we always eventually

reap the consequences of our own

actions. When we act altruistically,

good things will come to us, and when

we act selfishly we will reap some

unhappy consequences. In essence no

one gets away with anything, and no

virtuous deed goes unrewarded.

What both Jesus and the Law of Karma

teach is that just as our physical

bodies have an immune system that

guides and protects us and that can

never be ignored or violated without

consequence, reality too has an

immune system, an inviolable moral

structure, that cannot be ignored or

violated without consequences. Ultimately,

we reap what we sow, with no

exceptions. Virtue is its own reward,

sin its own punishment.

However, this doesn’t always appear

to be true on the surface of things.

Sometimes it looks like sin is being

rewarded and virtue is being punished.

But that is mostly at the level of

our emotions. Emotionally, it’s natural

to envy the amoral. Nikos Kazantzakis

puts this rather colorfully: “Virtue sits

completely alone on the top of a desolate

ledge. Through her mind pass all

the forbidden pleasure which she has

never tasted — and she weeps!”

We see this kind of envy in the older

brother of the Prodigal Son. He resents

the fact that his younger brother

gave himself over to sensuous hedonism,

while he himself stayed the moral

course. To him it seemed his younger

brother had grasped life, while he, in

timidity, had missed out on it.

However, his father’s words to him

are meant to dispel his (and our) envy

of the amoral. The Prodigal Father,

God, tells the older brother not to

envy his younger brother’s promiscuity

and hedonism. From outward appearance

it may have looked like life, but

in the father’s words: Your brother was

dead!

There is a moral arc inside all created

reality, a moral immune system,

that is meant to protect the universe

and all of us in it. Virtue is its own

reward, sin its own punishment. Both

the Law of Karma and Jesus assure us

that the measure you measure out is the

measure that you will receive. No good

deed goes unrewarded and no selfish

deed enhances one’s life.

I did my doctoral thesis on the proofs

for the existence of God. I examined

Thomas Aquinas’ famous “Five

Ways,” Anselm’s intriguing “Ontological

Argument,” Descartes’ take on

this, and numerous commentaries on

these various arguments that attempt

to prove the existence of God. In

the end, I concluded that we cannot

prove the existence of God, as one

might prove a truth through a mathematical

equation or a strict scientific

hypothesis.

But this doesn’t mean that these

proofs aren’t helpful. They work in

another way. They point you to a certain

way of living, namely, where you

don’t look to find the reality of God at

the end of an equation, but where you

look to experience the reality of God

through living in an honest, moral

way.

There’s a moral arc inside all of

reality, an immune system, that,

I believe, is a clear proof for the

existence of God, for it tells us that

a personal, altruistic love lies at the

basis of everything and it may never

be violated.


“The Women at the Tomb,” about 1025–1050, Unknown

artist/maker. | J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM

THE MYSTERY

OF THE VEIL

This Easter, a key detail from the

discovery of Christ’s empty tomb

has something important to tell us.

BY BISHOP SLAWOMIR SZKREDKA

One of the five illustrations within the Pray Codex shows the body of Jesus

being prepared for burial, and also the subsequent resurrection of Jesus, with

an angel showing the empty tomb to the three Marys. The illustration shows

generic similarities with the Shroud of Turin. | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

John’s Gospel account of the Resurrection (John 20:1–10)

contains an interesting detail in the narrative of Easter:

Peter and the Beloved Disciple running to the tomb

together.

The Beloved Disciple — whom our tradition recognizes as

John the Evangelist — arrives first, bends down, looks in, sees

the linen wrappings but does not enter. Then Peter arrives

and enters. He sees the wrappings and the “napkin” (soudarion)

that covered Jesus’ head, rolled up and placed separately.

When John finally enters, we are told, he “sees and believes.”

What does he see now that he did not see when he first

looked from outside the tomb? Well, the face cloth (soudarion)

seems to be the only detail that is new. It must have

communicated something to John. But what?

Commentators point to the orderly placement of the

funerary vestments, particularly the face cloth, now rolled up

and placed separately. There is no sign of haste and disorder,

which would typically indicate a robbery. (Also: if robbers

had been involved, they would have likely carried away the

body still wrapped in the shroud, rather than go through the

trouble of removing the linen wrappings!)

John’s faith appears when he sees and believes. He believes

that Christ is risen, or at least he begins to believe (the form

of the Greek verb used allows for both meanings) because he

sees the orderliness of the place. Peter is not mentioned as

reaching the same faith at this moment. So why would it be

only John to believe that the Lord is risen? Is he simply more

perceptive?

There seems to be more than meets the eye happening

here.

Some biblical commentators argue that the face cloth by

itself carries a deeper meaning. The word soudarion is used

as a Greek — or, to be exact, Latin via Greek — “loan word”

in some Aramaic translations of the Old Testament.

In fact, the famous veil worn by Moses (except when he

speaks with God) in the book of Exodus is called a sudara.

Scripture says that Moses’ face was shining because he had

been speaking with God, and this supernatural radiance

made the Israelites afraid to approach Moses. Therefore,

after relating the words of God to them, Moses would put

a veil over his face, and would remove it while entering the

presence of God.

Gospel readers familiar with the Aramaic tradition would

have made the connection between the experience of John

in the tomb and the veil of Moses. Even St. Paul seemed to

draw on a similar association when he compared the veiled

face of Moses hiding the fading glory with the unveiled faces

of Christians reflecting the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians

3:12–18).

By noticing the rolled-up soudarion, the

Beloved Disciple would have related the

veil, Moses, and God’s glory. Perhaps, as argued

by biblical scholar Sandra Schneiders,

he would have recalled that Moses removed

his veil when coming before the Lord

Full-length

image of the

Shroud of Turin

before its 2002

restoration.

| WIKIMEDIA

COMMONS


(Exodus 34:34). Thus, John would comprehend that Jesus, as

new Moses, in his glorious humanity, removed the veil while

ascending through resurrection to his Father.

But all these intriguing linguistic connections aside, there

is something deeply human about the veil covering the head

of the Lord being removed. And there’s a certain saint that

(literally) sheds some light on the scene.

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska was a mystic who lived from

1905 to 1938 and had a deep influence on St. Pope John

Paul II and on Catholics beyond her native Poland.

She is well known for directing the painting of Jesus of

Divine Mercy, which presents the Risen Lord entering the

“Upper Room” where Jesus’ disciples gathered, as if stepping

into our own darkness of fears and worries. Rays of light

illuminate and even seem to envelope the viewer. This risen

body — healed and transposed into the realm of immortal

glory — is a proof of God’s mercy. The mutilated body of

Jesus, scourged, nailed to the cross, left hanging until death,

then pierced, is now risen into bodily immortality. All our

evil deeds, so brutally inscribed on Christ’s tortured body,

are undone. Christ approaches us, in his glorious humanity,

saying, “Peace be with you.”

In Faustina’s image, the Risen Lord looks downward. In her

“Diary,” the Lord himself explains: “My gaze from this image

is like My gaze from the cross” (#326). A spiritual possibility

is intimated here. At the hour of mercy, that is, at the hour of

Jesus’ death, John the Beloved Disciple saw Jesus’ gaze.

Peter and the other apostles, as we know, were not there

with John at the foot of the cross. When John enters the

tomb, which in Greek is called mnēmeion, a place of remem-

brance, he remembers that merciful

gaze. But now he also sees that this

gaze is no longer veiled by death.

Death covered it only for a time.

With the veil of death removed,

mercy triumphs. John saw it and

believed.

Moses is depicted veiled

with the Ten Commandments

in stained glass at

St. Andrew Cathedral Episcopal

Church in Honolulu,

Hawaii. | SHUTTERSTOCK

We can now recall that for Moses to speak to God with unveiled

face — to be thus immersed in divine life — was itself

a gift of God’s mercy, because no one can see God’s face

and live (Exodus 33:20). The veil of death, which covered

the face of humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve, is now

being lifted as the glory of God, reflected on the face of the

Risen Lord, is seen by those who believe.

When we look at the image of Divine Mercy, Jesus’ eyes

gaze downward. We do not see them. We see his face, but he

has not looked at us yet.

When he does, our gazes will meet. We will be enveloped

in God’s mercy. We will believe in the Resurrection.

Polish Sister St. Faustina Kowalska

is depicted with an image of

Jesus Christ the Divine Mercy. |

CNS/NANCY WIECHEC

Bishop Slawomir Szkredka is the episcopal vicar for the

Santa Barbara Pastoral Region of the Archdiocese of Los

Angeles and the author of several works of biblical scholarship,

including the book “Icon of Trust: Mary in the Gospels of Luke

and John” (Sophia Institute Press, $13.95).


The man of the cloths

For readers in the 21st century,

the crucifixion of Jesus is a

singular event — literally iconic

across a variety of media, from ancient

paintings to modern films.

But to the eyewitnesses and participants,

it was just another day at the

usual site of public executions.

As a means of torture, the cross had

been around for centuries. Its practice

was refined by the Persians, Carthaginians,

and Greeks. But the Romans

used it to maximum effect, and at the

time of Jesus’ death the Romans had

ruled in the Holy Land for almost 100

years.

By the time of

Pontius Pilate,

the Jews had

The Sudarium of

adapted their

Oviedo, Spain. |

burial customs

SHUTTERSTOCK

to the circumstances.

They

observed certain

protocols when

a person died

violently, as by

crucifixion.

These are evident

in the small

details of the

Gospel accounts

of Jesus’ burial,

where the evangelists

mention

three distinct

types of cloth.

The first is the

shroud (sindōn,

in Greek), a

large linen cloth

used to wrap the

whole body. The

shroud appears in Matthew 27:59,

Mark 15:46, and Luke 23:53. It was

purchased by Joseph of Arimathea

and is traditionally associated with the

Shroud of Turin.

The second type is the linen strips

(othonia), seen in John 19:40 and

20:5–7. These were wrappings or

bands that secured the body and the

embalming spices.

The third is the soudarion. This was

a separate cloth to cover the head and

face and was found in Jesus’ tomb

rolled up in a place by itself (John

20:7). According to well-documented

tradition, this fabric survives in the

Sudarium of Oviedo, Spain.

The face covering had deep religious

significance. The Jews of Jesus’ time

believed that blood was not just a bodily

fluid, but was bound up with the

person’s life, and therefore belonged

with the person in death. “For the life

of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus

17:11).

When a man died violently, as in

a crucifixion, his family or friends

made every effort to collect his blood.

It seems that, as a result of his beatings,

Jesus bled much from the nose

and the mouth. While his body still

hung from the cross — but after he

breathed his last — his friends folded

the cloth and wrapped it around his

head to catch the blood as it flowed.

The Sudarium in Oviedo does not

present the image of a face, but it

does preserve concentrated stains that

correspond exactly to the nose and

mouth that appear on the Shroud of

Turin.

Scientific tests have also shown that

the Sudarium and the Shroud correspond

in other ways. The blood type

in the stains on both is AB. Pollen and

spores on both come from plants and

fungi found only in the Holy Land.

The Sudarium is, moreover, mentioned

often in Christian writings

since the middle of the first millennium.

According to these, St. Peter

was the original custodian. When

the Persians took Jerusalem in A.D.

614, Christians fled with their most

precious relics to Alexandria in Egypt.

A few years later, when the Persians

pressed on to Alexandria, the Sudarium

was smuggled to Spain, where its

presence has been attested ever since

by many witnesses.

Since then it has survived burial,

war, and terrorist acts — including an

explosion.

It endures to bear its own witness.

And “the life,” still, “is in the blood.”

— Mike Aquilina


WHAT’S OLD IS NEW

Some of LA’s Arab Catholics clutch their faith while the

US-Iran war rages, at the same time acknowledging the

frustration of ‘never-ending’ conflict in the Middle East.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIMMY CHACÓN

Parishioners from the Arab

American Catholic Community

celebrate Mass at St. Joseph

Church in Pomona on March 7.

As parishioners with the Arab

American Catholic Community

gathered for a Saturday evening

Mass at St. Joseph Church in Pomona,

the U.S. and Israel’s strikes against Iran

— and additional violence threatening

the entire Middle East region —

brought an all-too-familiar feeling: Here

we go again.

Even with the fresh pain and anxieties

of the U.S.’s war with Iran, many attendees

at the Mass said that, unfortunately,

violence and conflict have been

a part of their stories for too long.

“It’s a never-ending war,” said Angela,

a Catholic who grew up in Palestine.

“When it comes to Palestine, it’s been

affected by conflict for almost 80 years.”

The community — comprised largely

of families with backgrounds from the

countries of Palestine, Jordan, Syria,

Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt, which

recently celebrated the first Arabic

Mass at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’

2026 Religious Education Congress —

was feeling the weight of the U.S.-Iran

conflict, though they have grown

accustomed to living with war.

“What’s happening in the Middle East

affects us because we still have family

over there,” said Bernadette, a Catholic

who has family in Jordan. “You never

know what’s going to happen next.”

Angela said that decades of war have

taken a toll on communities across the

region.

“It’s so sad to see that the population

is just diminishing slowly because

of wars,” said Angela, whose family

immigrated to the United States more

than a decade ago. “They’re having to

move out to Western countries to seek

freedom, to seek work opportunities,

to seek [a better] life.

“They’re the most vulnerable in the

area when it comes to war.”

Fatima, a Catholic college student

with a Jordanian background, said the

current tensions in the Middle East

hit close to home: many of her family

and friends live across several countries

in the region, including Lebanon,

Palestine, Jordan, and Qatar.

“They hear the bombings and see


the damage with their own eyes,” she

said.

“It’s unfortunate because the people

who are suffering are innocent. It’s all

at the expense of politicians in power,

basically treating the Middle East like

their puppet.”

Despite the violence, Fatima said

many people in the region have developed

a sense of resilience after living

with conflict for so long.

“One pattern I’ve noticed is that

people say, ‘We’re used to it. This

is normal. This won’t stop us,’ ” she

said. “You see the resilience and the

willpower of people saying this won’t

stop us or affect our daily lives, even

though it technically does.

“We’re a culture that’s very community-based.

We are the land where the

three religions (Judaism, Christianity,

and Islam) were born.”

She added that the global perception

of the region has also changed over

time.

“Now the whole world has normalized

this notion of the Middle East being

considered a war zone,” she said.

“Any sort of destruction is normalized

because it’s a very political region.”

For Sam, a 14-year-old altar server

whose family is from Iraq, the war

is something he mostly hears about

through relatives and social media.

Some of his family members have

heard the sound of bombs, but he said

his faith helps him stay hopeful.

“Just trusting God and hopefully

everything will turn out well,” Sam

said.

He added that hearing about these

experiences has also made him realize

how different life can be in the United

States.

“We’re privileged to have such a safe

area,” he said.

Bernadette, who is also the leader of

a Legion of Mary prayer group, said

her Catholic faith guides her response

to uncertainty and conflict.

“I believe as a Catholic,” she learned

not to be afraid, but to have faith, she

said.

She explained that faith becomes

especially important during moments

of hardship.

“No matter what is happening —

whether in the world, in your home,

or in your family — there will always

be challenges,” she said. “But if I

claim to have faith and practice it, I

shouldn’t respond to chaos with fear.

Then where is my faith?”

Bernadette said she often reminds

herself of a message repeated many

times in the Bible.

“When I face fear, I remember what

Bernadette, a Catholic

who has family

in Jordan, displays

the cross necklace

she bought in the

country 30 years

ago at the Mass at

St. Joseph Church in

Pomona on March 7.

Jesus said 365 times in the Bible: Do

not be afraid,” she said.

Kimmy Chacón is a freelance journalist

and graduate of the Columbia University

Graduate School of Journalism.

She lives in Los Angeles and works in

education.


FAITH IN RECORD NUMBERS

A surging growth in

the number of people

converting to Catholicism

is happening in LA. Here

are some of their stories.

BY MIKE CISNEROS

Catechumens, candidates, and catechists attend

the Rite of Election at the Cathedral of Our Lady

of the Angels on Feb. 15. | PETER LOBATO

Dioceses across the country have

reported significant increases

in adults entering the Catholic

Church in the last few years, and

the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is no

exception.

In 2023, LA welcomed 3,462 catechumens

and candidates — both children

and adults who had never been

baptized, plus those who had been

baptized but had never completed the

other sacraments — into the Church

at Easter. Then in 2024, there were

3,596. In 2025, a significant bump of a

combined 5,587 entered.

For Easter 2026, the archdiocese expects

an even more staggering increase:

8,598 catechumens and candidates.

So what’s behind the surge in conversions?

Church leaders say there’s no clear

answer. Some point to a reawakening

born from the personal desolation experienced

during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Others credit the spirit created

by the three-year National Eucharistic

Revival throughout the country. Many

find it to be a sign of spiritual hunger

caused by a confusing and turbulent

world.

It could be any of those things. It

could be none of those things. But for

these individuals in the archdiocese,

it was God himself who has brought

them uniquely to this moment.

Malain Houmoeung’s tipping

point came while sitting in

the hospital ER in 2023,

wondering how seriously ill her father’s

health was. She was also in a toxic

relationship. Life, and all the responsibilities

that came with it, had become

too overwhelming.

Something told her to start reading

the Bible, which was not the norm for

her, considering she was raised Buddhist

in a Cambodian family.

“I remember just praying, like, oh

God, I’m sorry, can you just please

help me out?” Houmoeung, 33, said. “I

don’t know what to do anymore. Like,

I’m just at my wits’ end.”

After trying Protestant churches, she

attended a Catholic Mass and it clicked

for her.

“When I was going to Mass, I felt a lot

closer,” Houmoeung said. “I just felt so

much more of a belonging there and

just appreciating the customs and the

traditions that have been passed down.”

She began attending OCIA classes at

St. Cornelius Church in Long Beach.

There, she’s learned to lean more on

God, pray, and just trust that he has a

plan for her.


It seems to be working. Houmoeung

met someone, Matthew, who was

on the same faith journey as her and

will become Catholic this Easter at

Holy Redeemer Church in Montrose.

They’re getting married in July.

“Through my trials and tribulations,

things that were happening around me

had to fall apart in order for me to let

go of control and let go of doing things

my way and just trusting God and having

faith,” she said. “It took me some

time to figure out.”

Jennifer Solares Gonzalez grew up

with a single mom who was a Seventh

Day Adventist, and while she

felt she believed in God, there was a

judgment she always perceived related

to religion.

“It always felt like I had to measure up

to a certain expectation, and anything

that came less than that felt consequential.

That there was always something

that I wasn’t doing right,” said Gonzalez,

30, a Pasadena resident who

teaches sixth grade in Sun Valley.

She met her now-fiancé, Charles, six

years ago, and he and his family were

Catholic. While others assumed she

would feel pressure to convert, she said

there wasn’t any of the judgment she

felt when she was younger.

“There was always this sense of

acceptance and grace,” Gonzalez said.

“There’s never been a moment where

I feel like if I have done something that

I’m not proud of, that all of a sudden

I was a bad person. It

just meant that I had

an opportunity for

growth. Just having

that perspective of

that’s how God views

us was a very big gift

for me.”

But it wasn’t until

the experience of loss

that came with her

uncle’s death that she

finally took the step of

converting to Catholicism.

“I remember going

to Mass that first

Sunday after he had

passed,” Gonzalez said. “And I felt this

overwhelming amount of grief, but

also, I guess, peace at the same time.

I kept that kind of core memory with

me since deciding to convert because

I know that was the first time where I

was just like, oh, this is where I have to

be.”

Now, as she prepares to become

Catholic along with planning for her

wedding in June, Gonzalez says she

sees God “is the person standing next

to me.”

“Right now, life is very stressful, and

he’s the one that’s grounding me to

really take a moment and just be in the

present time and take things as they

come, rather than stress for the future.”

Cameron Smith will admit that

before he began exploring the

Catholic faith, he had a pretty

negative outlook on the world. Wars.

Hypocrisy. The toxicity of social media.

But after preparing to enter fully into

the Catholic Church, he believes that

God gave him a new heart.

“I feel like with so many horrible

things that go on in the world, it’s easier

to focus on the negative, instead of all

the great things and the great people

that are in it,” said Smith, 24, from the

Mid-City neighborhood in Los Angeles.

“I think increasing and building my

Malain Houmoeung

poses with her fiancé,

Matthew, as they both

will be converting to

Catholicism at Easter. |

SUBMITTED PHOTO

relationship with

God and through

this Church has

just helped me find

more peace within

that.”

Smith had cousins

Jennifer Solares Gonzalez smiles

with her fiancé, Charles, who is

Catholic. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

who were Catholic, and when he was

younger, that seed was planted when

they gave him a Bible, even though he

didn’t understand it at the time.

“I felt like I was just reading words,

you know, fancy Old English kind of

words,” Smith said. “But now, as an

adult, I feel like, wow, this is me really

understanding all these great stories

that are within it.”

Now, through his OCIA classes, he’s

been deep-diving into the Catholic

faith, trying to learn and understand

every sacrament, every tradition, every

prayer.

“It’s improved my life,” Smith said.

“I feel closer to my family, I feel better

mentally, and I’m excited to take part

in the baptism and other sacraments.

Really excited to move forward.”

Daniel Hernandez had a pretty

good reason why he wanted to

convert to Catholicism, which

his wife already is: he wants a family.

“I want our kids to be Catholic,” said

Hernandez, 34, married to his wife,

Bryanna. “I want our kids to be able to

understand the importance of why we

go to Mass. I didn’t want any confusion:

‘Why is dad not going to Sunday

Mass with us?’ ”

After recently moving to a new home

in Garden Grove, and having already

been exposed to the Church through

his wife, signing up for OCIA classes

was an easy decision.

“I’m already falling in love with the

Catholic Church, so to learn more and

to grow in it was a no-brainer for me,”

he said. “I kept praying to God and ask-


ing him to help me with the journey.”

When they were dating, Hernandez’s

wife took him to some spiritual

exercises at St. Peter Chanel Church

in Hawaiian Gardens, and that has led

to a newfound quest for learning and

excitement for his faith.

“I’m excited for the Easter Vigil,”

Hernandez said. “I’m excited for my

baptism. I’m excited to actually be forgiven

for my sins. Yeah, just to officially

be Catholic.”

Mike Cisneros is the associate editor of

Angelus.

Finding faith in the fire

Megan Trembley was in the middle of taking OCIA

classes at Corpus Christi Church when the Palisades

Fire broke out, completely destroying the

condo she lived in with her daughter.

“Just overnight, my whole life, everything that I knew, was

gone,” she said.

But the months of Christian formation she’d received made

a difference in the ordeal.

“It helped me so much in getting through,” Trembley said.

“When we lost our home, our belongings and things, during

a time of uncertainty and grief, having everything I learned

became a foundation of strength and guidance.”

When she asked Corpus Christi associate pastor Father

Valerian Menezes about resuming her OCIA process with

the parish having burned down, he mentioned that classes

were being held at St. Martin of Tours Church in Brentwood

— coincidentally down the street from where she was now

living.

Now, nearly two years after she first signed up for OCIA

classes, Trembley will fully enter into the Catholic Church.

“This whole experience, it’s really transformed how I can

walk through difficult things and be there for my family, for

the community, and just have somebody to ask and get guidance

from,” she said. “In times where I feel like, how am I

going to get through this, there’s unexpected moments where

I can just sort of feel that presence. If I’m feeling lost, I know

that I’m not truly alone.”

For Jessica Rogers, losing her home in the Palisades Fire was

the thing that jump-started her conversion to Catholicism.

After her home burned down, she later returned to the

remnants of her Pacific Palisades property and found herself

bawling in the driveway. It was then that she had a moment

Jessica Rogers poses with friends and members

of her OCIA class at the Rite of Election

ceremony at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the

Angels in February. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

that she couldn’t explain,

but she knew it to be true:

she felt the presence of

Jesus.

“I was a little scared,” Rogers

said. “I was like, oh, this

feels weird. Am I crazy? Am

I losing my mind?

“But I kind of just breathed

into it, and I said, no, this is

you, Jessica. You are feeling

this. You are believing this.

You are inviting Jesus into

your life right here, right

now.”

After that experience, she

had a desire to read the

Bible and go to church. Her

friend, John, invited her to

Mass and later Father Paul

Fitzpatrick, the pastor at St. Martin of Tours, invited her to

join the parish’s OCIA program.

Now, for Easter, she’ll finally be a full-fledged Catholic.

“It just feels right,” Rogers said. “This is why I’m in this class.

Where I can actually, truly understand, one, what happened

on that day, and two, where is home for me in my faith, and

where I’m going to be the most supported and where I’m

going to be the most in alignment with God’s will for me in

my life.”

Rogers said she spends long hours and many days involved

as the executive director of the Palisades Long Term Recovery

Group and in other ways to help her fire-ravaged community

recover.

But she’s also trying to figure out her own situation.

Because she said her home insurance dropped her

before the Palisades Fire, she’s not sure if she’s going

to be able to rebuild.

Thanks to her newfound faith, she benefits, no

matter what.

“In a way, I was blessed with the ability to lose all

my attachments to things because once they get taken

away, it’s just like it’s gone. So you can dwell on it,

or you can accept it.

“I lost everything, but I gained so much. If the only

gift I got from losing absolutely everything, this connection

with God, it is so worth it. I got no regrets.”

— Mike Cisneros


Megan Trembley stands

with Corpus Christi pastor,

Msgr. Liam Kidney, after her

daughter’s baptism in 2016. |

SUBMITTED PHOTO


Smoke rises after Israeli strikes in Lebanon,

following an escalation between Hezbollah and

Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran,

as seen from Marjayoun, Lebanon, March 5. |

OSV NEWS/KARAMALLAH DAHER, REUTERS

WHERE PEACE

SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE

Lebanon finds itself

at war once again,

threatened by Iran,

Hezbollah, and Israel.

Caught in the middle

are its Christians.

BY JOVEL ÁLVAREZ

Abu Ali Hamiyeh, a Lebanese Muslim, at his

makeshift shack in the new refugee camp

along Beirut’s waterfront where Pope Leo

XIV visited last December. | JOVEL ÁLVAREZ


People carry the coffin of Father Pierre al-Rahi during his

funeral in Qlayaa in southern Lebanon March 11. The

Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest died March 9 after

sustaining wounds from Israeli tank fire on a house in

Qlayaa following an escalation between Hezbollah and

Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. | OSV NEWS/

KARAMALLAH DAHER, REUTERS

Watching Abu Ali Hamiyeh

use a stone to hammer the

nails that will hold together

the wooden planks of his new house

on a corner of Beirut’s waterfront,

you’d never guess that just a few

months ago, Pope Leo XIV passed by

that very spot.

At a special Mass nearby that day, the

Holy Father called on Lebanese like

Hamiyeh to be “builders of peace.”

“The path of mutual hostility and destruction

in the horror of war has gone

too far, with the deplorable results that

are plain for all to see,” said Leo on

Dec. 2, not knowing that a few weeks

later, the country would be caught up

in the largest war the region has seen

so far this century.

“We need to change course; we need

to educate our hearts for peace,” he

urged.

Hamiyeh is one of those displaced

by this conflict. A Muslim, he comes

from the Bekaa Valley, a stronghold of

Hezbollah, an Islamist militant group

with which he sympathizes. He, like a

million of his compatriots, has had to

abandon his home due to evacuation

orders from the Israeli army.

No one wants to speak to the press,

except Hamiyeh. The day is Friday,

March 20, and he speaks with me

as he patches together a wooden

shack covered with a blue tarp and a

thatched roof. He pulls over a plastic

trash can and invites me to sit down so

we can talk more comfortably.

“Here with us there are Syrians, Palestinians,

Jordanians, Turks, Sri Lankans,

etc. … Everyone is here. We will

not leave this place unless we achieve

a great victory. We fought against them

for 66 days; we gave martyrs!”

“The Bekaa Valley is the bastion of

the resistance; we have given martyrs

and blood, and our children, and we

remain steadfast on this path of resistance

— and we will give even more.

Hezbollah is the victorious faction,

according to the Quran. Without a

doubt, they are victorious,” he says

with great conviction.

Hamiyeh regrets not being able to

offer me coffee and show me some of

that legendary Arab hospitality.

Little by little, the coastline is turning

into a refugee camp. No one knows

when they will be able to return to

their homes, or if there are any homes

left to return to.

But in the midst of this conflict,

generally viewed from the Israeli or

Shiite Muslim perspective, are the

Christians. The great overlooked ones

in media coverage. Christians who

have grown up between one war and

another, and who lament that Hezbollah

has dragged their country into yet

another conflict.

The voice crying out in the wilderness

It is difficult to return to Lebanon

and imagine that this is the same

country we visited three months ago


the Shiite militia — which operates in

parallel to state institutions with Iran’s

support — had become evident.

The army, with its outdated weaponry

and lack of resources, stands powerless

against the members of the “Party of

God,” which, two days after the first

American and Israeli bombs fell on

Iran, decided to join the armed struggle

and confront the Jewish state.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun,

a Christian, criticized Hezbollah for

dragging the country into another

conflict that, in his view, was none of

their business. Now, amid the bombings

and evacuation orders, the Israeli

government appears determined to

eradicate the militia regardless of the

course the war against Iran takes.

Parishioners at St. Elias in Beirut,

Lebanon, during an evening gathering for

public professions of faith known as the

“redditio symboli.” | JOVEL ÁLVAREZ

Unprotected

A few days ago, Father Pierre al-Rahi,

parish priest of Qlayaa in southern

Lebanon, learned that a parishioner’s

home had been damaged in an Israeli

bombing. Without hesitation, he

rushed to help him, never imagining

that a second bombing would mortally

wound him.

His case, which shook the Lebanese

Rosine, a Catholic in Beirut, paints her parish’s

paschal candle to be used at this year’s Easter

Vigil. | JOVEL ÁLVAREZ

alongside Pope Leo XIV. At that time,

Christians felt for the first time in a

long while that the world was seeing

them. They raised their voices calling

for peace, but their cry has once again

been drowned out by the roar of

missiles.

I was there covering Leo’s trip that

week. While in Lebanon, I was struck

when the pope called on young people

not to abandon their country, but

rather to bet on the future.

“The architects of peace dare to

persevere,” said the pope. “Sometimes

it is easier to flee or, simply, more

practical to go elsewhere. It takes great

courage and foresight to stay or return

to your country and to recognize that

even difficult situations deserve love

and dedication.”

Even then, in December of last year,

there was talk of an imminent war

between Hezbollah and Israel. The

Lebanese army’s inability to disarm


Church, joins that of three young

Christians living in Ain Ebel, also in

the south, who were attempting to

repair a cable on the roof of a house to

restore the internet connection.

What has become clear is that in this

war, Christians have no immunity

whatsoever, and that the Israeli army

will make no distinctions in its quest to

neutralize Hezbollah’s presence in the

south of the country.

Faith endures

The night that I arrived in Beirut, I

was surprised to learn that there was

something happening at St. Elias

Church. I imagined families at home,

paralyzed with fear. But that night, I

found members of a community from

the Neocatechumenal Way in the parish

making their public professions of

faith, an important milestone in their

process of post-baptismal Christian

initiation.

Amid this conflict, which has led to

the evacuation of Christian villages in

the south of the country, there are still

people braving danger to bear witness

to the hope they’ve found.

Five people spoke that night as they

clung to a golden cross, explaining

how God has done the impossible in

their lives. All of them, at some point,

speak of war and of the pain it has

brought. But they also speak of a faith

that hasn’t failed them.

The next day, while Hezbollah

militants were firing bullets into the

air to warn supporters that the Israeli

army had issued an evacuation order, a

Catholic woman named Rosine began

preparations to paint the paschal candle

for this year’s Easter Vigil.

The scene is contradictory. She works

on the candle with great calm, while

outside gunfire echoes and a new

attack is anticipated. Although tomorrow

is uncertain, she looks forward to

Easter.

This is how Christians live. Mourning

the collapse of a once-prosperous

country and hoping that this war will

be the last one.

Jovel Álvarez is a Rome-based correspondent

who reports for various

Spanish-language outlets. Originally

from Costa Rica, he spent years living

and working in the Holy Land.


The final

conversion of

Mario Vargas

Llosa

Mario Vargas Llosa in

2015. | SHUTTERSTOCK

At the end of a

turbulent love life,

the literary legend

reconciled with his

first wife before dying.

Something similar may

have happened with his

Catholic faith.

BY MSGR. RICHARD ANTALL

Mario Vargas Llosa, the legendary

Peruvian writer who

died last year, had a certain

proclivity for book dedications.

During the twilight of his writing

career, Vargas Llosa had taken up

with Isabel Preysler, a woman of high

society and TV personality whose past

marriages had involved superstar musician

Julio Iglesias, a Spanish nobleman

known as the Marquis of Griñón,

and Spain’s economy minister. When

they began their relationship in 2015,

Preysler was 64 and he was 79. It ended

in 2022.

In a kiss-and-tell memoir entitled

“My True Story” (Planeta Publishing)

released last fall, Preysler claimed that

Vargas Llosa had promised to dedicate

his last novel to her. He was well

known for his choice of dedications: he

once had the nerve to dedicate a comic

novel about his first marriage to his

first wife after they had divorced. She

responded by writing a book entitled:

“What Varguitas Didn’t Say.”

So, when he published his final novel

in 2023 (released in English just last

year), it was titled in Spanish “Te Dedico

Mi Silencio.” Unfortunately, the

official translation of the title in English

“I Give You My Silence” (Farrar,

Straus and Giroux, $28) doesn’t capture

what Vargas Llosa was doing here.

A more precise translation, “I dedicate

my silence to you,” would have been

more evocative than just a gift, because

this is a writer who is saying, “and the

rest is silence,” there will be no more.

But in a twist, Vargas Llosa dedicated


the book to his wife, Patricia, with

whom he was reconciled. It clearly

seeks to sum up his immense body of

work, and its themes are familiar ones:

Peruvian popular culture, romantic

frustration, quixotic intensity that is

close to madness, the transcendence

of art, the appeal of utopian and even

messianic visions, the mysteries of Latin

American civilization, the contradictions

of humanity.

In the novel, the words “I dedicate my

silence to you” are used by the genius

guitarist Lalo Molfino, who inspires

the quixotic Tonyo Azpilcuelta, a man

obsessed with Peruvian popular music,

to write a book about him as an icon

of the creole music and its quality of

huachaferia (a word hard to translate,

but basically implies a kind of exaggerated

but also ironic pretension).

I think Vargas Llosa identified with

huachaferia and both characters, the alienated,

conflicted musical genius with

a troubled past and the manic writer

on a mission to discover a musical salvation

for the world. Like Vargas Llosa,

Azpilcueta had a difficult relationship

with his father. Both are ceaseless in

writing their obsessions. The fictional

character is also rejected by the same

woman Molfino was in love with, a

singer whose elegance contrasts with

AMAZON

the hardworking wife whose income

helped the family survive.

Azpilcueta only heard Molfino’s

amazing music once. He had no other

chance. The young man had trouble

dealing with others, alienated band

members, frustrated the woman who

loved him, died alone of tuberculosis

in a public hospital and was buried in a

common grave.

A detail of his story, however, is

interesting, especially given Vargas

Llosa’s well-known alienation from the

Catholic Church. When Azpilcueta

goes to Molfino’s birthplace, a Peruvian

coastal town called Puerto Eten, he

finds out the guitarist was raised by an

Italian priest, a Father Molfino, who

literally found him in a trash heap on

a dark night, saving his life and then

raising him.

Vargas Llosa once wrote that the attempted

molestation by a religious had

caused him to cease believing in God.

The portrait of the priest who rescues

the abandoned baby indicates some

spirit of reconciliation in the author.

Later, Azpilcueta, sections of whose

book on Molfino and popular music

as the secret of integration for Latin

American civilization are interspersed

in the novel, comments specifically on

the Catholic religion:

“The reader will wonder whether the

author of these pages is Catholic himself.

I must respond with a confession.

Despite those hard times when I think

of death and of the rats that will come

to devour my body, days when dread

overtakes me and I pray and feel in myself

the truth of the religion the brothers

at the Colegio La Sale inculcated in

me, I’ve often told myself that the Bible

was written for the uncultured and that

no educated person can accept it blindly.

Am I a believer? Sometimes yes and

sometimes no.”

These are the words of a character,

but they sound like the words of his

creator. Vargas Llosa swung from the

Marxism of his youth (he was a fan,

briefly, of Fidel Castro) to a more

conservative neo-liberal position where

he was capable even of criticizing the

Black Legend of the Spanish conquest

of the Americas. Azpilcueta hails the

Spanish colonization for bringing both

religion and unity of the Spanish language

to the thousands of indigenous

languages.

In character, the monomaniac historian

of popular music says, “…it is a

A detail from Vargas Llosa’s final novel is surprising,

given his well-known alienation from

the Catholic Church.

fact that human beings live better with

religion than without it. Christianity

gives order to barbaric disunities, and

it is a common denominator for Latin

American peoples, in other respects

so different. And so, to the question of

whether it is better that Christianity

exists, I must answer in the affirmative,

so long as it keeps its hands off creole

music.”

There is always a concern about

attributing to the author what his characters

say, but I think something very

interesting was happening to the Nobel

Prize-winning writer as he finished his

last fiction. There is a peaceful spirit

about the work, reflected in Tonyo’s last

meeting with the singer who was his

ideal woman: peaceful, but comic and

ironic at the same time. Vargas Llosa

lived a great deal of his life outside

of his country but created a fictional

geography of almost all the parts of his

diverse land. “I Give You My Silence”

is the author’s valediction, revisiting

Lima, the scene of his first great novels.

One of the most famous quotes of his

fiction claimed a curiosity about when

Peru had become so hopelessly messed

up. This farewell story seems like a love

letter to the author’s country. It seems

to say things are not so bad, after all.

He left us something to meditate on in

his silence. May he rest in peace.

Msgr. Richard Antall is pastor of

Holy Name Church in Cleveland,

Ohio, and the author of several books,

including the novel “The X-mas Files”

(Atmosphere Press, $17.99). He served

as a missionary priest in El Salvador for

more than 20 years.


AD REM

ROBERT BRENNAN

My internet-less Lent

SHUTTERSTOCK

It seems God had one more Lenten

experience in store for me on the

way to Easter, and it has come from

an unlikely source. A few weeks in, I

was able to give up the internet with

the help of AT&T.

On one level, this deprivation has

been easier than I thought it would be

(so far). Is it really so bad not to have

access to the news headlines that are

90% death and destruction, and 10%

serious harm and extensive damages?

All the British mystery shows my

wife and I stream almost daily will be

waiting for us, I am sure, once we get

reconnected to the internet.

But there is a significant issue with

being internet-less. In a world increasingly

“online only” it is not trivial to be

disconnected. We have a doctor who

consults almost entirely remotely, and

when a procedure is performed in the

office, the results are to be located on

a special online portal (I am sure there

are more than a few people who follow

the same protocol).

Our daughter’s nursing school relies

heavily on internet communication as

our grandson’s second-grade teacher

does. The days of the “parent-teacher”

packet that goes back and forth from

home to school has gone the way of

the Pony Express. And then there are

the everyday things of life, like paying

bills and other financial necessities,

which without access to the internet

can become not just inconvenient but

bring one to the brink of crisis.

For the most part we have been able

to navigate these troubled waters

without too much disruption. I have

full internet access at my work office,

so I can take care of certain necessities

there as a stopgap. Our cellphones still

work, so I can receive and send emails.

In other words, we have not been

relegated to using hurricane lamps for

light or compelled to hunt and forage

for food.

We should be thankful, and for the

most part we are, that our cellphones

work and we can maintain some

connection with the “outside” world

via our friendly neighborhood cell


Robert Brennan writes from Los Angeles, where

he has worked in the entertainment industry,

Catholic journalism, and the nonprofit sector.

tower. But I am a man of my time,

and I am sure my phone can do even

more wondrous things, but I will never

understand how to take advantage of

those wonders.

More penitential, in fact, has been

the process of dealing with our internet

provider, who we pay diligently every

month for a service we have been

without for more than a week. It has

become a New Age version of Lenten

penance. If I were better at controlling

my anger, I would be able to transform

the frustration of waiting interminably

long hold times just to speak with a

disembodied AI-generated voice who

thinks “she” is fooling me into believing

she is human, and that she is

there to help. Even when you get the

rare opportunity to speak with a real

live breathing human being, the call

almost always ends with me thinking

that if Dante was alive, the “Divine

Comedy” would have had to have one

more circle of hell in it.

Through this experience we learned

how reliant we have become on our

emails for everyday essential tasks.

But we have also learned something

else: We can live without television.

Because my daughter is a woman of

her time, she has been able to find

something called a hotspot on her

phone, and has paired that hotspot

connection to her laptop, so we are

not completely blind. We hover over

her small laptop screen and watch our

favorite hockey team live and in color

— just like the pioneers of old must

have done, I guess.

Between that, and our extensive and

not so antiquated DVD collection, we

are not completely screen-free, but the

random noise and the TV just being

on for the sake of being on has been

removed.

The quiet lends itself to more introspection,

more reading, and more

conversation. Not being able to watch

a Dodgers pre-season game may not be

the moral equivalent of a Desert Father

living in a cave and subsisting on a little

water and less bread, but any bump

in any of our roads can be turned into

something bigger and better than ourselves,

if we just reorient things upward

instead of inward.


IN SEARCH OF A TRUE

‘EASTER MOVIE’

Redemption. Renewal.

Rebirth. Here are five films

that fit surprisingly well

with the Easter message.

BY AMY WELBORN

The “Christmas movie” may be a

genre, a programming event, a

family tradition, but what about

the “Easter movie”? Is there such a

thing?

In a literal sense, of course: “The

Passion of the Christ,” “The Greatest

Story Ever Told,” Zeffirelli’s series “Jesus

of Nazareth” and maybe someday,

“The Chosen.”

But as we all know — and even argue

about (q.v. “Die Hard”), there’s more

to a “Christmas movie” than the Nativity.

Christmas is a cultural and social

experience of weather, family harmony

(and tension), peace on earth and

goodwill to men, and movies reflect

this. After all, the genre’s most popular

entries don’t mention the Nativity or

Santa Claus at all: not “A Christmas

Carol” (nor Dickens’ novel), not even

“It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Is there an Easter equivalent?

Sort of, yes — back in the day, when

one man emerged as the face of Eastertime

entertainment, and his name was

Charlton Heston.

Heston appeared on our home

screens every year around Passover

and Easter for decades as Moses in De

Mille’s “The Ten Commandments,”

and then time-leapt to anno domini as

the title character in William Wyler’s

1959 “Ben-Hur.” The latter’s television

debut was on CBS in 1971 when —

take a breath — 85 million people

watched the 212-minute epic on Feb.

14. That’s obviously not Easter, but in

subsequent years the movie found its

place Easter weekend.

By the way, this year Fathom Entertainment

is releasing “Ben-Hur”

in theaters during Holy Week, so the

tradition revives — and in a format

much better suited to the epic than

television.

Just as a wealth of Christmas themes

emerge from the deceptive simplicity

of the manger, so it is with the Passion

and Resurrection: motifs of rebirth,

conversion, redemption, self-sacrifice,

spring, renewal, and even paradox, and

a jolting reminder that your assumptions

about what’s important and

what’s even real just might be upended

when the crucified criminal invites

you to probe his wounds.

With those admittedly broad parameters

in mind, I’ve got suggestions for

an Easter Film Festival, in case anyone

wants to mount one. It’s a quirky

lineup, not exactly cozy family fare,

but that seems right, too, in a season

in which we’re called to contemplate

the hardness of dying and shocking

strangeness of an empty tomb.

1. “The Apostle” (1997) was the

(recently) late Robert Duvall’s passion

project. He wrote, directed, and starred

in the film as the charismatic, definitely

imperfect evangelist Sonny Dewey.


A scene from the 2010 film

“Of Gods and Men.” | IMDB

We’re used to stories of flawed,

hypocritical religious figures, but

“The Apostle” is unique in the genre

because Sonny isn’t a lazy caricature:

he actually, truly believes the stuff. All

of it. He believes, but he also doesn’t

A scene from the

1990 film “ Joe Versus

the Volcano.” | IMDB

pretend to be anything but a sinner, he

resists repentance, he hits bottom — a

few times — but rises again to follow

Jesus and bring others to him. In an

exaggerated, focused way — the way

of art — Duvall’s Sonny walks, deeply

aware of the presence of the living,

risen Christ.

2. “Of Gods and Men” (2010) tells

the true story of the seven Trappist

monks who lived and served among

Muslims in Tibhirine, Algeria, until

they were kidnapped and murdered in

1996 during the Algerian Civil War.

They were beatified in 2018.

We enter the monks’ lives as they consider

the growing threat. We listen as

they prayerfully ponder the question:

do we stay or do we leave? It would

be so easy to just return to France.

But would it, really? Be so easy? They

speak about death, intensely. They say:

We have given our lives to Christ. They

are already his. Another monk concludes

that he is not afraid of death for

in the risen Christ, “I am a free man.”

3. “Tree of Life” (2011), from Terrence

Malick, whom you may love,

hate, or never have bothered with, but

in any case, creates meditative, impressionistic,

visionary films. “Tree of Life,”

on a superficial level, may be about

family tensions in 1950s Texas. But of

course, that’s only the beginning. It’s

about nature and grace, about suffering

and hope. And yes, resurrection.

A prayerful, challenging, visually

gorgeous film, “Tree of Life” is particularly

suited for this season as it calls us

to move beyond an isolated vision of

“what the Resurrection means to me”

into the cosmic unveiling that all “…

creation awaits with eager expectation”

(Romans 8:19).

And now for some comic relief:

4. “Hail, Caesar!” (2016) from

brothers Joel and Ethan Coen on one

level is a satire of Hollywood’s studio

system and specifically the sword-andsandal

biblical epic, as the movie-within-a-movie

here is subtitled, in homage

to “Ben-Hur,” “A Tale of the Christ.”

But with the Coens, rare among

modern filmmakers in taking religion

seriously, even as they joke they give

us more here. Eddie Mannix, the

studio fixer, is a devout Catholic who

rescues wayward stars from their sins.

It’s a bit of a reach to call him a Christ

figure, but in his character and woven

throughout the film is indeed a sense

that all of these crazy people are worth

caring about, even, yes, worth saving.

Finally — was this entire article just

an excuse to get you to give “Joe versus

the Volcano” another try? No comment.

5. “Joe Versus the Volcano” was a

misunderstood failure upon its 1990

release. The presence of stars Tom

Hanks and Meg Ryan and the marketing

led to the not unreasonable

assumption that this was a frothy, zany

rom-com. Reality: zany, yes, but frothy,

no. Rather, this small, quirky film from

John Patrick Shanley (“Moonstruck,”

“Doubt”) is a surreal existential trip —

a real journey — from death to life,

from soul-sickness to the point where a

man who thinks he’s dying, on a raft in

a middle of an ocean, diverted from his

task of jumping into a volcano, faces

the wonder of an enormous rising

moon and is moved, not to despair in

the face of those circumstances, but to

prayer:

Dear God, whose name I do not know

— thank you for my life. I forgot how

BIG ... thank you. Thank you for my

life.

Amy Welborn is a freelance writer

living in Birmingham, Alabama, and

the author of more than 20 books. Her

blog can be found at AmyWelborn.

wordpress.com.


DESIRE LINES

HEATHER KING

A martyr for sobriety?

Venerable Matt Talbot (1856-

1925) was born to a working-class

Catholic family

in Dublin, the second oldest of 12

children. At 12, he quit school to

work. By the age of 13, he was a

This is an image of Matt Talbot,

declared “venerable” by St. Pope

Paul VI, painted by artist Terry

Nelson. Many of those devoted to

Talbot say that his sanctity was the

real key to his sobriety. | CNS/GINA

CHRISTIAN, CATHOLICPHILLY.COM

hopeless alcoholic. Crushed when his

mates refused to stand him drinks one

day, he became sober at the age of 28

and lived a quiet life of penitence and

prayer until his death on a Dublin

street at the age of 69. Chains and

cords were found wrapped around his

body. Some were embedded in his

flesh.

Journalist Eddie Doherty, husband

of the well-known spiritual writer and

founder of the lay Madonna House

apostolate Catherine de Hueck Doherty,

wrote a biography of this figure

he deeply respected.

An excerpt from the beginning

of “Matt Talbot” (Bruce Pub. Co.,

$15.55):

“On a pitiful dry day, in the city of

Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1884, a

seedy young workman with a hangover

decided to quit drinking… There

was nothing remarkable about Matt

— not then. And there was nothing

remarkable in his taking the pledge.

Nothing is easier to take — nor harder

to keep. But, one thing leading to

another, a sinner can call on a priest,

and a sot can become a saint. It was

only after Matt quit drinking that he

became remarkable in any way. It was

only after his death that he became,

not only remarkable and famous all

over the world, but even an object of

veneration.”

Doherty goes on to tell of the great

Dublin strike and lockout of 1913.

There were bloody riots, assassinations,

Irish heroes, and British villains.

Through it all, Matt quietly attended

early morning Mass, worked, fasted,

and prayed, striking with his brothers,

but never commenting further. When

he was himself arrested by the British

for questioning, forced to raise his

hands against a wall, and stand, some

accounts say for hours, his response

was: “God is so good. Isn’t it a pity

more men do not love him.”

He lived on dry crusts of bread and

a ghastly concoction of cold tea and

cocoa. His bed consisted of two rough

pine planks with a log for a pillow. He


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

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

allowed himself only three-and-a-half

hours of sleep per night.

He rose at 2 a.m., prayed for a couple

of hours, then went and knelt outside

the local Jesuit church, knees bare,

thin overcoat flapping in the wind,

and waited for the doors to open at 6

a.m. After Mass, he went to work for

the day. If he managed to scrape together

a few extra coins, he gave them

away or sent them to the missions.

With a special devotion to the

Blessed Mother, he wore the chains

as a symbol of his desire to be a slave

to Mary.

Talbot died on the street, walking to

Mass, on June 7, 1925.

Ten years later, New York stockbroker

Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith

met for the first time. The two went

on to found Alcoholics Anonymous

(AA). From then on, alcoholics the

world over have gotten and stayed

sober without the austerities practiced

by Matt Talbot. AA, whose only

requirement for membership is a

desire to stop drinking, doesn’t remotely

suggest rising at 2 a.m. to pray,

daily Mass, fasting, or the wearing of

chains.

And yet perhaps those things were

necessary. Perhaps one man — truly

anonymous during his lifetime —

had to be so appalled by the hurt he

had caused, so grateful to be sober,

so intent on making amends, that

he prayed and did penance every

remaining second of his life. Perhaps

one man had to love God as much

as Talbot did to pave the way for the

drunks who came after.

Perhaps a saint lived in solitude for

40 years so that a fellowship could be

born, and the millions of alcoholics

who came after him could walk the

road to sobriety with trusted friends.

We ponder the phenomenon of penance

deeply during Lent. I sometimes

read accounts of the early martyrs,

especially the virgin martyrs, and

shudder. How could a young girl possibly

endure having her eyes gouged

out, like St. Lucy, or her breasts cut

off, as St. Agnes purportedly did?

We can only surmise that such

people, in extremis, were granted

a supernatural grace, some special

mercy hidden from us ordinary folk

simply because we ordinary folk don’t

need it.

Like Talbot, those first martyrs were

willing, and seem to have been given

the grace, to undergo such extreme

suffering, so that those who came after

didn’t have to.

In a way, that’s true of every martyr.

They take the bullet, leaving the rest

of us to go about our lives unharmed.

In their Christ-like sacrifice, they are

continuing mysteries and, collectively,

one of the Church’s most priceless

treasures.

As for the rest of us, we can only say

with St. Augustine: “Because I am

human, therefore I am weak. Because

I am weak, therefore I pray.”

Talbot spent much of his life on the

docks. In “The Story of Matt Talbot”

(Mercier Press), Malachy Gerard Carroll

imagines him “standing on the

wharf, head bent, to the chimes and

the cry of the seagulls around him,

his figure one with the dust and the

grime, and the oily waters.”

He imagines “heat and sweat and

dust and scummy water … a thing of

beauty … lifted into the presence of

the Holy Trinity.”


LETTER AND SPIRIT

SCOTT HAHN

Scott Hahn is founder of the

St. Paul Center for Biblical

Theology; stpaulcenter.com.

The return of Alleluia!

Easter is

Passover,

and the early

Christians celebrated

it as such. In

fact, they called the

holiday “Passover,”

and most modern

languages still use

the same word to

describe both the

Jewish holiday we

know as Passover

and the Christian

holiday we know

as Easter. They use

words taken from

the Hebrew Pesach.

Spaniards call it

Pascua, Italians Pasqua.

The Dutch say

Pasen. In Zulu it’s

IPhasika. All these

terms derive from Pesach. Only a few languages — English,

German, Polish — call the feast by a word unrelated

to Passover.

The name highlights the continuity in the Easter story,

and it heightens our awareness of small details.

Alleluia is just a single word, and it’s so commonly used

that we hardly notice it. But it is significant because the

Jews of Jesus’ time associated the word primarily with

Passover.

The early Church so valued the word that it was left

untranslated in biblical and liturgical texts (see Revelation

19:1–6). Like the Hebrew Amen, it was considered sacred

for what it expressed. Alleluia (or Hallelujah) means, literally,

“Praise the Lord!” It represents the dominant theme

of a group of the Psalms that are distinctive for the effusive

honor they give to the Almighty for his deeds of creation

and redemption. These are collectively called the Hallel,

which is Hebrew for “praise.”

On Passover, these festive hymns were sung during the

seder meal. The ritual divided them into two groupings,

one long (the Great Hallel) and the other relatively short

(the Little Hallel).

“The Last Supper,”

by Franz Walschartz,

1597-1679, Flemish. |

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

There was, in

the first century, a

dispute over which

Psalms should constitute

these groupings.

The school of

the rabbi Shammai

prescribed Psalm

113 alone as the

Little Hallel, but the

school of the rabbi

Hillel paired 113

with 114. We do not

know which grouping

was favored by

Jesus.

In any event, the Little Hallel was sung before the dinner

began. The Great Hallel, the long sequence of Psalms

115-118, was sung with the fourth shared cup of wine. This

is the “hymn” that Jesus and the eleven sang as they left

the upper room and walked to the Garden of Gethsemane

(Matthew 26:30).

For the Catholic Church, the Mass — like the Passover

seder — is a meal of covenant renewal, and so it sometimes

employs one or another of the Hallel Psalms as a responsory.

But it preserves the spirit of these Passover songs in the

Alleluia recited or sung before the Gospel.

In Lent, the Church suppresses the Alleluia. Why?

Because Lent is a season of preparation for the Christian

Passover.

So, now, as Catholics turn the calendar page from Lent to

Easter, the word Alleluia does not merely return to its normal

place before the Gospel; rather, it saturates the prayers

of the Mass for the entire 50-day Easter Season. For Christians,

as for the Jews of Jesus’ time — and Jesus himself

— Alleluia is the phrase most characteristic of the Passover.

In the words beloved by St. Pope John Paul II: “We are an

Easter people, and [therefore] alleluia is our song.”


■ FRIDAY, MARCH 27

Fish Fry Dinner: Fish Tacos. St. Margaret Mary Church,

25511 Eshelman Ave., Lomita, 5-7 p.m. Fish fry featuring

tacos, fried or baked fish, and dessert. Takeout available.

Call Michael Valdovinos at 310-210-7872.

Fish Fry Torrance. Nativity Church, 1415 Engracia Ave.,

Torrance, 5-7 p.m. Baked or deep-fried fish, baked potato

or french fries, coleslaw, roll, and cake. Adults: $17/person,

seniors: $12/person, children under 12: $10/person. Indoor

seating and takeout service available.

“World Famous” Lenten Fish Dinners. St. Cornelius

Church, 5500 E. Wardlow Rd., Long Beach, 5-7 p.m. Held

Fridays in Lent, except March 20. All meals served with side

dishes, dessert, and beverage. Adults: $15/person, ages 13-

17: $10/person, kids under 13: $5/person. Visit angelusnews.com/events

for full menu.

K of C Fish “Fry-Days.” St. Barnabas Church, 3955 Orange

Ave., Long Beach, 6:15-8:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross, 5:30

p.m., 6 p.m. Mass. Visit StBarnabasLB.org.

Taize Prayer. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd.,

Encino, 7 p.m. Led by Sister Chris Machado, SSS, and Sister

Marie Lindemann, SSS. Visit hsrcenter.com or call 818-784-

4515.

■ SATURDAY, MARCH 28

Alleluia Dance Theater: Dance & Prayer Workshop. Holy

Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

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

Journeying Through Grief. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316

Lanai Rd., Encino, 9 a.m.-Sun., 6 p.m. With Cathy Narvaez.

Cost: $65/person with lunch, $55/person without. Visit

hsrcenter.com or call 818-784-4515.

Adventure is Out There: Young Adult Lenten Hike. Deukmejian

Park, 3429 Markridge Rd., Glendale, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

2-3 mile moderate hike to explore San Gabriel Mountain

Range. Learn outdoor skills, make friends, and enjoy provided

snacks before the hike. Contact St. Bede Young Adult

Coreteam at srannuncia@bede.org or call 818-949-4323.

‘The Psalms of Lament: Prayers for Hard Times’: Catholic

Bible Institute Talk Series. Zoom, 7-8:30 p.m. Presenter:

Andrew R. Davis, Ph.D., ordinary professor of Old Testament

at Boston College. Explores biblical laments in their

ancient context and how these prayers can enrich communities

of faith today. Visit lacatholics.org/events.

■ SUNDAY, MARCH 29

Palm Sunday Mass. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,

555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 7:30 a.m. English, 10 a.m.

English and livestreamed, 12:30 p.m. Spanish. Masses will

begin on the plaza with the blessing of the palms before

proceeding inside.

Triduum, a Three-Day Journey to Triumph: Palm Sunday

Fundraiser. St. Ambrose Church, 2181 N. Fairfax Ave.,

West Hollywood, 11:15-11:45 a.m. following 10 a.m. Mass.

Presented by Joe Praml Readers. Donations appreciated.

Visit stambroseweho.org.

Reenactment of the Passion of Christ. Calvary Cemetery,

4201 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles, 2 p.m. Presented by

Resurrection Parish in Boyle Heights. Visit catholiccm.org/

stations or call 323-261-3106.

■ MONDAY, MARCH 30

Chrism Mass. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W.

Temple St., Los Angeles, 6:45-8:30 p.m. Archbishop José

H. Gomez and the bishops and priests of the archdiocese

will gather to consecrate the sacred oils used for baptism,

confirmation, anointing of the sick, and holy orders. Mass

will be livestreamed.

■ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1

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, APRIL 2

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 Kay Raylon at 818-621-7514

or email kayrd1031@gmail.com.

Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Cathedral of

Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 7

p.m. Bilingual Mass with traditional washing of the feet.

Altar of Repose: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los

Angeles, 8:30-10 p.m.

■ FRIDAY, APRIL 3

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion. Cathedral of Our Lady

of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 12 p.m.

English and livestreamed, 3 p.m. English, 7 p.m. Spanish.

Faithful will have the opportunity to venerate the cross at all

services. Stations of the Cross will take place at 11 a.m. No

confessions held on Good Friday.

Reenactment of Our Lord’s Passion. St. Barnabas Church,

3955 Orange Ave., Long Beach, 7:30 p.m. Stations of the

Cross will also be held at 12 and 5 p.m., followed by liturgy

and veneration of the cross. A free Lenten soup dinner

will be held in the parish hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Visit

StBarnabasLB.org.

■ SATURDAY, APRIL 4

Preparation for Consecration to the Virgin Mary. Father

Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata, 531 E. Merced Ave.,

West Covina, 2-3 p.m. Held on the first Saturday of every

month through May. Email Ann O’Donnell at FKMs@kolbemissionusa.org

or call 626-917-0040 to register.

Blessing of the Animals. La Placita/Olvera Street, 125 Paseo

De La Plaza, Los Angeles, 12-4 p.m. Free, family-friendly

and pet-friendly event.

Easter Vigil Mass. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,

555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 8 p.m. Celebrant: Archbishop

José H. Gomez. Bilingual Mass will begin outside

with the blessing of the fire at the Easter Fire Hearth on the

Cathedral Plaza.

■ SUNDAY, APRIL 5

Easter Mass: The Resurrection of Our Lord. Cathedral of

Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles,

7:30 a.m. English, 10 a.m. English, 12:30 p.m. Spanish.

Celebrant: Archbishop José H. Gomez. 10 a.m. Mass will be

livestreamed and available on ABC 7.2. Radio listeners can

tune in on Sirius XM 120.

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 | April 3, 2026 | Vol. 11 No. 7

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Angelus News | April 3, 2026 | Vol. 11 No. 7

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