VIEWS

Anyone who’s ever had the joy of having a houseful of teenage and 20-something males knows what I mean when I say that it’s all about the food. One local teenager stands apart from the crowd.

I was 9 years old when the U.S. Supreme Court invented the right to abortion. I still remember Dr. Carolyn Gerster, one of the...

On the first day after he was elected pope, our new Holy Father traveled across the city of Rome to pray at the most important Roman Shrine of Our Lady, found in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. On the first day of the New Year 2014, Pope Francis again made an unannounced visit to this Marian Shrine. In the nine months of his papacy, he has made similar pilgrimages to pray to the Mother of God and ask her loving protection for the Church and the world.

Christmas wishes for many children frequently involve things that are fun and flashy, cool and hip, or maybe loud and fast. And for adults, often the impractical (or what some might also call “re-gifts”).

The Child Jesus enters our broken, fallen world with His purity and innocence and fragility. He is born in the most humble of circumstances, in a temporary shelter, among sheep and oxen, and laid in a manger. He shed His first drop of blood for us eight days later at His circumcision, a foretelling of the blood that would flow from the terrible wounds of crucifixion.

Since his election on March 13 of this year, he has caught the attention of the world. Even non-believers and non-practicing Catholics are paying attention. Pope Francis surprises and inspires, even as he challenges us to love the poor and in them to meet Jesus anew.

“¡Viva Cristo Rey!” 86 years ago, November 23, 1927, these words rang forth in Mexico City as a young man was being executed by a firing squad.

Experts predict that Arizona’s economy will grow at a steady, moderate pace throughout 2014 as it continues to grind its way through the lingering effects of the Great Recession. It is imperative we not leave anyone, particularly the working poor, behind.

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” These words of Charles Dickens could easily be applied to the present situation that the Church faces in the American continent when she proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ about marriage, family and the culture of life.

When I first heard about what happened to Albert Quihuis, 90, and his wife, Sophia, 87, my initial reaction was outrage.