The Catholic Sun

Silvia Starrs is a prison ministry volunteer and knows the incarcerated and their families by name. She accompanies them, meeting their spiritual, physical and emotional needs. “In prison, there's lots of broken hearts. Not just the prisoners, but also their families. We love meeting their needs, helping to build bridges back to the families.” One child that Starrs mentored through prison ministry really touched her heart. At the time, she didn’t know how she’d mentor Angelina while working and raising her children, but the Lord had a different plan. “God put her there. I knew that was love at first sight. When you say ‘yes’ to our Lord, He works all things out.”

PHOENIX -- It was a day that changed Peter McSparran’s life. “I was aboard a submarine,” the U.S. Navy veteran, 61, of Sun City West...

Nearly 100 people from 25 different congregations gathered at St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix on Friday night for a special Mass in celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life. This marked the 28th consecutive year the Church has dedicated February 2nd as a day set aside to recognize the men and women who live a life consecrated to God. This includes their public pronouncement of the evangelical councils of poverty, chastity and obedience in their specific religious communities’ charism and mission or through promise to live in service to God through public consecration.

On Ash Wednesday, Catholics around the globe will have blessed ashes applied to their foreheads as a sign of repentance. This practice, taken from the ancient Jewish practice of penance and fasting, is one of the most beloved liturgical practices of the year. As ashes are given, the priest or other minister says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Alternatively, the words are, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

Brophy College Preparatory presented Dr. Maria Chavira, the Chancellor and Vice Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Phoenix, with the prestigious Inés Pascual Award on Saturday at a special breakfast in downtown Phoenix. The award, established in 2017, is named for the Spanish noblewoman who came to the aid of Ignatius of Loyola as he began his physical and spiritual journey that led to the founding of the Society of Jesus — the Jesuits. Sra. Pascual met Ignatius when he was a soldier injured from battle, traveling from Montserrat to Manresa. She provided food, shelter and medical care, and later served as a fundraiser and businesswoman on his behalf.

Father Shea Bowora, parochial administrator of St. Daniel the Prophet, knows all about healing hearts.  “[Priests] are literally in the business of healing hearts. That's what we do seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Jesus does the heavy lifting. He's specifically healing souls, broken souls. It's Christ Himself who's setting that person free.” In his own walk with the Lord, Father Bowora noticed the Lord healing him and showing him love. He even owes part of his journey to the priesthood to the CDA. 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Lent is a time to free oneself from slavery and take action to free others suffering from the multiple forms of slavery that afflict the world, Pope Francis said. Even though baptism has begun a process of liberation, "there remains in us an inexplicable longing for slavery. A kind of attraction to the security of familiar things, to the detriment of our freedom," the pope said in his message for Lent, which begins Feb. 14 for Latin-rite Catholics. Echoing the tragedy of the ancient Israelites, a modern-day Pharaoh "stifles dreams, blocks the view of heaven, makes it appear that this world, in which human dignity is trampled upon and authentic bonds are denied, can never change," the pope wrote.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholic universities are called to contribute to the growth of the intellectual tradition of the church as well as the hearts of their students, forming them into agents of good, Pope Francis told the University of Notre Dame's board of trustees. "The educational efforts undertaken by Catholic institutions, in fact, are based on a firm belief in the intrinsic harmony between faith and reason," the pope told members of the board and the university's president during a meeting at the Vatican Feb. 1.

PHOENIX --- The participants in this year’s Diocese of Phoenix Men’s Conference already knew living a godly life involved leaning into God. What many received...

CHANDLER, Ariz.  – Seton Catholic Preparatory hosted nine schools from the local area for its annual Unified Field Day event on Friday, February 2....