McGrath Institute Blog

What could “tough love” possibly have to do with the dual sense of consolation I experienced last month in a special prayer service? My wife and I gathered with our parish family to express solidarity with fellow Christians and to see more clearly our need for trust in Our Lord and the Blessed Mother.

At Notre Dame’s 174th University Commencement Ceremony on May 19, Dr. Norman C. Francis, the longtime president of Xavier University of Louisiana, will receive the 2019 Laetare Medal. This premier symbol annually honoring American Catholics will celebrate Francis’ “leadership in the fight for social justice through educational empowerment,” as University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, CSC, recently put it in a news release.

Has your church sent out formal invitations to the Easter Vigil on the evening of Holy Saturday? Don’t worry. The most eloquent words of invitation are front-loaded right into the Easter Vigil liturgy itself. Beginning with the instruction that we in the pews, the whole Church, our world and the angels in heaven should get ready to “exult” tonight, the Proclamation of Easter calls us, in its own words, to an “ardent love of mind and heart.”

A blog post yesterday looked at media-related insights in Pope Francis’ recently issued Christus Vivit, his Apostolic Exhortation on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.

You’ll find below a second batch of quotations from the March 25, 2019, document. They acknowledge but transcend digital-world challenges, focusing on robust community life in general. The pope wrote largely about young people called to be missionary disciples—evangelizing even as they navigate the distorted culture of social media. They can’t heal a polarized society alone.

Pope Francis has once again expressed a set of prayer-provoking insights about our use of contemporary media and Catholic stewardship of the “Good News” amid a changing information culture that distorts human community.