Learning to be Quick to Listen

Returning from a visit to the Kurdish region of Iraq, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan called the Islamic State invasion "pure and simple religious cleansing and attempted genocide. What we, the five patriarchs, saw in Ankawa, Irbil and other cities of Kurdistan, was something indescribable in terms of the violation of human rights and the threat of disappearing of various communities among the vulnerable minorities of Northern Iraq," Patriarch Younan said. "It is a pure and simple religious cleansing and attempted genocide. Patriarch Younan and Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II stayed in Iraq for six days after arriving as part of a delegation of Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs who visited Irbil to give moral and spiritual support to the beleaguered Iraqis from the Ninevah Plain. The displaced minorities -- Christians, Yezidis, Shiite Muslims and Shabaks -- sought refuge there from their besieged towns and villages, which fell to Islamic St...

Although Christians, Muslims and Jews have struggled for hundreds of years to live peacefully alongside each other in the Middle East, "we have never seen the kind of 'religious cleansing' we are witnessing today," said the head of the region's Franciscans. "All religious communities must raise their voices against this abomination" being carried out, particularly in Iraq and Syria, by terrorists calling themselves the Islamic State, said Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, custos of the Holy Land. Speaking in Rimini, Italy, at an international meeting sponsored by the Communion and Liberation movement, Father Pizzaballa said political, economic and probably military intervention will be needed to protect the Christian and other minority communities of the Middle East. However, he added, their survival ultimately will depend on the courage and willingness of the region's inhabitants to love and protect one another. "Political solutions mu...

Catholics Come Home, an organization based in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, will premiere a new TV series that features individuals who have joined the Catholic Church or returned to the Catholic faith after many years away. The "Catholics Come Home" series, which was filmed in more than a dozen locations in the U.S. and Canada, will debut Sept. 4 at 10 p.m. Eastern time on the Eternal Word Television Network. The series consists of 13 30-minute episodes, each featuring an interview with someone who recently returned to the church as a result of a Catholics Come Home campaign and in response to "the call of the Holy Spirit," said a news release on the series. Catholics Come Home, whose founder and president is Tom Peterson, has worked with dozens of U.S. dioceses on TV ad campaigns, especially at Lent and Christmas, to invite inactive Catholics to get more involved in the church, fallen-away Catholics to return to the church and non-Catholics to join ...

Robin Williams' apparent suicide has placed a dark cloud on this day. He brought laughter to so many people and in a world short on joy, we need people who can lighten the mood. Many of the news stories about him note that he suffered from depression. It is a misunderstood mental health illness that many suffer from, often in silence. Robin Williams death reminds us of his comedy. His portrayal as Mrs. Doubtfire is really unmatched. The movie itself was so pro-family and it really emphasized how important relationships can be. It was a good movie that illustrated how important it is for children to have a good mother and father. So often, comedies turn the father into a irredeemable buffoon. That was not so of Mrs. Doubtfire. His passing also reminds us that we are very often our worse critics. We beat ourselves senseless over unimportant things. Jesus tells us to work on our interior and leave the rest to him. Romans 5:4-5 says, "Patience produces character, and character pro...

If you have seen an artistic Facebook cover photo with a saint and a powerful quote, there's a good chance it came from Cassie Pease. The 22-year-old South Dakota native's designs have been floating around social media and phone backgrounds for over a year now. While Pease has always been interested in design, she did not realize her saint art would be so popular. The first composition she made was of Saint John Paul II, and she shared it on Facebook for her friends to enjoy. “I started putting these designs on Facebook just to kind of share with my friends so they could know what I was up to,” Pease said. “About a week later I checked it and it had over 300 shares…and I was just astonished.” Growing up, Pease said she enjoyed creating designs with characters from movies and T.V. shows. While attending college for graphic design in Sioux Falls, her art began reflecting her growing faith. “I started falling more in love with Jesus and the Catholic Church, so for different p...