Catholic advocates are pressing Congress to make the needs of poor and vulnerable people a priority as legislators hammer out a federal spending plan for 2016. The advocates told Catholic News Service they want to prevent trillions of dollars in social services spending from disappearing over the next decade as Congress seeks to balance the federal budget and reduce the nation's growing debt. In meetings with individual members of Congress, they have stressed that the needs of hungry, homeless and unemployed people must be the country's highest priority. "There are millions of people at stake in these decisions," said Brian Corbin, senior vice president for social policy at Catholic Charities USA, which has joined with Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in meetings on Capitol Hill. "They all have a name and a face and based on our principle of human dignity, that name and that face and that family, those really are important to making issues of poverty real." In a letter to each member of Congress Feb. 27, the chairmen of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Committee on International Justice and Peace, reiterated that a budget is a moral document and that the needs of poor people are utmost despite the economic pressures posed by "future unsustainable deficits."
Finding St Anthony Among the Lost Items
Saint Anthony of Padua, though often associated with finding lost articles, was primarily known in his lifetime as a powerful and eloquent preacher. Originally a Canon Regular of St. Augustine, he was inspired to join the newly formed Franciscan order after witnessing the martyrdom of the first Franciscan missionaries in Morocco. His conversion to the mendicant life under St. Francis of Assisi transformed him, deepening his commitment to poverty, humility, and evangelical preaching. Gifted with profound theological knowledge and a captivating speaking style, he traveled across Italy and France, drawing immense crowds with his clear and passionate sermons, converting many and combating heresy with his unwavering faith and intellectual rigor. Beyond his public ministry, St. Anthony was a mystic who enjoyed profound spiritual experiences, most notably a vision of the Infant Jesus. This intimate connection with the Christ Child is a hallmark of his iconography, often depicting him c...
