To the children at Fatima 100 years ago, St. Faustina and millions of Catholics worldwide, hell is real. And, scary as such visions are, they echo a positive urgency to mercy.

Catholics currently find themselves between two remarkable events on their calendars, brought to us by two extraordinary ladies in our history and hearts and minds: April 23 was Divine Mercy Sunday, granted to us by the experiences of St. Faustina Kowalska, and May 13 is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

Nowadays, especially in industrialized and urban societies, the figure of a shepherd is little known and appreciated. Even the idea of ​​being a shepherd does not appeals to the contemporary man, who makes freedom coincide with autonomy and is offended when called a sheep.

One of my favorite stories from the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima a century ago this year is how Our Lady was compelled gently to correct the three shepherd children for “cheating” on how they were praying the Rosary.

The eldest, at the time ten-year-old Lucy, described in her eventual Memoires what they were doing and why.

Pope Francis has said he hoped his visit to Egypt, carried out with “God’s help,” could be “a sign of peace” for the country and the wider region suffering from “conflicts and terrorism.”

Recalling the April 28-29 visit during his May 3 weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father said Egypt has been a “symbol of hope, of refuge, of help.”

While conversion and prayer are at the heart of Mary's messages at Fatima, Portugal, the miracles and unexplained phenomenon that accompanied the events 100 years ago still intrigue believers and nonbelievers alike.

The apparitions of Mary at Fatima in 1917 weren't the first supernatural events reported there.

At the general audience, Francis retraces his journey on 28 and 29 April: Christians “are called to be yeast of fraternity,” a “healthy laicity” is needed.

Professor Mohammad Sammak, the only Muslim to have participated in two Synods, is convinced the meeting in Cairo has marked a fundamental starting point. He emphasizes the importance of the Pope’s Arabic greetings.

In the British mandate of Palestine, the Christian population was 9.6 per cent of the population. By 1999, it was 2.9 per cent. Meanwhile, 35 per cent of the Christians of the West Bank and Gaza left between 1967 and 1999

After 44 Christian Copts were killed in two church bombings in Egypt in April 2017, can they stay?

No one is checking “Valid Catholic” cards at the door, and no one feels a particular need to be a Communion Cop. We recognize that we’re all a bunch of needy sinful people who are eager to make room for others at the Lord’s Table.
You never know where God will surprise you.

In the middle of a hot summer, while I was standing in the produce section at the local supermarket, a woman I had never met tapped me on the shoulder and introduced herself.

Saint of the Day for May 1

The Story of Saint Joseph the Worker