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The Growing Humanitarian Crisis in Venezuela & Taking Lent Seriously
On this week’s Just Love episode, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan takes a deeper look at the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and also talks about how younger people are doing for Lent. Dr. Veronica Zubillaga, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the Universidad Simon Bolivar down in Caracas, Venezuela. She is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Dr. Zubillaga talks to Msgr. Sullivan about the growing humanitarian and political crisis in her native Venezuela and what steps need to be taken to solve the crisis in that country. Kayla Auza is a Sophomore studying International Relations and…
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Why Practice Lent?
“Rend your hearts not your garments” the prophet Joel long ago directed. The same theme is directed to us this Ash Wednesday: “Open up your hearts.” Let’s not waste our time on superficial Lenten practices that fail to touch our hearts. Let’s take on and carry out those practices, penances, and deeds in a way that opens up our hearts in three directions – to ourselves, to one another and to our God. The script: pray, sacrifice and help. Why those three? They open our hearts in three ways: prayer – to God; sacrifice – to ourselves; helping – to others. The script is tried and true, and at least…
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Why Do We Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
Reflection of the Day: St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in New York, Boston, Chicago and Savannah (Go figure that one out!). Did you know that the first Irish Associations in the Unites States founded in Boston and New York had among their original missions: “to help the needy?” Throughout the past century and to this day most major charitable events – Non-Catholic and Catholic alike – count Irish-Americans among the list of major donors. This year, I was honored by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. at his annual Irish Heritage and Culture celebration. It was great to be part of the celebration. The story of charity in…
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Last Day of Lent
Tip of the Day: Use your tongue today to speak a gentle, not condemnatory, words of encouragement to someone who seems down or depressed. Verse of the Day: Bible Readings for Wednesday of Holy Week Reflection of the Day: It is profoundly tragic that the last day of Lent is referred to as Spy Wednesday after Judas, the traitor who takes his own life in remorse. This makes the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus even more compelling. Out of the depths I cried…. And the Lord heard my cry…
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Stay the Course Through Holy Week
Tip of the Day: Recommit to making the time to celebrate the great feasts of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Thursday), Passion (Good Friday) & Resurrection (Easter). Verse of the Day: Bible Readings for Tuesday of Holy Week Reflection of the Day: A wise colleague often says, “When climbing the mountain, it’s good to look back periodically and see how far we have come.” Today is the symbolic 39th day of Lent. We’ve come a long way. Only one more day remains of our Lenten discipline before we enter into the great celebrations of our Christian faith.
