Many Catholics are blessed to have a priest friend. Or, even if they’re not someone you consider your friend, you still may have that priest who you look up to. You know, the one you talk to every Sunday either before or after Mass. The one who has known you for years...
So, your beloved parish priest of the past many years has been given a new assignment in another city, what do you do? You may have spent years getting to know him, or you may be brand new to the parish. You may have gone through marriage prep, RCIA or the baptism of...
https://catholic-link.org/infographic-what-is-the-meaning-behind-the-priestly-vestments-a-practical-guide/ God calls those He wants to be priests. He chooses them from among His people in order to consecrate them, to make them His own. From that moment on, priests no...
Well, this isn't something you see every day, or ever. Fr. Nolan, a priest from the Diocese of Boise, Idaho, is hitting the slopes while playing the bagpipes to help raise the money needed to build a new church for a parish he was previously assigned to. You've got to...
We know we can always count on our priests to be present at Mass and all the liturgical celebrations around the holidays. We watch the deacon assist during sacraments and parish life. We proudly acknowledge the hard work and preparation seminarians undergo for the...
During patriotic holidays, we are intentional in remembering the men and women who have fought for our freedom from the beginning. In a special way, military chaplains carry out their duties displaying exemplary courage and faith. They reflect the love of Jesus to...
Being a seminarian, I’m surrounded by other seminarians and I’ve heard a variety of vocation stories. What always amazes me is how the Lord calls each man differently to the priesthood. Some felt urged to explore this vocation through promptings from the Holy Spirit,...
I have a pastor who is "in his natural habitat" at the altar and at the pulpit. His ars celebrandi (manner of saying the Mass) is so careful and reverent. He has a beautiful and clear voice for speaking and singing various parts of the Liturgy. His homilies are often...
Though many point out the evil and harm of social media, we all have the choice to use social media for our own personal gratification or to use it as a tool to bring glory to God. We can choose to use social media for good! An easy way to do that is to carefully...
This short film has an incredibly powerful and impactful message. "The Confession" by John LaRaw from South Korea was the Winner of Best Short Film at the International Catholic Film Festival. "The Confession" tells the story of a young priest who listens...
Fr. Leo Patalinghug, known as the "Cooking Priest", and Fr. Kyle Manno , who you might recognize from this viral carpool karaoke video, are causing a bit of an uproar on Twitter because of video that was posted by Katie Prejean McGrady that was taken at...
Fr. Ian Van Heusen provides a Gospel commentary and video each week for Catholic-Link. He loves being a priest, but there is one thing that bothers him about his vocation. In this video, Fr. Ian shares that people actually asked him more spiritual questions when he...
It’s tennis season here in the UK, and fans all over the world will be tuning in to watch the All England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, which are followed up several weeks later with the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, at Flushing Meadows in New York....
Last week Catholic-Link published an article about Esmeralda Solís Gonzáles, a young woman who left behind her life as a beauty queen in Mexico to pursue a religious vocation with the Poor Clare Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament. Today, we have another inspiring...
Have you ever wondered why the Catholic Church is structured in a hierarchical form? Or, what makes the difference between a deacon and a priest? Or how our local parishes fit into the global relationship of the Church? Each member of the Church has an equally...
In my life I’ve listened to diverse opinions about what candidates for the priesthood should be like, how they should behave before entering the seminary and how they should lead an impeccable life. Many people believe that those men who feel the call of God to the...
First of all, before we get started, let’s make some things clear. This is NOT a post about priest-bashing. It is our priests, the lovable ones, the grouchy ones, the aloof ones, the bookish ones, the weak ones, the wounded ones (you get the picture), who bring us the...
When I talk about vocation, many get scared at just the though of it. The first things that come to their mind are religious habits, endless prayers, people living in the same house, having to live far from their families, etc. However, the truth is that vocation...
Events like World Youth Day or a young saint's canonization (recently, Saint José Sanchez del Río), tend to spawn a boom in vocations to the consecrated life like fungi after a storm. It’s only logical. These celebratory events in the Church can be very moving and...
In the United States, on Sunday, October 28th, we celebrate Priesthood Sunday. Hopefully, your parish has something planned that will raise awareness of vocations to the priesthood. It is important for young people to begin to open their minds and hearts to the...
The video shows Reverend David Rider, 29, of New York and Reverend John Gibson, 28, from Milwaukee, engaging in a bit of healthy competition and sharing their tapping talents during a fundraiser at the North American College (NAC), an American seminary in Rome, near...
If you have paid attention at Mass or at other liturgies at Church, you will have noted how the priest’s vestments change through the various seasons. It’s possible that you might have asked yourself why the change and what the different colors might mean. Put simply,...
Throughout the Olympics, I have grown attached to some of the athletes competing for Gold. Many of them quickly went from names I had never heard of to people I desperately wanted to see win. I'll admit that after the Olympics conclude I probably won't continue to...
Last week, Cardinal Robert Sarah who is the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (the person in the Vatican in charge of Liturgy) said that priests should celebrate Mass ‘ad orientem’ (facing East) rather than facing the congregation as they currently do,...
José Luis Martín Descalzo is a priest, a journalist, and a Spanish writer from a profoundly Christian family in which he was the youngest of four siblings. He completed degrees in History and Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a...