Just as “Tiger King” became a defining show of our early quarantine days and “Bridgerton” carried us through the first COVID-19 winter, “Squid Game” has dominated this fall. It’s not hard to see how the Korean drama resonates more deeply in the pandemic’s long shadow.
I am a people-pleaser. Well, actually, no. I am a recovering people-pleaser, but this is a new development. All my life, I’ve wanted to avoid conflict and manage circumstances so that the people I care about will be happy. Truthfully, I didn’t just want them to be happy; I wanted them to be happy with me.
As All Souls Day, Nov. 2, approaches, thoughts turn to remembering those whom we have lost over the years. One of those we lost was a woman we dubbed the Catholic Herald’s Number One Fan.
Like students taking a test, we often assign God to boxes without realizing it: God will be present at church, in Mass or in class. But we can forget that Emmanuel is with us everywhere and always.
Flags in church?
Q. When I was at Mass yesterday, the congregation sang a rousing rendition of "God Bless America." That brought to my mind the flag issue. I have been in many Catholic churches of late — especially for funerals — and I have not seen a single flag. What is the Catholic Church's stance on American flags on the altar? (Niskayuna, N.Y.)
We never really outgrow the desire for a bedtime story. It just takes different forms when we’re older: Netflix, the evening news, Instagram stories.
It’s sometimes said Pope St. John Paul II was the most intellectually gifted occupant of the See of Peter ever, but inasmuch as the line of popes stretches back two millennia and includes some known to history only by their names, there is no realistic way of verifying that.
Bingo was his name.
Those who knew me in my youngest years know that the first object of my affection — after my family — was a stuffed dog named Bingo.
Please pray for the following Arlington diocesan priests and deacons whose anniversaries of death are in October:
What God values
GOSPEL COMMENTARY Nov. 7, Mk 12:38-44