Thursday, August 23, 2012

Vehicle to the Priesthood by Father John Riccardo



     My first memory is of the crucifix in my boyhood parish, Holy Name in Birmingham, Michigan.  I do not know how old I was, but I knew Jesus had died for me and my whole life was suppose to be a response to this. This is certainly not a typical first memory but my family was anything but typical.  My father, John, was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board for the Chrysler Corporation, and also a devout Catholic. 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Russian Babushka’s Rebuild Church


St. Francis heard God’s call from a crucifix and the faithful Russian grandmothers heard God’s call from a cell phone.

     When St. Francis, knelt before the crucifix in the broken down church of San Damiano in the Italian town of Assisi, it was a moment that changed the world. “Francis, go rebuild my church, which is falling down,” he heard Christ say to him.
     Francis had given up his wealth so he rebuilt San Damiano by begging for the supplies. For a group of eight Russian grandmothers, in the 300-hundred-year-old village of Buranova, they are rebuilding their church through singing and dancing. They’ve become a hip group, flying across the country giving concerts and donating much of their proceeds to rebuild the Church of the Trinity, which had long ago been destroyed during Stalin’s rule.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Voodoo Dolls No Child’s Play—an Exorcist Weighs In



The latest craze being sold in stores to kids and teens across the country has all the makings of a successful fad—inexpensive, cute, and collectible.  But parents beware: the charm-sized voodoo dolls, also known as string dolls, are no child’s play.