MADRID (CNA/EWTN News) — Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston encouraged young people to faithfully attend Sunday Mass and to bring their friends to Jesus Christ.

“We live in a culture that is addicted to entertainment, but we don’t come to Mass to be entertained,” he told World Youth Day pilgrims at a morning catechesis session in central Madrid Aug. 17.

“Our presence there, gathered as a family, is of crucial importance. It is at the Sunday Eucharist that we learn our identity as Christ’s family, where we witness to each other that we are believers and that we want to live as Jesus’ disciples.”

Cardinal O’Malley addressed more than 1,000 young English-speaking pilgrims who were crammed...READ MORE

60 Years a Priest, On the Anniversary of the Pope’s Ordination - Fr. James V. Schall SJ, Ignatius Insight

Spiritual Heirloom - Elizabeth Hillgrove, VirtuousPla.net

In Praise of the Cassock from an Unexpected Source - Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, WDTPRS?

Cross & Eagle Catholic Blogging Award for Longest Post Title - The American Catholic

Zeba, the “Princess” Who Ran Away for Love - Mauro Pianti, La Stampa/Vatican Insider

Receiving Gifts, a 1626 Missale Romanum & Galileo - Dr. Stacy Trasancos, Accepting Abundance

The Marriage Gap that’s Destroying Middle America - Carolyn Moynihan, MercatorNet

The Last Gasp of the Revolution that Failed - Mark P. Shea, Catholic and Enjoying It!

Deception for...READ MORE

When Father Ian Hellyer, a Catholic priest in England, figures his personal budget, he faces concerns that are unusual for a Catholic priest: He must consider the needs of his wife, Margaret, and their nine children.

A former Anglican clergyman, Father Hellyer was ordained in June into a Church that by and large has not had to provide for men with families. He is a priest of the personal ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a newly erected diocese for former Anglicans. It was created under the provisions of Pope Benedict XVI’s Anglicanorum Coetibus, which made it possible for former Anglicans to come into the Catholic Church in groups.

A similar ordinariate is expected to be up and...READ MORE

Trust in divine Providence. I say that because today was a perfect example of the Holy Spirit guiding our day. Let me explain.

Our day began with a few delays and a little rain storm. Not a big deal, but when we made it to the English center at Palancio de los Deportes, it was packed to capacity for the English Mass. We were stuck outside, unable to get in and attend Mass. That was a huge disappointment for our group, but as things would go, EWTN was filming little groups outside of the doors. To the delight of the teens in our groups, EWTN filmed them doing their different chants — all thanks to Life on the Rock’s awesome producer! (Thanks Jill!)

When we were unable to get in there, we...READ MORE

The Church has a Deep Theology about the Seventh Commandment - Carl Olson, Ignatius Insight Scoop

The Truth Is - Steven Lawson, VirtuousPla.net

On the Reading of Obscure Documents - John M. DeJak, The Distributist Review

The 2011 Cross & Eagle Catholic Blogging Awards - The American Catholic

. . . Cross & Eagle Award for Best Author Pseudonym . . .

. . . Cross & Eagle for Most Beautiful Blog . . .

The Liturgy of St. James on the Eucharist - Joe Heschmeyer, Shameless Popery

Excerpts from Thomas Aquinas’ Childhood Journal - Mark P. Shea, Catholic & Enjoying It!

Mexico: The Farewell of the Ranchero Cardinal - Andrés Beltramo Álvarez, La Stampa/Vatican Insider

Santorum Momentum...READ MORE

Hey, gals, there’s a one-time-only “special” on forgiveness in Madrid this week! Had an abortion? No problem, as they say in Spain. The Pope in Rome has waived your culpability — just this once!!

That is how way too many news stories about World Youth Day read. “Pope dangles ‘fruits of divine grace’ to excommunicated Catholics who admit, during Madrid event, to terminations,” the Guardian tells us.

And then, there are the commentaries in response: full of anger and confusion, only adding to the pain people affected by abortion already know. On Slate’s “XX Factor” blog, where you go to find out “What Women Really Think,” Amanda Marcotte writes: “Oh boy, the Vatican, no doubt patting...READ MORE

MADRID (EWTN News/CNA) — Archbishop-designate of Philadelphia Charles Chaput told thousands of young people gathered in Madrid for World Youth Day that an authentic relationship with Christ isn’t based purely on emotions.

“Ultimately, it will not be how you feel that will determine how genuine and profound your encounter with Jesus is,” he told pilgrims.

“Instead, it will be determined by how much you are transformed into him and how much you burn in the desire to bring him to others, by announcing the Gospel, by serving the poor and the needy, by defending the unborn, by securing a culture that is not hostile to the growth of Christian families,” he said.

Archbishop Chaput made his...READ MORE

Listening to the Early Church Fathers & the Liturgy - Joe Heschmeyer, Shameless Popery

In Praise of Unattainable Women: Botticelli’s Madonna - Matthew Alderman, Dappled Things

The Juridical Key to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite - Dr. Jeff Mirus, CatholicCulture.org

The Catholic’s Guide to Local Pilgrimages - Allison Terrell, VirtuousPla.net

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids - Francis Philllips, MercatorNet

Rare Video: Election of Pope John XXIII in 1958 A.D. - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

The Old Postmodern Trollop - Joseph Bottum, Catholic Vote

Take the U.S. Presidential Poll for Catholics - The American Catholic

The Seal of Confession & the Virtue of Religion - Fr....READ MORE