Inspirational, informative, groundbreaking, “The Crowned White Eagle” is a riveting book that opens one’s eyes to the realities experienced by Poland, its insightful history, its legends and highly-enriched culture. Written by Anthony P. Kowalski, this exhilarating read reveals the compelling truths behind a series of struggles endured by a strong and united nation.

Drones are male honeybees. They develop from eggs that have not been fertilized, and unlike worker bees whose stinger is a modified egg-laying organ they cannot sting. It’s ironic that our pilotless drones are named after them. For those unmanned planes with their explosive-bearing missiles have killed and maimed many.

It was quiet as the Trappist monks lay to rest the body of Brother John.

But then, it’s always quiet at a monastery. The monks thrive on silence as much as our modern world hungers for noise.

I was making a private retreat at the New Clairvaux Monastery a few miles from Chico when I had the unexpected opportunity to experience the funeral of a monk.

Catholic theologian Regina Schulte is one of the reasons our church is in trouble today. Years ago she went off and got educated. For a while she served the church as a Catholic sister. Eventually she left the religious life and married. For years she and her late husband, Jim, earned their livings as Catholic theologians. Jim died eleven years ago. Regina continues reflecting on life, church, and the human condition while living in partial retirement.

The God we profess
The Feast of the Holy Trinity - a celebration which not only proclaims our belief in a Triune God, but one which also confirms our response to Christ's command to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that He has commanded.

A blueprint of how authority could & should function in the RC Church.  This new system of authority, based on Gospel teaching and genuine co-responsibility as demanded by Vatican II, will affect all circles in the Church: Pope, Bishops, Bishops Conferences, Priests and Laity

The Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College seeks to be a catalyst and resource for the renewal of the Catholic Church in the United States by engaging critical issues facing the Catholic community.  Many programs can be found online for your spiritual and theological development.

This site provides excellent material for our day to day spiritual journey from Creighton University writers.  

FutureChurch is a national coalition of parish-based Catholics who seek the full participation of all baptized Catholics in the life of the Church.  A special emphasis is expanding an inclusive ministry.

Perhaps you have never heard of Henri Nouwen or you may be quite familiar with his writing. Either way we invite you to explore this site and discover why the themes of his many books resonate so deeply with people all over the world.

After more than 50 years of life in a monastery, Sister Joan Chittister asked herself some questions. What — if anything — of monastic life is worth passing on to others in our time? What does monasticism offer seekers who are already overwhelmed by all the spiritual and secular options available to them? And how can those outside traditional monasteries embrace this life that is both enriching and enlightening?

Welcome to Vatican II—Voice of the Church. The mission of this website is to promote and explain the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) which ...

Federation of Christian Ministries Conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA, July 12-14, 2013

Popular columnist ends 10-year run
Publisher's Notebook

At that time, our religion page was running weekly columns from area pastors. His submission during my first week at this newspaper was headlined "Why 2K?" The premise of the column was that while Christians were celebrating the start of a new millenium, other religions around the world were not.

"By the Hebrew calendar it is not their millenium, rather the year 5760," O'Rourke wrote. "For Islam it's the year 1470. For the Ethiopians it's 1994."

Since that commentary, O'Rourke has written nearly 300 columns on a twice-monthly basis for the OBSERVER. Unfortunately, however, his run has ended.

In a phone message this week, O'Rourke told me he was ending his "From the other side" column, which has regularly appeared for the last 10 years in the OBSERVER on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.

Many readers have been able to treasure his columns over the years. The Cassadaga resident has compiled almost all of his submissions into two books, "The Spirit at Your Back," published in 2007 and "The Living Spirit," which was published in 2011. He also maintains a web site, www.danielcorourke.com that includes his most recent submissions.

"My efforts as a columnist these past half dozen years have brought affirmation and encouragement, public criticism and anonymous hate mail," O'Rourke wrote in his first book. "The criticisms did not surprise me. After all if write about hot-button topics like homosexual clergy or war in Iraq, there will be lost of people vehemently voicing their differences. I lost some friends on these issues, but gained many more."

And all of those friends will miss his continued contributions.

Thanks, Dan.