Cardinal Edwin F. O'Brien - Thoughts on Our Church

The following columns were written by Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien and appeared in the Catholic Review.

For Immediate Release November 7, 2024 Holy day of obligation moved to December 9 in observance of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Baltimore, MD –…

Jenny Kraska, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, responded to the passage of the “Right to Reproductive Freedom” constitutional amendment, which enshrines abortion in the state constitution: “The passage…

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Rick Opatick was a cradle Catholic, “Later, I began to realize how much I didn’t know,” he recalls. “Catechism in the 70s…there was no Bible study…it…

Both the Book of Deuteronomy and Jesus himself in Mark’s Gospel instruct us that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all one’s heart, and Jesus adds, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” – that is to say, from the very depth of your heart.

But we should also take great comfort the existence of purgatory – that state of being further purified even after death, that is to say, made ready for heaven, where we are to receive and reflect the infinitely pure and beautiful love of the Triune God with which all the saints are resplendent.

This year, I’ve had the opportunity to experience firsthand the spirit and work of the Order in Canada, the Philippines, and Ukraine. I’ve also been able to look at the spirit and mission of the Order through the lens of the month-long Synod on Synodality in Rome. This morning, I won’t offer you a travel-log but I will share with you some reflections on what I have seen and heard.

Just as Fr. McGivney encourages priests to holiness and charity, so too the amazing array of saints, canonized and uncanonized, encourage all of us to embrace our baptismal call to holiness, to missionary discipleship and to a life of charity – all summed up by Blessed Michael McGivney in a few words: charity, unity and fraternity, coupled with longing for our true homeland in heaven.

Today we commemorate a pivotal moment in history: the 160th anniversary of Maryland Emancipation Day, which marks the day the Maryland Constitution of 1864 went into effect and officially abolished slavery within the state. This day, when all those still held in bondage were finally set free, is a profound reminder of the dignity of every human person, a dignity that the Catholic Church upholds as sacred and inviolable.

Andrew Middleton’s journey with the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS), an essential ministry under the Archdiocese of Baltimore, began at a surprising and transformative chapter in his life. Raised Catholic…

So, when the Lord asks us, “What do you want me to do for you?” we can do no better than to answer as did Bartimaeus: “I want to see!” . . . I want to see you, Lord, with the eyes of faith!

Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien – Thoughts on Our Church