By Maria Wiering ,

(OSV News) — The tens of thousands of Catholics planning to attend the five-day 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July will experience large-scale liturgies, dynamic speakers, and opportunities for quiet prayer and faith-sharing, with six different “impact session” tracks tailored to their peer groups or faith journey.

Leaders hope attendees become “a leaven for the church in the United States as Eucharistic missionaries going back to their parishes, but also sort of a gathering of people who are standing in the breach, or in proxy, for the entire church across the United States, inviting that new Pentecost, and that new sending (of) healing and life to the full,” said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., in a January meeting with media.

The event is the pinnacle of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative of the U.S. bishops to inspire a deeper love for Jesus in the Eucharist that began in 2022. The revival focused its first year on dioceses, the second and current year on parishes, and the final year, beginning after the congress, on “going out in mission.”

Catholic leaders have described the National Eucharistic Congress as potentially transformational for the Catholic Church in the U.S.

“I believe this event and the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage leading up to it will have a generational impact on our country,” wrote Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, and chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., in a commentary published by OSV News in January.

The congress will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, and the adjacent Indianapolis Convention Center. The congress distinguishes itself from other Catholic conferences because it “invites the entire church to come to pray together for revival,” said Joel Stepanek, the National Eucharistic Congress’ vice president of programming and administration.

“We’re going to gather with those there to pray for the Holy Spirit to fall on us, to pray for revival in the church in the United States, to pray for healing in our own lives so we might be Eucharistic missionaries, and we’ll do that through powerful experiences of prayer and with the encouragement of a wonderful keynote speakers,” Stepanek said.

Registration is open for full-event and single-day passes at eucharisticcongress.org/register.

The congress’ theme is centered on Luke 24, which describes Jesus meeting two disciples on the road to Emmaus following his death and resurrection. The disciples did not recognize him at first but listened to him explain Scripture, only to later realize their companion was Jesus during their evening meal “in the breaking of the bread.” They raced back to Jerusalem to tell others what they had seen.

Day one, Wednesday, July 17, is themed “From the Four Corners.” The congress is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. that day with an opening ceremony in Lucas Oil Stadium. The evening’s speakers include Bishop Cozzens; Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S.; and Sister Bethany Madonna, a Sister of Life who is the local superior and mission coordinator of the sisters’ Phoenix foundation.

Day two, Thursday, July 18, is themed: “The Greatest Love Story.” The morning schedule begins with 8:30 a.m. Mass, with options to worship in English or Spanish, including an additional Mass for youth.

Mass is followed by impact sessions, where attendees can choose from six options with “dynamic preaching and music tailored to their state in life and mission,” according to the congress’ website. Following lunch are breakout sessions and “special experiences” tailored for specific groups or interests.

The evening includes a three-hour “revival session” with Father Francis “Father Rocky” Hoffman, Relevant Radio’s CEO and executive director, leading a Family Rosary Across America live from Lucas Oil Stadium. Father Michael Schmitz, host of the popular podcast “The Bible in a Year,” also will speak.

Day three, Friday, July 19, is themed “Into Gethsemane.” Friday’s schedule mirrors Thursday’s, with morning Mass and impact sessions, afternoon breakout sessions and an evening revival session with the Family Rosary Across America’s keynote speaker Sister Josephine Garrett of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Day four, Saturday, July 20, is themed “This is My Body.” Saturday’s morning and early afternoon schedule follows the order of the previous days. In the mid-afternoon, attendees will form a large Eucharistic procession in downtown Indianapolis, which Stepanek described as “a profoundly impactful experience.”

“A lot of folks who will be out on a Saturday afternoon in downtown Indianapolis will encounter the Lord and will receive the witness that we have, as a Catholic community, of prayer and joy in that city,” he said. “It’s really one of the biggest outward facing pieces of the congress itself.”

The evening includes a revival session featuring the Family Rosary Across America and speakers Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; Mother Adela Galindo, founder of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary religious order and lay Apostles of the Pierced Hearts; and Gloria Purvis, host of “The Gloria Purvis Podcast.” Musician Matt Maher will lead worship.

Day five, Sunday, July 21, is themed “To the Ends of the Earth.” The morning schedule begins with a revival session with speaker and author Chris Stefanick, founder and president of Real Life Catholic, followed by the revival’s closing liturgy celebrated by a papal delegate, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

“This is our big commissioning as a Catholic community, where we will go forward then and take what we have been entrusted with as being part of this experience back to our homes, our communities, our schools, our parishes and our families to really be that salt and leaven in the world that is in need of the joy that we’re going to bring,” Stepanek said.

The congress’ main events will be emceed by Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News; Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity; and Father Josh Johnson, a speaker, author and priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dave Moore, co-founder of Catholic Music Initiative, will provide music throughout the congress.

The morning impact sessions planned for days 2-4 are organized into six tracks: Encounter, Encuentro, Empower, Renewal, Cultivate and Awaken.

Encounter is the group of general sessions held in Lucas Oil Stadium. With a focus on deepening a person’s relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist, it will feature speakers including Katie Prejean McGrady, Sister Mary Grace Langrell, Mary Healy, Edward Sri and Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers.

Encuentro sessions are in Spanish, with speakers including Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas; Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio; Andrés Arango; Mabel Suárez; Kathia Arango; and Dora Tobar.

Empower sessions are designed to be smaller and “more intimate,” with a focus on practical tools for becoming a “Eucharistic missionary” in one’s community. Speakers include Deacon Larry and Andi Oney, Father John Burns, Chika Anyanwu, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat of New York, Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Paul Albert.

Renewal sessions are for people who work or volunteer in a parish, diocesan or other ministry role “to explore new and creative possibilities of accompaniment, evangelization, and catechesis,” according to the congress’ website. Speakers include Damon Owens, Sarah Kaczmarek, Julianne Stanz and Curtis Martin.

Cultivate sessions are focused on families to attend together, with speakers including Father Leo Patalinghug and Ennie and Cana Hickman. Awaken sessions are designed for high school youth, with large-group sessions in the mornings and smaller breakout sessions in afternoons. Speakers include Oscar Rivera, Brian Greenfield and Jackie Francois Angel. Teenagers attending the sessions must be part of a youth group or accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The congress also will include an exhibit hall and a display of a replica of the Shroud of Turin, art exhibits, opportunities for confession and adoration, and music performances.

Leading up to the congress is the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a two-month pilgrimage beginning at four different points of the U.S. where groups of pilgrims will primarily walk to Indianapolis with the Eucharist in a monstrance. The congress’ opening event will include pilgrims from the four routes converging for a procession into the stadium.

Glemkowski said the congress shares the goal of the revival: “the idea that we need a spiritual movement of God in our church to bring about renewal in this time.”

“The bishops have prophetically inaugurated or invited the church to this time of encounter with Jesus, a deepened encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, which has everything to do with belief and relationship and what … (St.) John Henry Newman would call ‘real assent’ — a sacrificial gift of your heart to Jesus in the Eucharist which bears fruit for the life of the world.”

Large-scale Eucharistic congresses have been part of the fabric of devotion in the Catholic Church for nearly 150 years, and continue to be regularly convened by U.S. dioceses and in other countries. The 10th National Eucharistic Congress is the first Eucharistic congress in the U.S. 83 years, with the most recent national congress held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1941.

The first U.S. national Eucharistic congress was held in 1895 in Washington, and subsequent congresses have been hosted by St. Louis, New York, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Omaha, Cleveland and New Orleans.

The U.S. also hosted two International Eucharistic Congresses in 1926 in Chicago and 1976 in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia congress drew 1.5 million people, including pivotal Catholic figures such as St. Teresa of Kolkata, Dorothy Day and a future pope, St. John Paul II. Quito, Ecuador, is hosting the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress in September.

(Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.)

By Lauretta Brown
(OSV News) – Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Catholic mother of two and beloved disc jockey for the KKFI radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, was killed Feb. 14 amid a mass shooting following the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade.

“It is with sincere sadness and an extremely heavy and broken heart that we let our community know that KKFI DJ Lisa Lopez, host of Taste of Tejano lost her life today in the shooting at the KC Chiefs’ rally,” the radio station announced on Facebook that Wednesday evening. “This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community.”

Lopez-Galvan was an active parishioner at Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was fondly remembered by her fellow parishioners.

Ramona Arroyo, director of religious education at the parish, told OSV News that Lopez-Galvan’s whole family is “devoted to the church.” Her brother, Beto Lopez Jr., is the chief executive officer of Guadalupe Centers, one of the nation’s first social service agencies for the Latino community.

Arroyo said the loss was “devastating” to the community. “She was a beautiful person,” Arroyo said. She expressed her sympathy for Lopez-Galvan’s husband, Michael, saying, “It’s a horrible thing that happened to a good family.”

Monica Palacio, another parishioner who knew Lopez-Galvan, said the shooting was a “tragedy for our whole community because everybody knows the family” and they “grew up within blocks of each other.”
She also noted Lopez-Galvan’s role as host of Tejano Tuesdays at KKFI and as a well-known DJ presence at local weddings and quinceañeras.

“She was an amazing person,” Palacio said. “She was full of joy all the time, no matter where she was.” Palacio remembered Lopez-Galvan as the “life of the party” who “came with red lipstick and a big smile.”
The Kansas City Star reported that Lopez-Galvan, who was in her mid-40s with two adult children, died in the hospital during surgery after a gunshot wound to her abdomen.

Arroyo and Palacio said Lopez-Galvan, a known Chiefs fan, was at the parade with her family, including her son and nieces and nephews, and they had heard that other family members had been injured as well.
Father Luis Suárez, parochial administrator of Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Parish, remembered Lopez-Galvan in his homily at the Ash Wednesday evening Mass and encouraged the community to unite in prayer amid the tragedy.

Lauretta Brown is culture editor for OSV News. Megan Marley, digital editor for OSV News, contributed to this report.

By Maria Wiering
(OSV News) – Super Bowl LVIII watchers can saw at least three faith-based commercials during the televised Feb. 11 showdown in Las Vegas between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Catholic prayer app Hallow plans to run a 30-second commercial featuring Catholic actors Mark Wahlberg and Jonathan Roumie. According to Hallow, the advertisement “will encourage fans to take time away from the spectacle of the big game and enjoy a moment of prayer on the Lord’s day.”

Wahlberg, who played prizefighter-turned-priest Father Stuart Long in the 2022 biopic “Father Stu,” is helping to lead Hallow’s annual #Pray40 Lent prayer challenge.

Pray40 also features Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the popular series “The Chosen.” Roumie voices other Hallow audio content, including the Divine Mercy Chaplet, scriptural rosary and daily Gospel readings.
“The goal at Hallow has always been to reach out to as many folks as possible, both those who take their faith seriously and especially those who might have fallen away, and invite them deeper into a relationship with God,” said Alex Jones, Hallow co-founder and CEO, in a statement announcing the commercial.

A teaser for the commercial posted on YouTube shows Wahlberg in a church dipping his hand in holy water and making the sign of the cross, and Roumie receiving ashes. Wahlberg says, “God, we take this moment,” as the screen reads, “For the first time ever, join over 100 million people in prayer during the Big Game. … Pray this Lent with Hallow.”

According to Hallow’s media statement, the commercial is expected to run “shortly before halftime.”
A recent survey by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics found that a record 200.5 million U.S. adults plan to watch this year’s game. A 30-second Super Bowl commercial spot reportedly costs around $7 million.
Launched in December 2018, Hallow has more than 10,000 guided prayer sessions. It claims to be the No. 1 Catholic app in the world, with more than 10 million downloads across more than 150 countries.

After appearing at the Super Bowl for the first time last year, ads from the He Gets Us campaign also are expected to run during this year’s game. Backed by Hobby Lobby co-founder and Christian David Green, last year’s ads presented Jesus as relatable and compassionate, and encouraged people to love their enemies.

This year’s ads – a 60-second spot followed later by a 15-second spot – focused on loving one’s neighbor as Jesus did.

Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.

By OSV Staff
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has once again been targeted by vandals. This time, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the north lawn of the basilica grounds, located in an area known as Mary’s Garden, suffered severe damage.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. Feb. 15, a visitor praying the rosary in the garden discovered the desecrated statue. The individual immediately alerted the basilica staff, prompting an inspection. It appeared that the Blessed Mother’s face had been deliberately struck with a hammer, and the surrounding light fixtures, meant to illuminate the path for visitors, were shattered.

According to Msgr. Walter Rossi, the basilica’s rector, this act of vandalism seems to have occurred shortly before its discovery, given the routine checks performed by the security staff.
This act of vandalism echoes a disturbing pattern of disrespect towards religious symbols at the national shrine. Msgr. Rossi recalled, in a statement, a similar incident on Dec. 5, 2021, when the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, an image of the Virgin Mary located in the Rosary Walk and Garden across Harewood Avenue from the basilica, was also vandalized.

The statue vandalized Feb. 15, “Mary, Protector of the Faith” by sculptor Jon-Joseph Russo, depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the child Jesus. According to the basilica’s website, it was erected in 2000 in honor of Bishop Thomas J. Grady, the fifth director of the national shrine, who oversaw the construction of the Great Upper Church.

Msgr. Rossi expressed concern and compassion not only for the sanctity of the shrine but also for the person or people responsible for the damage. “While this act of vandalism is very unfortunate, I am more concerned about the individuals who perpetrate such activity and pray for their healing,” he said.

The basilica is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America and one of the 10 largest churches in the world. The basilica welcomes nearly a million visitors annually.

The shrine’s security team is working closely with the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate the vandalism and bring those responsible to justice. Sources tell Our Sunday Visitor that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime. The Metropolitan Police Department has not yet returned Our Sunday Visitor’s request for comment.

By Lauretta Brown
(OSV News) – Only about 15% of U.S. adults who were raised Catholic said they had remained practicing Catholics attending weekly Mass into adulthood, according to data from the General Social Survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

But what were some of the things that distinguished the families of those children who remained practicing Catholics as adults from those who left the faith entirely? Seeking answers to this question, researchers at Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and the Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life conducted the “Future Faithful Families Project” study.

The interviews for the study were conducted with 28 individuals from June 2021 to February 2023 and included qualifying participants from past CARA surveys. The study noted “a greater lack of response from the adult children than the parents who had been interviewed,” but added that “it is well known in the social science research fields that it is often easier to recruit participation from older adults than young adults.”

The study found that participants from these families generally described their households as “warmer and more affectionate than the average family.” Most of the participants also indicated “very good communication” within the family.

Another shared thread among those interviewed was having rituals of meals eaten together and prayer, with most indicating that faith was a part of family routines regardless of the routines themselves.

Additionally, all participants emphasized the importance of weekly Mass attendance and nearly all participants reported doing service work and giving to charity, with many doing so through their parish or a church organization.

Mark Gray, director of CARA Catholic Polls, co-wrote the study along with Greg Popcak, co-executive director of the Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life. Gray told OSV News that while the findings from these qualitative interviews were not meant to be taken as some sort of “checklist” of things to keep one’s child Catholic, parents could gain insight from the common responses.

For these families, he said, “their faith wasn’t just something that they went and did on Sunday morning; their faith was present in the household. It was present every day. It came out in conversations about the faith, with prayer, with things that are in the home.”

He also noted that when children would come to the parents with doubts about the faith, most of the parents “went on a journey with their children and said, ‘Well, let’s see why the church teaches this,’” as opposed to strictly shutting down questioning of the church’s teachings.

“It’s a lot of discussion, working through things, thinking about things rather than being this overbearing parental force,” he said.

The study also included an analysis of existing data from the General Social Survey, or GSS, going back to the 1970s, which showed a marked decline in the number of U.S. adults who were raised Catholic and stayed Catholic while still attending Mass weekly.

In the 1970s, “an average of 36% of those who were raised Catholic remained Catholic as adults and attended Mass weekly (peaking at 40% in 1977).” GSS data later showed “this average percentage declined to 32% in the 1980s, 25% in the 1990s, and 21% in the 2000s. In the 2010s, this averaged 15% and was 14% in the 2018 study.”

These numbers exclude those who converted to Catholicism but were not raised Catholic. The study also notes the large number of Catholics who have immigrated to the U.S.

Focusing on the 51% of U.S. adults who were raised Catholic and had remained so between 2010 to 2018, there were some commonalities. Among weekly Mass attendees who had remained Catholic, 81% were “more likely to have been living with both parents at age 16” compared to the 72% who attend Mass less often than weekly or the 63% who left the Catholic faith.

Gray said that the families they spoke with referenced things that “any parent can do,” noting the importance of the child to see their parent be “Catholic every day of the year, not just on Sundays” and for the parent “to listen to their children and have conversations with them, and guide them through what the faith teaches and why the faith teaches it.”

(Lauretta Brown is culture editor for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @LaurettaBrown6.)

By D.D. Emmons
(OSV News) – Among the beautiful, meaningful and solemn ceremonies of the Catholic Church is the gathering of the faithful on Ash Wednesday.

This special day begins our Lenten journey. It is the start of 40 days of prayer, penance and almsgiving as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. But why does Lent begin on a Wednesday, and what is the significance of ashes?

Ash Wednesday was added to the liturgical calendar well after the 40-day penitential season of Lent became the norm throughout the Latin Church. Lent, in turn, was universally established only after the early church sorted out the date of Easter. The issue was clarified at the famous Council of Nicaea in 325 where “all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox.” (Catechism, No. 1170) The vernal (spring) equinox generally falls on March 21, thus the date of Easter in the Western Church can occur anytime between March 22 and April 25.

The word “Lent” is from an Old English term meaning “springtime,” and by the second century the term was being used to describe the period of individual fasting, almsgiving and prayer in preparation for Easter. Among the Christians of the first three centuries, only those aspiring for baptism – the catechumens – observed a defined period of preparation, and that time lasted only two or three days.

The idea of Lent being 40 days in length evolved over the next few centuries, and it is difficult to establish the precise time as to when it began. Among the canons issued by the Council of Nicaea, the church leaders, in Canon Five, made reference to Lent: “and let these synods be held, the one before Lent that the pure gift may be offered to God after all bitterness has been put away, and let the second be held about autumn.” The language of this canon seems to validate that Lent, in some fashion, had by the fourth century been established and accepted by the church. While the exact timing and extent of Lent both before and after the Nicaea council is unclear, what is clear from historical documents is that Christians did celebrate a season of Lent to prepare themselves for Resurrection Sunday and used a variety of ways to do so.

That Lent evolved into a period of 40 days in length is not surprising, as there are numerous biblical events that also involved 40 days. Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving instructions from God for that number of days (see Ex 24:18); Noah and his entourage were on the Ark waiting for the rains to end for 40 days and 40 nights (Gn 7:4); and Elijah “walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.” (1 Kgs 19:8)

Mostly, though, the 40 days of Lent identify with the time our Lord Jesus spent in the desert fasting, praying and being tempted by the devil. (Mt 4:1-11) “By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.” (Catechism, No. 540)

There is, therefore, evidence that by the end of the fourth century Christians were participating in a 40-day Lent before Easter. The dilemma now became how to count the 40 days. In the Latin Church, six weeks were used to identify the Lenten period, but one doesn’t fast on Sundays, so six Sundays were subtracted and there remained only 36 fasting days. In the early seventh century, St. Pope Gregory I the Great (pope from 590-604) resolved this situation by adding as fast days the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the first Sunday of Lent. Thus the Lenten 40-day fast, or the Great Fast as it was known, would begin on a Wednesday.

Initially, people fasted all 40 days of Lent. They ate one meal a day and only an amount of food that would sustain survival. But the church taught, and people believed (then as now), that fasting is not about what we eat, it is about changing hearts, interior conversion, reconciliation with God and others. It’s about living in an austere way, giving from our abundance to the poor. St. John Chrysostom (347-407) explained it this way: “Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works! … If you see a poor man, take pity on him! If you see an enemy, be reconciled to him! If you see a friend gaining honour, envy him not! If you see a handsome woman, pass her by!” (Homily on the Statutes, III.11)

The church has long used ashes as an outward sign of grief, a mark of humility, mourning, penance and morality. The Old Testament is filled with stories describing the use of ashes in such a manner. In the Book of Job, Job repented before God: “Therefore, I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.” (42:6) Daniel “turned to the Lord God, to seek help, in prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (Dn 9:3) Jonah preached conversion and repentance to the people of Nineveh: “When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.” (Jonah 3:6) And the Maccabees army prepared for battle: “That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their garments.” (1 Mc 3:47)

Ashes were imposed on the early catechumens when they began their preparation time for baptism. Confessed sinners of that era were also marked with ashes as part of the public penitential process. Other baptized Christians began asking to receive ashes in a manner similar to catechumens and penitents. Christian men had ashes sprinkled on their heads while ashes were used to trace the cross on the forehead of women. Thus the use of ashes as the sign of penance, in readiness for Easter, was becoming a churchwide practice.

During the papacy of St. Gregory the Great, the practice was further expanded and is mentioned in the sixth-century Gregorian Sacramentary. Around the year 1000, Abbot Aelfric of the monastery of Eynsham, England, wrote: “We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the new that men who repented of their sins bestowed on themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent, that we strew ashes upon our heads, to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten feast.” This same rite of distributing ashes on the Wednesday that begins Lent was recommended for universal use by Pope Urban II at the Synod of Benevento in 1091.

So when we go to that early Mass on Ash Wednesday morning and receive the blessed ashes on our forehead, we are repeating a somber, pious act that Catholics have been undergoing for over 1,500 years. As “The Liturgical Year, Septuagesima,” by the Benedictine Abbot Gueranger, written in the middle decades of the 1800s, puts it: “We are entering, today, upon a long campaign of the warfare spoke of by the apostles: forty days of battle, forty days of penance. We shall not turn cowards, if our souls can but be impressed with the conviction that the battle and the penance must be gone through. Let us listen to the eloquence of the solemn rite which opens our Lent. Let us go whither our mother leads us, that is, to the scene of the fall.”

Like all those before us, we unhesitatingly embrace this invitation to sanctity, this time to turn away from sin. We are part of that great cloud of witnesses who through all the ages have donned the ashes, publicly acknowledging that we are Christians, Christians who have sinned and seek to repent. We acknowledge that “we are dust and to dust we shall return.”

(D.D. Emmons writes from Pennsylvania.)

By Sandy Cunningham
SAINT BENEDICT, La. – A group of seminarians from St. Joseph Seminary College won the 22nd annual Father Pat O’Malley Invitational basketball tournament in Mundelein, Illinois, this past weekend. It is the second straight year the team has won the tournament, which brings seminarians from around the country together to compete on the hardwood.

St. Joseph Seminary swept through pool play with wins over Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary (Athenaeum) from Cincinnati, 61-38, host Mundelein Seminary, 49-39 in overtime, and St. John Vianney Theological Seminary of Denver, 54-49. The Ravens defeated Mundelein in the semifinals, 35-30, to advance to Sunday’s championship game, where they beat Conception College Seminary of Conception, Missouri, 75-62.

Team members are Ethan Green, Thomas Benson, Michael Bradford, Tim Talbott and Joey Piccini, Archdiocese of Mobile; Grayson Foley and Francisco Maldonado, Diocese of Jackson; Evan Lang and Jacob Zimmerer, Diocese of Fort Worth; Emmanuel Legarreta, Diocese of El Paso; and Carter Domingue and Logan Simon, Diocese of Lafayette. Zach Jolly (Saint Joseph Abbey) assisted the team, coached by Brian Cochran. Father Maurice Moon served as team chaplain.

Domingue, who scored 32 points in the championship game, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

(Sandy Cunnuingham is the communications and marketing manager for St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana.)