“My favorite book of the year is ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ by the pope who gives me hope.”
That’s the word from Father Greg Esty, and he’s not alone in enjoying Pope Francis’ work; it appears on the top 10 list of book sales at St. Patrick’s Guild, then St. Paul merchant of religious goods. Father Esty, who is pastor of St. Genevieve in Centerville, was one of several clergy who responded to a Catholic Spirit email survey that asked what books they either were giving as Christmas gifts or recommending to others.
In the situation that has become known as simply “Ferguson,” Sgt. John Wall of the St. Louis County Police Department knew in the second week of August that the time had come to stand up and be counted. Peaceful protests after the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown by a police officer during a confrontation had devolved into rioting and looting.
Dennis Cavanaugh describes his time in the pottery room at the Benedictine Center as a “prayer event, where pottery is the vehicle.”
In the midst of his third pottery series led by Benedictine Sister Virginia Matter on the campus of St. Paul’s Monastery in Maplewood, Cavanaugh enjoys working with clay, but said the experience offers so much more than practical pottery techniques.
In late August, I convinced some friends to go on a day trip to a small northern Iowa town about 200 miles from the Twin Cities to see the Grotto of the Redemption.
As summer will soon come to an end, The Catholic Spirit wanted to highlight just a few of the ways priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis celebrated the season with the local faithful.
Maddie Hodapp has always wanted to help people. Fresh out of college, she is doing just that — in both a recent fundraiser she hosted and her upcoming post-graduate plans.