Dad’s role as catechist was one he passed over for much of his life. But his final sacramental journey was one of the greatest educations I have ever received in Catholicism.

As Catholics, we know that the family is the basic building block of society, the “domestic church,” where children find love, stability, and are nurtured to grow to their full potential.

Detachment is imperative to becoming our essential self. Its reward is joy that emanates from responding to God’s loving generosity planted in us.

Our dignity comes from the fact that God has created us and we have a soul that is cherished by him. The fact that young people seek YouTube stardom so passionately should be a wake-up call to the church.

His life was enriched by a community that chose him, not the other way around. It took an investment of time — well more than a decade — to reap the benefits.

If we allow the graces of the cross to take away all in our lives that is not of God, we will eventually be ready to celebrate the perpetual Easter of heaven, in which we will sing “Holy, holy, holy,” and “Glory to God in the highest,” and “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia,” without end, rejoicing with all the angels and saints in God’s presence forever.

The quincentenary that marks the introduction of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines cannot go unnoticed, given the impact and influence that Catholicism has and continues to have in the everyday lives of Filipinos.

People with Down syndrome are valuable because they are people, members of the human family, cherished by God their creator.

This March, as we celebrate Women’s History Month, let us pledge to rediscover and remember the lives and labors of the Black women, like Mother Tolton, who in the face of unyielding discrimination fought to make the church in the United States truly Catholic.

When we act to protect our immigrant neighbors through trust policies, we are also benefiting the common good.