Death awaits at the end of every human life, and this profound event is also the entry point to the final judgment by Jesus that will determine the permanent destination of every human soul: heaven or hell. The Catholic Church consequently has always emphasized the crucial importance of celebrating a funeral Mass, since it is the instrument through which recently departed souls can be commended to the care of God — and assisted by the prayers of their families and friends — on their final journey.

People caught in the chaotic highways around Los Angeles have been known to shout at God from time to time — often in the form of angry curses aimed at other drivers. But that was the mysterious setting in which Anthony Hopkins had a quiet epiphany in which God quietly spoke to him, offering the actor — an atheist alcoholic at the time — a choice that changed his life. While most episodes of “Crossroads” focus on religious issues...

In the letter to the Hebrews, the author makes a statement of faith that presumes two things about the exercise and practice of a faith in God. One, an active faith proposes a belief in God the Father, and that our hope rests on God, and two, an active faith exercises docility to the will of God, even when we may wonder if He is present during a time of great need...

The Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Leo the Great (400-461), during whose pontificate the Council of Chalcedon (451) defined that Christ is one divine person with two natures, divine and human. It was a confirmation of his Epistola Dogmatica (Tomus) to the Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople. He vigorously defended the unity of the Church. He detained the onrush of the barbarians under Attila.

Feast date: Nov 09

The feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran is celebrated by the entire Church. It marks the dedication of the cathedral church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I in 324. This church is the cathedra (or chair) of the bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. A Latin inscription in the Church reads: “omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput.” Translated, this means, “The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.”

The basilica was originally named the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior. However, it is called St. John Lateran because it was built on property donated to the Church by the Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Divine served it.

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