I was baptized, confirmed, worked as a city paramedic, and was later ordained a Catholic priest in the city limits of Denver, Colorado.  Amazingly, what would one day be the city limits of Denver was originally under the jurisdiction of at least six apostolic territories due to shifting Catholic boundaries.  (I am not here writing about different bishops.  Denver has had eight ordinaries—three bishops and five archbishops—since its foundation as a diocese in 1868.)  Rather, I am writing here that the land of northern Colorado (specifically Denver) was found under many different dioceses as ecclesiastical borders shifted. In my seminary (also in Denver) we took a class on the history of [...]

In Advent, we meditate on the Two Comings of Christ.  We meditate first on Christ's coming in the Incarnation and second on His glorious coming in the General Judgment.  We are reminded of the fragile and ephemeral nature of our life in exile on earth.  More now that ever, serious Catholics all over the world want to get their families to what "the better life," that heavenly fatherland.  And they are humble enough to know they need the help of other Catholic families and good clergy to arrive there. Conservatives are now building intentional communities with great foresight and circumspection to protect their families against the overreach of corrupt governments. [...]