All Saints Parish Homilies and News

 Echo report published on the Diocese of Portland Maine website. Bishop James Ruggieri  One hundred fifty-one years after his death, the faithful gathered on November 3, 2025, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland for a memorial Mass for Portland’s first bishop and for the blessing of the bishop’s new tomb. Bishop David William Bacon (b. 1813-d.1874), who served as Bishop of Portland from 1855 to his death in 1874, was previously buried in a crypt beneath the cathedral. However, with that area no longer accessible to the public, the decision was made to transfer his remains to a new sarcophagus located within the main cathedral, providing him a place of honor and respect where people are now able to stop and pray. “As we gather to entomb him anew, we are not simply reinterring the past; we are reawakening gratitude and renewing purpose,” said Bishop James Ruggieri, who celebrated the Mass. “Today, as we bless his new sarcophagus and commend his remains to ...

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. ✝️ Peace be with you 🙏 😇 Good morning to you all, and welcome🙏 I extend my greetings to the Board of Directors, the Director and the editorial team of TG2, and offer my congratulations on this news program reaching its fiftieth anniversary. Pope Leo XIV in Clementine Hall * in the Vatican on March 16, 2026. This “birthday” invites us to reflect on the journey you have made, as a paradigm of the challenges that television journalism has faced and those that still lie ahead. I am thinking of the transition from analogue to digital, in which you played a leading role in seizing the opportunities and understanding that no technological innovation can replace creativity, critical discernment and freedom of thought. And if the challenge of our time is that of artificial intelligence, I think of the need to regulate communication according to the human paradigm and not the technological one. Which means, ultimately, kn...

Our Lady of Arabia is a Roman Catholic title for the Blessed Virgin Mary, venerated as the patroness of the Apostolic Vicariates of Northern and Southern Arabia. Represented holding a Rosary and the Child Jesus, she is a central figure for the diverse, mostly expatriate (IOW for faithful who are living in the area but not natives) Catholic population in the Gulf, particularly in Kuwait and Bahrain.  Reported in Aleteia by Ryle Silva “May Our Lady of Arabia watch over us all” At the start of the conflict in Iran, the bishops of the two vicariates that oversee the gulf countries of Arabia and more than 2 million Catholic faithful there issued statements. Both prayed, "May Our Lady of Arabia, our mother, watch over us all." The two statements are brief, and encouraged the faithful to be attentive to instructions given by local authorities. The bishops also urged prayer and charity. "Let us remain united in faith and charity, caring especially for the elderly, the sick, and...

There has been no harsher critic to U.S. military action in Iran than Pope Leo XIV: “War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined. “Peace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good in itself, or in the pursuit of the establishment of the ordered universe willed by God, with a more perfect form of justice among men and women.” “Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion. “This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence.” A source close to Pope Leo XIV tells me the pontiff is expected to condemn DonaldTrump’s strike against Iran and appeal for peace during his Sunday Angelus. The source said the U.S-born pope views the strikes as “immoral, illegal, and a grave threat to the entire human family.” If Sunday’s remarks c...

Echo report published in Aleteia by Cerith Gardiner Overcoming a long-standing aversion to the election of a U.S. pontiff, on May 8, 2025, the College of Cardinals announced they had selected Chicagoan Robert Francis Prevost to serve as the 267th pope and shepherd of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.  At a time when public confidence in leadership is battered by polarization, conflict, and skepticism, one global figure stands out: Pope Leo. According to the Gallup International End of Year Survey , he is the only contemporary global leader with a positive net reputation worldwide — a remarkable distinction in a fractured age. In the survey, conducted between October and December 2025, among 64,097 adults in 61 countries, paints a vivid picture of global sentiment. With 49% favorable, 25% unfavorable, and 26% undecided, Pope Leo’s net favorability score is +24 — the only positive score in the entire ranking. His appeal spans cultures and continents: He holds a net positive ima...

Echo report published in Aleteia  by Phillip Kosloski: Non-Catholics are welcome to receive ashes on their forehead during Ash Wednesday liturgies. A shes are a "sacramental". For Catholics, this often seen as an evangelization opportunity, as not all Christians use ashes on Ash Wednesday. At the same time, what's interesting is that receiving ashes is one tradition in the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches that do not require any previous sacrament. In fact, someone who is not even baptized can receive ashes on Ash Wednesday.  Ashes are what's called a "sacramental" in the Catholic Church. Simply put, sacramentals are anything set apart or blessed by the Church for the purpose of sanctifying our lives and leading us to the sacraments. They are sacred signs and provide for us grace (spiritual help) through the intercession of the Church. Furthermore, the blessing over the individual who is receiving the ashes is very general: "Repent, and believe in th...