Today's best from Catholic bloggers...

A prophetic radio broadcast from Paul Harvey: "If I were the Devil..."
 
St. Joseph, a saint for an Age of Anxiety..
Deacon Greg Kandra
We tend to think of Joseph the way we see him in the manger scene outside our church, or on the cards we send, or the pageants that are staged. He is strong, stoic, patient – “righteous,” as Matthew describes him. But Tissot understood that the man betrothed to Mary was a man of worries, and apprehension, and even fear.

What is piety? And how does a lack of piety spell doom for us?
Msgr. Charles Pope
In the modern world the word “piety” has come to be associated with being religious. And while it does have religious application, its original meaning was far wider and richer. The English word “piety” comes from the Latin pietas, which spoke of family love, and by extension love for one’s ancestors, of one’s country, and surely of God.

The practical purpose of penitence...
Fr. Dwight Longenecker
In Lent I repent. I say, "I'm a sinner." I admit I am wrong, not right. I accept that I am flawed, that I am ignorant and arrogant and proud and willful and egotistical and I could go on and on. What is the purpose of this self denial and degradation? One of the practical purposes of penitence is that I am being realistic.

St. Joseph and the miraculous staircase in Santa Fe...
Matthew Hanley
I decided to take the southern route while driving across the country a couple years ago. I’d never been to Santa Fe, and wanted to get a glimpse of its historical riches – especially its mission churches, which predate the ones in California (from the 1770s) I have known from my youth. Santa Fe’s old town square district is charming and lively.

Wearing a red hardhat, Cardinal Dolan formally announces St. Patrick's Cathedral renovation project...