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  Pope Pius XII’s Pentecost 1941 Radio Message   This is the full text of Pope Pius XII’s Radio Message of June 1, 1941, on the 50th anniversary of Leo XIII’s Encyclical letter Rerum Novarum. The message is published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS) 33 (1941). The allocution is there in three languages: the original Italian is on pages 195-205; the French version is on pages 205-216; the English version is on pages 216-227. This message is quoted Pope Pius XII’s 1952 Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia Nazarethana. Pope John XXIII refers to it in his 1961 encyclical Mater et Magistra, on the 60 th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, in his summary of the development of the development of Pope Leo XIII’s teaching.   Pope John Paul II refers to it in his 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus, on the 100 th anniversary, in his summary.       Discourse of His Holiness Pius XII to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope ...

  Pro-life / pro-immigration reflection on the reading for Sunday, January 11, 2025, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. (Year A)   The first reading is from Isaiah 42, including verses 6-7: “I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”   The reading is stunningly rich, but perhaps we can note three tiny details.   The Lord says, I formed you. Pro-lifers, with good reason, take this to heart. We were formed by God, beginning with an explosion of life in our mothers’ wombs. Don’t hold me to these numbers; these are approximations to begin with, now showing up in my memory which is broken instrument, clunky to begin and getting worse every year: but I think that a human experiences cell division for the entire b...

  December 29, 2025: Feast of the Holy Family (Year A)   The Gospel reading at Mass today is about the flight into Egypt. There’s a controversy about how to understand it.   Pope Pius XII, in 1952, declared that the Holy Family, in this flight into Egypt, became the model and patron all migrants and refugees, everywhere, regardless of why they are on the road. Oddly, some of the people who agree that the US should deport millions of people fuss about linking the flight to Egypt to refugee status in general. In fact, a new argument has surfaced: the Holy Family visited Egypt but then went home when there was no longer any danger; so they are not the model and patron for refugees, but rather the model for the civic-minded and obedient visitors. They had the good sense and proper deference to the law to self-deport.   May I back off a bit, and recall that Jesus said that we should welcome immigrants and be made welcome in heaven, or alternatively we can refu...

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  Communicating with reality: Emmanuel Reflections from a consistent ethic of hospitality: pro-life, pro-immigration. Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A).   The Responsorial Psalm today is taken from Isaiah 7:10-14, about God’s promise of one to come: Emmanuel. Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.   Grandmom: Look, Becca. This is a picture of your mom, when she was seven. You look so much like her! Becca, age four: “That’s not Mom. That’s me.” Grandmom: No, that’s your mom, when she was younger. Becca: No, it’s me, when I was older. Reality intrudes. We struggle with it, but reality is stubborn.   We didn’t say we wanted a baby! She can’t be pregnant! What do you mean, she can’t be pregnant? Do you maybe sort of remember anything about where this child may have come from? Well, I kiss...

If you are thinking seriously about immigration, or about the Lord's command to welcome strangers, you should take the time to see what I offer. Regarding the OT, NT, Fathers, history of the Catholic Church, and Magisterial teaching, I offer insights that you will not find elsewhere (yet). If you are serious about Catholic thought, you may be familiar with Prof. Peter Kreeft, from Boston College. He's been teaching for decades, and it doesn't happen often that he reads someone's work and changes his mind about a major issue. My writing is an exception, he says. My work changed his thinking about immigration. I'm not a scholar. But I think that I have built a resource that any Christian who cares about immigrants might find useful. It's seven short and accessible books, about immigration from Genesis through scripture and Catholic tradition to Pope Leo.  The books in the McGivney’s Guests series are available in paperback (prices vary), Kindle ($3 apiece), or in ...

Our day! La fiesta de la Virgen de Guadalupe! What a wonderful day! Because it’s an image of Mary pregnant, pro-lifers claim the day as ours. Because Mary is shown as a mestiza, immigrants and their advocates claim the day as ours. Because the image is pro-life AND pro-immigrant, people committed to the unity of the Church from left to right claim the day as ours. Because the Virgin of Guadalupe is Patroness of the Americas, people committed to unity across national borders from north to south claim the day as ours. Because the Virgin of Guadalupe is the Apostle to Mexico, the evangelist and missionary to Mexico, people with discernment regard Mexico with respect and affection, and hope that the children of Guadalupe will accept us as friends and even brothers and sisters. Because the Virgin of Guadalupe was such an effective missionary, intelligent Christians notice that her message was 90% simple presence, solid olive solidarity. Hey Mary! You are amazingly graceful! Yo...

Reflections from a consistent ethic of hospitality: pro-life, pro-immigration Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)   The Responsorial Psalm today is taken from Psalm 146. It includes reference to the specially protected Biblical trio – widows, orphans, and strangers.   The LORD loves the just; the LORD protects strangers. The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts.   The pair, widows and orphans, is completely familiar. But in the Old Testament, this pair is actually a trio most of the time. Here’s a quick insight from simple stats. There are 49 references to widows in Scripture. Of those 49, 21 refer to widows and orphans. It’s noteworthy that of those 21, 18 refer to widows and orphans and strangers , like Psalm 146.   Why? What’s special about these three? It is clear that God protects them in a special way, but is there a commonality among them that we can understand? Well, in many societies, a wife has depen...

 Reflections from a consistent ethic of hospitality: pro-life, pro-immigration Second Sunday of Advent (Year A)   The Gospel today is Matthew 3:1-12. It’s about John the Baptist explaining himself, and has a slightly odd reference to sandals.   “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”   The contrast that John draws is clear enough. John is a herald; Jesus is the real figure. John’s ministry is about repentance and change; Jesus brings a new Spirit and a new world. There’s baptism with water and there’s baptism with fire. But off in a corner of the passage, there’s a stray remark about carrying sandals. Who carries someone else’s sandals? I’m a parent and grandparent; I have carried sandals for kids at the beach. And I am blessed to know a wonderful and holy guy who sells shoes, who really understands fee...

  Reflections from a consistent ethic of hospitality: pro-life, pro-immigration First Sunday of Advent   The Old Testament reading today, the first reading of this liturgical year (Year C), is from Isaiah 2:1-5. It includes a universal invitation to pilgrimage.   “All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.’ ”   Who will make this pilgrimage to Jerusalem? Nations, peoples – all nations. Isaiah does not speak of individuals or even families who set out; he speaks of nations, and in fact all nations.   Why? So we can think right, and walk in his paths.   The universality recalls the plight of Adam and Eve: They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so they lost access to the whole Garden of Eden, including the tree of life. God “expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the ...

from a consistent ethic of hospitality reflections on the Sunday readings, Year A First Sunday of Advent Second Sunday of Advent Third Sunday of Advent La Fiesta de la Virgen de Guadalupe Fourth Sunday of Advent

Scripture and Tradition are loaded with clear and eloquent explanations of the immense importance of welcoming strangers. God comes to us in the quiet of our hearts and speaks softly --sometimes. He also comes in as Creator of the universe, blowing up galaxies on a Wednesday morning with his cup of tea. Don't box him in! He wants us to love tenderly, but also to stretch infinitely. And so he sends us families, but also strangers.  To welcome a stranger is to open yourself to God. There are other ways to greet God, but this is a fundamental struggle. Hospitality, like chastity, is a gift and an invitation: learn to love! Chastity is love in depth; hospitality is love with breadth: both are absolutely critical in a serious live -- in a Christian life, in any human life. I've been blessed to spend years exploring God's call to welcome strangers -- in Scripture and Tradition. I've completed (first draft, in print soon) the task of explaining the Lord's command to welcom...

 Friends -- Sign of the Crossing offers insights and literature about about the right to life and the right to migrate.  Please see the links across the top of the page!

 Friends, for eight years, I have said Trump is worse than Clinton, worse than Biden, worse than Harris. And I have said that if pro-lifers got too defensive about Trump, they would cease to be pro-life. Test time races towards Let me identify about 3,000 kids who will die because of Trump unless you interv Let me explain how to intervene and protectva child. Then you tell me if you will intervene. Who's in danger? Some arithmetic. (1) There about 110 million people displaced, globally. That's migrants, refugees, stateless people. Of the 110 million, about 40 million are UN- certified refugees. (Pro-lifers: not our problem!) (2) The Trump administration, especially Stephen Miller, is determined to ignore the global crisis,  and in fact make it worse by deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants. There will the squabbles about it, and delays. No one knows exactly what will actually get done, nor when. (3) But suppose Trump and Miller make a hefty start in 2025, and deport one...

  Shortly before he went off to prison, my friend Will Goodman told me a bit about a small community in DC that is exploring "vulnerability and solidarity." I mentioned that the first piece I wrote about pro-life activism was about vulnerability. He was interested, so I went looking for it, and located it. I wrote it for the 1976 National Right to Life Convention, in Boston, in the summer of 1976. It was my intention to reproduce it unchanged, but I had to make two small changes -- replacing language that was insensitive and has since that time been discarded by people who listen respectfully and try to speak respectfully.  Human and Vulnerable                                         by John O'Keefe   I find it inexpressibly odd that in our protection of the weakest members of soc...