Saying he carried with him the sorrow of the nation for a “horrific act of terrorism” on New Year’s Day that claimed the lives of 14 people on Bourbon Street, President Joe Biden told grieving families at an interfaith prayer service Jan. 6 at St. Louis Cathedral that they would one day be released from their shared pain.

Comedy can sting a little, but these days the rage can overwhelm the laughs.

The boom in the number of pilgrims on Spain’s famous El Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, hit a record of almost half a million last year. Among them were 38,000 Americans.

While “synodality” might be a new concept to Catholics surprised by the Vatican’s request that dioceses worldwide engage in community discernment from 2021-2024, the U.S. friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe — humble as they are — would still like to gently remind us it’s something Franciscans like themselves have been doing for centuries.

On a practical level, through Catholic baptism, infants become official members of the Catholic Church, which among other things qualifies them to receive the other sacraments.