After his team had completed its heart-stopping comeback on the way to a historic state championship, the coach who helped his players through that defining moment admitted to having an unusual reaction. “Honestly, I feel like I blacked out a little bit,” recalls Nick Jennings, the head coach of the boys’ volleyball team at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis. “If you replay that situation 20 times, we don’t win any of the next 20. But we won the one we needed to. It was so much relief, excitement and chaos. Every emotion was running through my body.”

A parochial school is often considered a parish’s largest ministry. It can also serve as a parish’s largest form of evangelization. Take the school of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Franklin, for example.

I was a young adult on my own 30 years ago when the Indiana Pacers had legendary playoff games against the New York Knicks. In many of them, Reggie Miller made unbelievable late-game shots to lead the Blue and Gold to amazing comeback wins in New York’s Madison Square Garden (MSG).

In life on this side of eternity, nothing stays the same. There are always comings and goings. That is true for the world as a whole, including families. They start with a man and woman meeting, falling in love and discerning that God is calling them to marriage.

Carbon monoxide detectors. We have them because, although carbon monoxide is an enemy of oxygen in a sense, we can’t detect carbon monoxide on our own. We need help.

One of the most anticipated moments in life for many is the birth of the first grandchild. This is something that we had hoped for, but we acknowledged that it would be according to God’s plan and his will.

Esta es mi primera columna mensual sobre las enseñanzas del papa León XIV. Como en el caso de mis reflexiones sobre el magisterio del papa Francisco, mis objetivos son simplemente destacar aquello que el Santo Padre nos plantea como aspectos importantes para la vida cotidiana en Cristo, y transmitir los mensajes del Papa con la mayor claridad y precisión que me sea posible.

This is my first monthly column on the teaching of Pope Leo XIV. As was the case with my reflections on the teaching of Pope Francis, my objectives are simply to call attention to what the Holy Father proposes to us as important to daily life in Christ, and to convey the pope’s messages as clearly and accurately as I can.

We’ve heard the stories of recently elected Pope Leo XIV and his love of sports. From his continued interest in how teams at his college alma mater, Villanova University near Philadelphia, fare to his surprise appearance on an archived Fox Sports video of him sitting in the stands watching his beloved hometown Chicago White Sox battle the Houston Astros on their way to the 2005 World Series title, our Holy Father is not shy about rooting for teams where he feels a strong connection.

Even in our closest relationships—and maybe mostly in our closest relationships—we don’t always share the gratitude and the love that we have for someone as fully as we want. And when we can no longer share those thoughts and feelings with someone face to face, there can be regret.

Este domingo celebramos la solemnidad de san Pedro y san Pablo, dos grandes santos que se transformaron completamente a partir de sus encuentros con la persona de Jesucristo. Como discípulos misioneros de Jesús, el Señor los rescató de duras pruebas.

This Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. These great saints were both completely transformed by their encounters with the person of Jesus Christ.

The Criterion invited Meagan Morrisey, the archdiocese’s director of the Office of Young Adult and College Campus Ministry, to share her ideas to help young adults deepen their relationship with Christ this summer.

NORTH VERNON—It’s a dream come true for a small-town parish. Hoping to replace its deteriorating, nearly 90-year-old organ, St. Mary Parish in North Vernon recently received the powerhouse organ that was used in Lucas Oil Stadium to welcome more than 50,000 people at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July of 2024.

Sometimes we make decisions in life that seem unconnected. Only in retrospect do we see God’s hand at work, leading us to something better than we could have imagined.

Life can be a series of highs and lows, joys and sorrows. Sometimes those contrasts are concurrent, and sometimes the highs and joys are borne from the lows and sorrows. James and Bethany Skaggs and their 9-year-old son Xander know this well.

A parochial school is often considered a parish’s largest ministry. It can also serve as a parish’s largest form of evangelization. Take the school of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Franklin, for example. Bethany and James Skaggs and their son Xander were not Catholic when they enrolled him in second grade at St. Rose of Lima School in the fall of 2023.