What does it mean to have a vocation?

As we do every year on the fourth Sunday of Easter, this Sunday we join the universal Church in praying for vocations to the priesthood and the religious and consecrated life.

In his message for this year’s World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis invites all of us “to listen to the voice of Christ that rings out in the Church and to understand what their own vocation is.”

College, university commencements set May 10-17

n astronaut, a California state assemblymember, a U.S. State Department foreign policy advisor and a Catholic cardinal are among keynote speakers for commencement ceremonies at four local Catholic colleges this month.

Former astronaut James Lovell will speak at Loyola Marymount University’s undergraduate commencement ceremony May 10, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Sunken Garden. Lovell — the command module pilot of Apollo 8 (the first manned mission to the moon in 1968) and commander of Apollo 13 that survived a harrowing ordeal in space in 1970 — will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from LMU at the commencement.

‘Radiate LA’: A new website for evangelization, and more

“A Christian is never bored or sad. Rather, the one who loves Christ is full of joy and radiates joy.”

Pope Francis shared those thoughts via Twitter on June 30, 2013. Now, a new website from a recently-created office of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is inviting people to a deeper love and appreciation for their Catholic faith.

May Day 2014 joins immigration reform with workers’ rights

Almost 1,000 people marched and rallied on May Day in Los Angeles — but not only for the traditional rights of workers.

This year, with a Senate-passed bill stalled in the House of Representatives, an eclectic collection of groups also demonstrated loudly May 1 for immigration reform and stopping the deportation of undocumented immigrants. (Two smaller marches were held in a record-breaking hot downtown during the day.)

The doctor who diagnosed John Paul’s Parkinson’s disease

The door opened off a corridor and there was Pope John Paul II, sitting next to a window, reading his worn-out breviary. With a rigid neck, he had to turn his whole body standing up. And when Dr. Vincent Fortanasce put out his hand to kiss his ring, he shook it with both of his hands, smiling.

L.A.’s Polish parish: Celebrating a saint full of faith

April 27 marked one of the most important days in the lives of parishioners at Our Lady of the Bright Mount west of downtown Los Angeles.

Some traveled to Rome, braving huge crowds and long flights to witness the canonization of Saints John XXIII and John Paul II. Many more celebrated back home during two Masses which honored two holy men of faith, especially their beloved countryman who visited their parish in 1976 as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla from Cracow, Poland.

New buildings: Honoring a saint who was in the neighborhood

A mission church in Lake Los Angeles and a parish hall in San Fernando share something in common: both will be named in honor of recently-canonized John Paul II.

It’s fitting, perhaps, that the archdiocese’s San Fernando pastoral region will be the first with parish buildings dedicated to Pope John Paul, as he visited the San Fernando Mission for five-and-a-half hours during his 1987 visit to Los Angeles. (See memoir of visit on p. 24).

‘They show us how to live a holy life in unholy times’

A solemn reverence marked the opening procession at a Mass of Thanksgiving in honor of the Canonization of Saints John XXII and John Paul II, celebrated April 27 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.