In launching her afternoon keynote speech, “The Smallest Thing – The Greatest Love” at the annual Catholic Women’s Conference, Diana Marie Wehbe lightened the room with a playful jab at what she called “sour-faced Catholics.” Mass, she reminded the female audience, should leave parishioners beaming, not brooding. Within minutes, nary a soul in the audience wasn’t smiling or laughing.

Catholicism has had an official home in the Schleicher County city of Eldorado for 100 years. Though records of baptisms date to 1905, Masses were originally celebrated in pastures, homes, public buildings, or churches of other denominations until the first building for Our Lady of Guadalupe Church was constructed in the city’s barrio in 1925. Later a larger building was purchased and renovated, with the current church building hosting its first Mass on May 13, 1962.

El año 2025 marca el 60º aniversario de la Declaración del Concilio Vaticano II sobre la Libertad Religiosa, Dignitatis Humanae. Este documento histórico enseña que la libertad religiosa no es simplemente un derecho creado por el gobierno, sino más bien un derecho humano fundamental que proviene de Dios. La libertad religiosa tiene sus raíces en la libertad de conciencia. La Iglesia Católica enseña que la conciencia es la voz de Dios en el corazón humano, por lo que la desobediencia a la conciencia es desobediencia a Dios.

The year 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae. This landmark document teaches that religious freedom is not merely a right created by government but rather a fundamental human right that comes from God. Religious freedom is rooted in the freedom of conscience. The Catholic Church teaches that the conscience is the voice of God in the human heart, so disobedience to the conscience is disobedience to God.

This fall, the Diocese of San Angelo will have 12 seminarians studying at four seminaries across the country and world. We welcomed three new men to the program: Leo Herrera, a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes in Andrews; David Ruvalcaba de la Cruz, a parishioner at St. Stephen in Midland; and Martín Luna, a parishioner at Holy Spirit in Sweetwater.

Cada año, el primer domingo de octubre se celebra en los Estados Unidos como el Domingo del Respeto a la Vida. Este año, el Santo Padre León XIV también ha designado el fin de semana del 4 al 5 de octubre como la 111ª Jornada Mundial del Migrante y del Refugiado (JMMR) y el Jubileo del Migrante. Esto brinda a los católicos en los Estados Unidos la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre el hecho de que la situación de los migrantes y refugiados es, en gran medida, un asunto de vida.

Every year, the first Sunday of October is observed in the United States as Respect Life Sunday. This year, the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV has also designated the weekend of Oct. 4–5 as the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) and the Jubilee of Migrants. This gives Catholics in the United States the opportunity to reflect on the fact that the situation of migrants and refugees is very much a life issue.

A federal judge on Aug. 20 partially blocked Texas from enforcing a law requiring public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments, finding the law violated the First Amendment.

I still remember — 60 years later — the Sunday the Mass changed! A few years earlier the bishops of the Second Vatican Council had called for the reform of the Mass, and now the first changes were being implemented on the parish level.

San Rafael Expeditions, a Catholic missionary organization rooted in West Texas, has joyfully returned from its inaugural mission trip to serve the people of Honduras. Our team of 21 dedicated missionaries offered seven days of medical care to communities with limited or no access to health services.

In the ongoing crisis in Gaza, Christians and other innocent victims of violence are struggling to survive, protect their children, and live with dignity in dire conditions. The Holy Father Pope Leo XIV continues to call for aid to enter the territory, noting with great sorrow that “Gaza is starving.” The Catholic Church is there providing emergency humanitarian relief through the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS).