Current Events and News
From the Diocese
What Do the Approved Apparitions of Our Lady Have in Common?
By Father Rich Tomkosky As we close out the month of October, which honors Our Blessed Mother Mary in a special way, what are the common elements that the Lord — through her as our spiritual Mother in Heaven — is calling us to embrace, as He sends her as His...
The Meaning of World Mission Sunday for Each of Us
By Father Rich Tomkosky This past weekend was World Mission Sunday in the Catholic Church. We are called to pray for all the Catholic missionaries throughout the world that God will protect them and guide them with wisdom and courage as they bring the truth and love...
Catholic Charities to Host Communication Skills Workshop
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown will host a communication skills workshop titled “From Conflict to Connection” on Saturday, November 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the parish hall at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona. Led by...
Candidate Information for November Elections from Pennsylvania Catholic Conference
Candidate Name – DOS Office District Party Website Notes CARL WALKER METZGAR* REPRESENTATIVE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 69th Legislative District REP No website, only official pages JIM RIGBY* REPRESENTATIVE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 71st Legislative District REP No...
Statement on Faithful Citizenship
By the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference You Can Decide What Kind of Pennsylvania We Live in This November “…the voice of the Church has every right to be heard in the public square. By its nature, it possesses a prophetic authority. Even if it is not always...
BCCHS to Host Talk for Adults
Father Canice McMullen, OSB, will present a talk on the Sacred Mission of Parents as the First Evangelists on November 9 at 7:00 p.m. at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School in Ebensburg. Parents will learn how to help children navigate today’s world with Jesus Christ...
Putting God’s Kingdom First and Not Being Kicked Out of the Divine Wedding Banquet
By Father Rich Tomkosky Jesus is challenging us to put His Kingdom as a first priority. What is the kingdom or wedding feast that He is talking about? The kingdom is our life now in the Church and living our Catholic faith on earth, which ultimately leads to the...
Saint Francis University Launches $20,000 Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Leadership Scholarship
Saint Francis University is expanding access to Catholic higher education through the new Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Leadership Scholarship, a $20,000 award for students attending public high schools and active members of parishes in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown....
Overcoming Daily Anxiety/Worry with the Lord’s Grace and Trust in His Providence
By Father Rich Tomkosky We are called to bear a rich harvest of spiritual fruit in the Lord’s vineyard. How can this happen? Only if we make God first in our life. The question we need to ask ourselves: Is God 1# in my life, or have I substituted another person —...
Priest/Chef to Serve Up the Faith at Clinton County Parishes
A popular EWTN personality will headline 40 Hours Devotion October 18–21 at Holy Spirit Parish in Lock Haven and Saint Joseph Parish in Renovo. Father Leo Patalinghug, host of EWTN’s Savoring Our Faith, is a Catholic priest, award winning chef, author, and speaker. He...
Saint of the Day
St. Narcissus: Saint of the Day for Thursday, October 29, 2026
St. Narcissus was born towards the end of the first century in AD 99. He was almost 80-years-old when he was placed at the head of the church of Jerusalem, making him the 30th bishop of that see. In 195, he and Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, presided...
St. Jude Thaddaeus: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Discover More About St. Jude with Journey with the Saints St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour. He was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus and his attribute is a club. Images of St. Jude often include a flame...
St. Frumentius: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Called "Abuna" or "the faĂ?Âther' of Ethiopia, sent to that land by St. Athanasius. Frumentius was born in Tyre, Lebanon. While on a voyage in the Red Sea with St. Aedesius, possibly his brother, only Frumentius and Aedesius survived the shipwreck. Taken to the...
St. Bean: Saint of the Day for Monday, October 26, 2026
On December 16, there is named in the Roman Martyrology and in certain Irish calendars a Saint Bean in Ireland, who had been confused with the St. Bean whose feast is still observed in the Scottish diocese of Aberdeen, but on October 26, as founder of the bishopric of...
St. Daria: Saint of the Day for Sunday, October 25, 2026
There is very little known about them. Chrysanthus was an Egyptian, son of a Patrician, Polemius. He was brought to Rome from Alexandria during the reign of Numerian, and despite the objections of his father, who had brought him to Rome, was baptized by a priest named...
St. Anthony Mary Claret: Saint of the Day for Saturday, October 24, 2026
Claretian archbishop and founder. Anthony was born in Salient in Catalonia, Spain, in 1807, the son of a weaver. He took up weaving but then studied for the priesthood, desiring to be a Jesuit. Ill health prevented his entering the Order, and he served as a secular...
St. John of Capistrano: Saint of the Day for Friday, October 23, 2026
St. John was born at Capistrano, Italy in 1385, the son of a former German knight in that city. He studied law at the University of Perugia and practiced as a lawyer in the courts of Naples. King Ladislas of Naples appointed him governor of Perugia. During a war with...
St. Pope John Paul II: Saint of the Day for Thursday, October 22, 2026
Karol J. Wojtyla, known as John Paul II since his October 1978 election to the papacy, was born in Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometres from Cracow, on May 18, 1920. He was the second of two sons born to Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929....
St. Hilarion: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Abbot and disciple of St. Anthony the Great, companion of St. Hesychius. He was born in Tabatha, Palestine, and was educated in Alexandria, Egypt. He stayed with St. Anthony in the desert there before becoming a hermit at Majuma, near Gaza, Israel. In 356, Hilarion...
St. Paul of the Cross: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, October 20, 2026
St. Paul of the Cross was born at Ovada in the Republic of Genoa, January 3, 1694. His infancy and youth were spent in great innocence and piety. He was inspired from on high to found a congregation; in an ecstacy he beheld the habit which he and his companions were...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Thursday, October 29, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 6:10-20 10 Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with the strength of his power.11 Put on the full armour of God so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics.12 For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 2:19-22 19 So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow-citizens with the holy people of God and part of God's household.20 You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 5:21-33 21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.22 Wives should be subject to their husbands as to the Lord,23 since, as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife;24 and as the...
Daily Readings for Monday, October 26, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 4:32-5:8 32 Be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.1 As God's dear children, then, take him as your pattern,2 and follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up for us as...
Daily Readings for Sunday, October 25, 2026
Reading 1, Exodus 22:20-26 20 'You will not molest or oppress aliens, for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt.21 You will not ill-treat widows or orphans;22 if you ill-treat them in any way and they make an appeal to me for help, I shall certainly hear their...
Daily Readings for Saturday, October 24, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 4:7-16 7 On each one of us God's favour has been bestowed in whatever way Christ allotted it.8 That is why it says: He went up to the heights, took captives, he gave gifts to humanity.9 When it says, 'he went up', it must mean that he had gone...
Daily Readings for Friday, October 23, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 4:1-6 1 I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you therefore to lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you were called.2 With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love.3 Take every care to preserve the unity of the...
Daily Readings for Thursday, October 22, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 3:14-21 14 This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father,15 from whom every fatherhood, in heaven or on earth, takes its name.16 In the abundance of his glory may he, through his Spirit, enable you to grow firm in power with regard to...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 3:2-12 2 You have surely heard the way in which God entrusted me with the grace he gave me for your sake;3 he made known to me by a revelation the mystery I have just described briefly-4 a reading of it will enable you to perceive my understanding...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Reading 1, Ephesians 2:12-22 12 do not forget, I say, that you were at that time separate from Christ and excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants of the Promise, limited to this world, without hope and without God.13 But now in Christ...