A forum of Catholic Thought

Helping Hands Together for HaitiMaureen Crowley Heil

At our recent 200th Anniversary Celebration, many special friends of The Pontifical Mission Societies of Boston were present. Some were regular benefactors; others were missionaries who partner with us ...

Education is the Tool Maureen Crowley Heil

Many times, while visiting the missions, I spend time driving for hours past unfamiliar sights. One day in Uganda, it was half-constructed buildings being used as roadside stores and homes, chickens and ...

Living Water for the MissionsMaureen Crowley Heil

How many faucets, sinks, and toilets do you have in your home? If you live in a house, you probably have outside spigots to which you can attach your hose to water your lawn or garden. They are literally ...

The Kindness of Strangers Maureen Crowley Heil

Peter Chiopsa was just five years old when his father passed away. This loss forced his mother to resign from her local teaching job in a rural village in Malawi and move the family to the city for work ...

Missionaries on PilgrimageMaureen Crowley Heil

Born in 1156, Saint Bona of Pisa, Italy, lived a difficult life. When she was three years old, she was told that her father had disappeared while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, leaving her to be raised ...

Traditions Maureen Crowley Heil

If your family is anything like mine, you have lots of time-worn traditions. From what meals you eat on which holiday to who sits where at the table, some things are carved in stone. Easter must be a ...

I'm a WitnessMaureen Crowley Heil

"Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." (Pope Paul VI, EN 41) My Catholic high school was small. At 305 ...

Honoring Mothers at Home and In the Missions Maureen Crowley Heil

In many countries in the missions, women are responsible for the daily collection of water used by their family. Sometimes, they must walk miles to do so. Think of the difficulty of the return trip. A ...