Jack Figge

St. Louis

None at Freelance

Young Catholic journalist, frequent contributor at @OSV, @PillarCatholic, @NCregister

Articles

‘Bible in a Year’ host shares how all can join in the conclave’s ‘sacred moment’ - The Catholic Missourian

1 week ago | catholicmissourianonline.com | Jack Figge |Mike Schmitz

Posted Don’t let the noise define your faith — let Jesus do that.” As the cardinals prepared to enter into the Sistine Chapel to vote on the next supreme pontiff May 7, faithful across the world were watching in anticipation. Host of the “Bible in a Year” and “Catechism in a Year” podcasts and a frequent presenter for Ascension, Father Mike Schmitz has been leading a novena praying for the cardinals and the upcoming conclave, which over a million people have viewed. In an interview with OSV...
‘Bible in a Year’ host shares how all can join in the conclave’s ‘sacred moment’

1 week ago | nwcatholic.org | Jack Figge

DULUTH, Minn. — As the cardinals prepare to enter into the Sistine Chapel to vote on the next supreme pontiff May 7, faithful across the world are watching in anticipation. Host of the “Bible in a Year” and “Catechism in a Year” podcasts and a frequent presenter for Ascension, Father Mike Schmitz has been leading a novena praying for the cardinals and the upcoming conclave, which over a million people have viewed.
This Catholic Café Is Serving Up Purpose and Joy - One Cookie at a Time

1 week ago | ewtn.co.uk | Jack Figge

From snickerdoodle cookies to lasting friendships, Brother André’s Café is transforming how a parish uplifts and embraces people with disabilities. , May 3, 2025 – National Catholic RegisterPatrick Fitzgerald loves to bake. In high school, he spent hours perfecting his snickerdoodle cookie recipe. Afterward, he earned a food-service certificate from the local community college in Pittsburgh, hoping it would help him find work in a bakery.
This Catholic Café Is Serving Up Purpose and Joy - One Cookie at a Time

1 week ago | ncregister.com | Jack Figge

From snickerdoodle cookies to lasting friendships, Brother André’s Café is transforming how a parish uplifts and embraces people with disabilities. Cookies are the specialty of Patrick Fitzgerald, whose baked goods are available (including his favorite snickerdoodles, shown at far right) at Brother André’s Café, a ministry of Move a Mountain Missions, in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. (photo: Courtesy of Mike Fitzgerald) Features May 3, 2025 Patrick Fitzgerald loves to bake.
The pope of my childhood

3 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Jack Figge

Twelve years ago, I was nine years old, playing on the beach and savoring the final moments of spring break 2013. Unexpectedly, my mom shouted from her beach chair, “We have a new pope!” I dashed over to her chair, interested in this exclamation. “He’s a Jesuit, that’s weird,” she continued. I just nodded, not sure what those words meant, and I ran back to my sandcastle, more intrigued by my contraption than this ecclesial news.
The Francis Effect on College Campus

3 weeks ago | ncregister.com | Jack Figge

Young Catholics reflect on the Holy Father's enduring influence. Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his weekly General Audience in Vatican City. (photo: Courtesy photos / Jack Figge ) Vatican April 23, 2025 Thirteen years ago, Catholic school students that now stroll around college campuses sat in tiny desks, practiced their multiplication tables and counted down the seconds until recess.
Easter People: 2 Students, 1 Church

3 weeks ago | ncregister.com | Jack Figge

College converts will become Catholic on Divine Mercy Sunday. Liah Ostrom at Benedictine College’s Mary Grotto (photo: Courtesy of Liah Ostrom) Features April 20, 2025 When Liah Ostrom arrived at Benedictine College, she told herself that she would never convert to Catholicism. But then she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary. As for Mason Harris, he entered Benedictine curious about the faith, and all he needed was a little intellectual help.
Easter People: 2 Students, 1 Church

3 weeks ago | ewtn.co.uk | Jack Figge

College converts will become Catholic on Divine Mercy Sunday. , April 20, 2025 – National Catholic RegisterWhen Liah Ostrom arrived at Benedictine College, she told herself that she would never convert to Catholicism. But then she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary. As for Mason Harris, he entered Benedictine curious about the faith, and all he needed was a little intellectual help. This year, Benedictine College will welcome 26 students into full communion with the Catholic Church on Divine Mercy Sunday.
Contemplating the Crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

4 weeks ago | oursundayvisitor.com | Jack Figge

On this rock, God redeemed mankind. A simple marble altar stands in the middle of the rock. Pilgrims kneel in turn, ducking their heads under the altar. Reverently, they place their arm into a hole, the hole that is believed to be where the centurions placed the cross. Here, outside the city of Jerusalem, with hundreds jeering and mocking him, soldiers poking and prodding at his body, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34).
Praying in the garden of Christ's agony

4 weeks ago | oursundayvisitor.com | Jack Figge

Enclosed by an iron fence and stone building, the garden looks quite different than it did 2,000 years ago. However, it’s very possible that the garden’s oldest residents — olive trees that are estimated to be about 900 years old — sprouted from the seeds of trees that were around at the time of Christ. Eventually, Jesus stops and finds a rock to pray on. Gethsemane, in Greek, means olive press, a tool used to apply pressure on olives to release the fragrant, useful oil.