Great players inspire generations. Great teams make history.
Côte d’Ivoire has given the world legends like Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré, but the World Cup knockout stage has always remained just out of reach.
Today, the Elephants have an opportunity to change that forever.
Allez les Éléphants. 🇨🇮⚽
Look closely.
Leadership isn’t always standing at the podium. Sometimes it’s 100 feet up a tree, making hard decisions, managing risk, and doing work nobody notices until it’s done.
That’s where a lot of the real leadership happens. 🌳💪
America 250 🇺🇸✝️
Today the Church honors Saint Thomas More and Saint John Fisher.
Both lost their positions, their freedom, and ultimately their lives because they refused to place political power above truth and conscience.
Free nations depend on people willing to do what is right when the cost is high.
‘The King’s good servant, but God’s first.’
Saints Thomas More and John Fisher, pray for us.
Happy Father’s Day to my dad, a Marine, who taught me that sacrifice, duty, faith, and love are not just words, they’re a way of life.
Marine. Teacher. Father. Grandfather. Disciple of Christ.
St. Joseph, patron of fathers, pray for us. ✝️🇺🇸 #FathersDay#SemperFi #StJosephPrayForU
One of my favorite World Cup stories so far is Egypt’s Emam Ashour.
Not because he scored a great goal.
Because he reminds us that every team has stars everyone knows and contributors few people notice.
Then one day the moment arrives, and the world discovers what was there all along.
A good reminder that faithfulness in the shadows often precedes impact in the spotlight.
🇪🇬⚽🌍 #WorldCup2026 #Africa #Leadership™ https://t.co/yh0YDORzYs
On the 16th hole this morning, play stopped for a visitor.
A young buck stepped out of the woods and onto the fairway.
No fear.
No rush.
No concern about the gallery.
Just quiet confidence in the world God created for him.
Golf has a way of slowing us down long enough to notice these moments.
And maybe that’s one reason I love the game.
Every now and then, between the birdies, bogeys, and bunkers, God reminds us that we are part of something much larger than ourselves.
#TheCatholicGolfer #FaithAndGolf #Creation #GolfLife
🇨🇻 CABO VERDE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! 🦈
In their FIRST-EVER World Cup, the smallest of nations just held mighty SPAIN — the reigning European champions, one of the favorites to win it all — to a 0-0 draw!!! 🤯
The hero? 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, who stood on his head with a four-save masterclass while Spain threw everything at him. My heart was POUNDING the entire match!! 😤🧤
A nation of half a million people. A debut on the world's biggest stage. And a point earned against the giants of the game. THIS is why we love football. 🌍⚽
Take a bow, Blue Sharks. History made. 💙🇨🇻
#CaboVerde #WorldCup2026
🧤 Another reason to love Africa's record World Cup run! 🇨🇻 Tournament debutants Cape Verde are holding mighty Spain 0-0 at the half — thanks to a heroic four-save performance from 40-year-old keeper Vozinha. The Blue Sharks are showing the world exactly why they belong here. 🦈⚽
🌍 Africa is showing up at the 2026 World Cup — a record 10 nations strong! 🐘
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire 1-0 Ecuador — Amad Diallo's 90th-minute strike, the continent's first win of the tournament!
🇲🇦 Morocco 1-1 Brazil — a statement draw.
🇹🇳 Tunisia battling on after a tough night vs Sweden.
🇪🇬 Egypt, 🇸🇳 Senegal, 🇩🇿 Algeria, 🇬🇭 Ghana, 🇨🇩 DR Congo, 🇿🇦 South Africa, and debutants 🇨🇻 Cape Verde — your moment is coming. 🌍✨
And to @maryanntierney and the SEPTA team who made the Philly night run like clockwork — clearing the station in ~90 minutes takes years of planning. As a homeland security expert, I salute you. 👏
Played golf today in a 102° heat index.
By the back nine, it had become a game of “shade golf.” Golf carts gathered beneath trees. Players hit their shots and headed straight for the nearest patch of shade. Back at the apiary, the bees were bearding on the outside of the hive, trying to stay cool.
It struck me that creation has a way of teaching the same lesson over and over.
When the heat gets intense, everything seeks refuge.
The bees do it. The birds do it. Golfers certainly do it.
Maybe we should do the same in our spiritual lives.
When the pressures of life rise, when anxiety builds, when the burdens feel heavy, our first instinct shouldn’t be to push harder. It should be to seek refuge in the shade of God’s grace.
Today, the trees provided shade for a few minutes.
God provides refuge for eternity.
⛳🐝✝️ #TheCatholicGolfer #Beekeeper #FaithOnTheFairway
Cape Verde’s first World Cup has a perfect origin story.
Roberto “Pico” Lopes was born in Ireland. The Cape Verde federation messaged him on LinkedIn in Portuguese. He thought it was spam.
9 months later, they followed up in English. He translated the original message, realized it was an invitation to represent the country of his father’s birth, and said yes.
Now he’s at the World Cup.
https://t.co/Lp9D0nSEHb
One Nation Under God” is more than a phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance.
It is a reminder that our rights come from God, our freedom requires virtue, and our future depends on what we choose to honor.
As America marks 250 years, the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage brings Christ to the heart of the nation and calls us to renew the soul of our republic.
#America250 #OneNationUnderGod #NationalEucharisticPilgrimage
On the night of June 5, the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage arrived in Washington, D.C., bringing Christ present in the Eucharist to the heart of the nation during America’s 250th anniversary year.
Traveling more than 2,000 miles over six weeks, the pilgrimage brings the Eucharist through cities and communities across America, accompanied by nine young adult Perpetual Pilgrims and thousands of participants along the route. Father Charles Trullols, Director of the Catholic Information Center, accompanied the Eucharist across the Arlington Memorial Bridge—a powerful symbol of national unity and reconciliation—reflecting the pilgrimage’s theme, “One Nation Under God.” The crossing marked a profound moment of bringing Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, into the heart of the nation’s capital.
The pilgrimage vehicle then arrived on the National Mall, where Father Trullols carried the Eucharist alongside the nine Perpetual Pilgrims for a symbolic blessing of the nation, overlooking the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol.
This is more than a journey. It is a public testimony of devotion, revival, and the enduring presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
To learn more about St. Charles Lwanga and companies check out these links.
•Vatican: Uganda Martyrs
• Franciscan Media: St. Charles Lwanga and Companions
• EWTN: The Uganda Martyrs
• Catholic News Agency coverage of the Uganda Martyrs
In today's series, America 250: Faith, Freedom, and the Saints of Africa, on their feast day, we begin with the Uganda Martyrs.
As America prepares to celebrate 250 years of freedom, their witness reminds us that the deepest freedoms are the ones no earthly power can take away.
St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, pray for us.
#America250 #UgandaMartyrs #CatholicX
As America prepares to celebrate 250 years, I'm beginning a series on the Saints of Africa.
In a world hungry for examples of courage, faith, resilience, and hope, these remarkable witnesses still have much to teach us.
Their stories belong to Africa.
Their lessons belong to all of us.
#America250 #UgandaMartyrs #Africa #Catholic #Faith
This morning’s reminder:
God rarely gives us the whole map. He gives us enough light for the next step.
I’ve learned that in hospital rooms, in board rooms, on difficult roads, and in seasons when the future seemed hidden behind fog. Faith isn’t certainty about the outcome. It’s trusting the One who walks beside us.
Take the next step. Then the next.
The path has a way of appearing under faithful feet.
#Catholic #Faith #MorningReflection
A day filled with gratitude. I had the honor of holding our family Bible as Frank took the oath of office as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. May God guide his service, grant him wisdom, and bless the partnerships that strengthen both the United States and the nations of Africa. 🇺🇸🙏”