A few weeks ago, I was reading an excerpt about how a man chose to serve as a missionary on a college campus following graduation. He said that he decided to become a missionary because he wanted to something meaningful with his life and not just push papers in an office. As an office worker […]
Jesus warned to not be like the scribes and Pharisees, “For they preach but they do not practice,” another way of looking at that, “practice what you preach.” Likewise, many of us can think of at least one example in our lives, either now or in the past, when this could be said about us. […]
If this was a hijacking, time is critical.
Elizabeth Ficocelli, raised as a non-practicing Lutheran, did not become Catholic until she was preparing to marry her Catholic boyfriend, but even as a child, she felt that God was leading her to a special mission. To fulfill that mission, Ficocelli states that “God had in store for me amazingly heavenly helpmates who would be […]
Fiscally responsible force. I like the sound of that.
The Huffington Post reports that the Food and Drug Administration has been asked to approve creation of “genetically modified children.” The FDA announced a meeting aimed at analyzing the proposed practice of “oocyte modification in assisted reproduction for the prevention of transmission of mitochondrial disease or treatment of infertility.” In other words, a type of […]
Before reading this reflection, please meditate on today’s readings. Because it is preparation for the Christian life, the Old Testament is characterized by at least these two ideas: We should do things for the glory of God; therefore, we should hold fast against sin. As then, as now, there are no excuses for sin, and […]
Are we all agreed that Saving Mr. Banks is the Worst. Movie. Title. Ever? Good. First: Who is Mr. Banks? He’s the father of the little family in Mary Poppins, and the filmmakers must have assumed that we all had massive group recollection on that one. Second: “Banks” rhymes with “Hanks” who plays Walt Disney. […]
Saint Paul the Apostle was born in the ancient city of Tarsus in the Roman province of Cilicia (present-day Turkey) in the year of Our Lord 8, 12-14 years after the birth of Jesus Christ. [1] The city was situated thirty miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea and nestled beneath the shadows of the Tarsus […]
Imagine: you are ten years past customary retirement age. It’s time finally to kick back and relax. You live in a great city where everything is at your fingertips – shopping opportunities, cultural events, all your relatives and lifelong friends. Suddenly God appears and tells you to pack up, uproot your life, and march into […]
”He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). While driving home, I was stopped at a red light behind a brand new pickup truck that was flaunting a hateful, anti-Christian bumper sticker. I was stunned by the wicked display […]
At his first General Audience of 2014, Pope Francis gave the faithful in attendance a homework assignment. “Who among you knows the date of your Baptism, raise your hands,” asked the Pontiff. Then came the project: “Today, at home, go look, ask about the date of your Baptism and that way you will keep in […]
Our flight had taken off from Phoenix and we were happily heading west to Los Angeles. The animated chatter of the Barbie dolls heading for Cabo for Spring break floated throughout the plane. Halfway into the flight, after receiving my beverage, everything changed. Suddenly the plane was heading back to Phoenix and one engine was […]
Twenty years after the Clintons failed to get countries to declare a right to abortion, Mrs. Clinton told a posh UN crowd that humanity cannot advance without reproductive rights. “You cannot make progress on gender equality or broader human development without safeguarding women’s reproductive health or rights,” she declared. Clinton is adamant that reproductive health […]
It’s an election year again, and unless we’re careful, we can easily be misled by vague assertions about “the dangers of losing our tax-exempt status.” Let me state categorically from the outset: it’s not going to happen, period. In this current series of columns, we are exploring and exploding some of the myths surrounding “tax […]
The readings for today stress God’s powerful gift of forgiveness and his demand that we share this forgiveness with others. Even the wicked can be saved, the reading from Ezekiel reminds us, because “if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, … he shall surely live, he shall not die.” And […]
Interlude Something about the half-lit space invites silence. Sacred and calm. Sunlight, muted through treated windows, still manages to splash into the scene – its sepia-colored tint adding depth to a landscape filled with shadows. The silence, at home, speaks to the darkened corners as the expanding light blankets everything with its warmth. Maria Morera […]
The air was cold, the moon full, the wind biting as I stood in the backyard waiting for the dogs to do their nightly business. First the smaller, brown one; she likes to sniff and explore. Then the taller, younger one — the energetic Australian shepherd who likes to run quickly to the end of […]
On September 29, 2008, the Feast of the Archangels, Human Life International launched its Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer Campaign for the Conversion of Abortionists. Recognizing that the fight against the culture of death is primarily a spiritual battle, the prayer campaign was designed to encourage the faithful after every Mass to seek Saint Michael’s […]
“Ask and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7). If you’ve ever experienced the power of a novena, you can truly understand these words of Jesus told by St. Matthew in today’s Gospel. Novenas are often discovered out of despair, when your own […]
EUPHRASIA was the daughter of pious and noble parents. After the death of her father his widow withdrew privately with her little daughter into Egypt, where she was possessed of a very large estate. In that country she fixed her abode near a holy monastery of one hundred and thirty nuns. The young Euphrasia, at […]
In Emilie Barnes book More Hours in My Day I read the story of a woman who was upset because her husband wanted her to pack his lunch everyday. She didn’t want to do it. Then Emilie asked her, “If the Lord were to ask you to pack Him a lunch, would you do it?” Her […]
Ever “evolving”, “progressing” — or so he believes — the modern intellectual mentality slithers out of the sea of mystery, clambering from arrogant skepticism to jaded cynicism, until exhausted of wit and verve, it reaches the hard shore of “reason”. And there on the flat landscape it flutters, just out of reach of the lapping […]
Last month, in a Letter to Families, Pope Francis asked families to pray for the success of October’s Synod on the Family, when bishops, priests, religious and lay experts assemble to consider the “pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization.” So that the synod may have a better picture of the problems […]
