Although I collected these prayers in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, these three beautiful prayers are for spiritual strength and protection all year round. Before the days when the Church waned in the Emerald Isle, faith stirred a humble faith. Ireland had a bounty of vocations, even sending its priests and nuns abroad far and […]
My best Christmases have been those with good Advents beginning with making time with our Savior a priority. It’s not the kind of time that gets checked off a list but the kind where we are infused with love and peace — the true spirit of Advent. This season is a time to set aside […]
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Rocker Stevie Nicks revealed her confusion to think that sex, drugs and rock and roll were greater than her baby. She ended her child’s life in 1979 while dating Don Henley of The Eagles. “There’s just no way that I could have had a child then, working as hard as […]
For those not walking with Our Lord, coincidences are a marvel. People gush: What are the odds? But for Christians who walk with the Lord, we are not amazed at the odds; we are amazed at God. One way I have opened the door to God acting in my life is that before taking a […]
There is a lot to fret over in our culture but there is also a lot at our disposal to fight against it. One very powerful action we can take is the First Five Saturday devotion. If you have never done it before, I encourage you to do it now and stick with it. The […]
The apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal have drawn more attention than any other Church-approved Marian apparition. The appearances of the Blessed Mother and the “Miracle of the Sun” happened 103 years ago and was witnessed by an estimated 60,000 people, even non-believers. The new Fatima move opening in theaters August 28, tells […]
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid,” (John 14:27). Within those words of comfort is the key: not as the world gives. And so with the assurance of our faith, […]
To know the Virgin Mary is to love her. One way we can get to know her better is through her visits from Heaven to Earth. Marian apparitions are simply ‘private revelations’ illuminating aspects of faith but not revealing new ones since, according to Catholic doctrine, the age of public revelation ended with John, the last […]
Surely, the Blessed Mother would have taken on the suffering of her Son, Jesus Christ if it were possible. That is what loving mothers always wish they could do. Instead, Mary suffered alongside her Son, because that too is what mothers do. We go to Mary to get closer to Jesus for that very reason. […]
Discomfort does not excuse us from evangelizing. After all, Jesus was uncomfortable on the cross. And if Scripture and the Catholic Catechism of the Church are to be taken seriously, it seems that we have no excuse. “Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian initiation. They ground the common vocation of all Christ’s disciples, […]
During adoration, Anthony DeStefano picked up the Bible and read the parable about the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and must die before it grows. It is about letting go of fear and trusting God to do great things for our life. But first, we must surrender and give control to God. […]
What are you doing this Friday? I’m asking about your penance, not that it’s my business, but the business of the Church is something I care about. And it seems that Friday penances largely disappeared along with the long lines outside Brown’s Fish and Chips every Friday. That was the fish restaurant in my neighborhood […]
“Don’t let the demons of yesterday ruin the blessings of today,” An exorcist once told me during an interview. Exorcists understand how the devil invades lives and steals away peace and holiness. They also know that the people they help have a past they would like to forget and a future that might loom large […]
This story happened in our family twenty years ago, but lives on today as a lasting sign of just how powerful our God is. “Dad, may I just peek inside?” ten-year-old Luke Armstrong asked holding a cardboard box. “Wait until we get home,” his dad, Mark, answered. “We’re almost there. I don’t want a bunch […]
It would seem that being raised by devout Catholic parents who prayed the rosary daily would have pointed to a good and holy future for Bartolo Longo. And it did. Eventually. First, he strayed so far from God that he became a satanic priest. Yet, as far as Bartolo strayed—and it was extreme—he was not beyond […]
If ever there was a good time to make reparation for the offenses to the Blessed Mother, now would be a good time. Even if you have already made the Five First Saturdays, it’s something we can do again and again. At Fatima, through the Blessed Mother’s apparitions to the 3 shepherd children, the devotion […]
Years ago, I attended a non-Catholic, Christian event with a couple of my teens at our civic center. It was called “The Fire” and was an all-out, sing-and-praise-your-heart-out-for-the- Lord evening. But in the midst of thousands of people, a feeling of emptiness unexpectedly came upon me. I felt the absence of those that were missing: […]
The spiritual life has ups and downs. It is during the down times that we especially need help. Using beauty is a way that is less about your efforts and more about the outside making its way to your inside. God gave us our five senses to absorb his beauty so that it can become […]
Early on Saturday, March 12, 1938 German tanks and armored vehicles crossed the border into Austria, encountering no resistance. German newspapers printed a phony telegram supposedly from the new Austrian chancellor claiming German troops were necessary to restore order. In reality, it was an aggressive take over. The von Trapp family did not want to stick […]
The holidays are upon us and the scramble to get ready for Christmas has officially begun. There’s so much to do but preparing for Christmas is about getting ready for the birth of Jesus. No one prepared for that moment more in union with God than the Blessed Mother did. So what better way to […]
Are romance novels an innocent pastime or something more dangerous? While I was working on Amazing Grace for Married Couples, a story we ended up not using involved a woman who became addicted to romance novels. It seems she is not alone. I’ve gone to garage sales and saw tables full of romance novels for […]
Have you ever prayed to St. Thérèse and received roses? I did once. I never asked for a sign of roses before, but one time after finishing a novena, I told St. Thérèse it would mean a lot to me to receive them as a sign that my prayer request would be granted. I was […]
Miles Finer has good reasons not to believe in God. Or so he thinks. That’s what a tragedy can do to a person who measures God against prayer results. Never mind that his father is a pastor, it seems to Miles that God either doesn’t come through for us or he just isn’t there. The […]
Are women more prone to insecurity than men? Maybe. At least about some things. Who is under the magnifying glass more on appearance? How about how clean a house is? My brother-in-law once said, housework is more a reflection on the woman than the man. Fair or not, it’s true. That’s not to say that […]
