Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9 2nd Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 Responsorial: Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-22 Gospel: Luke 12:32-48 Growing in Faith and “the realization of what is hoped for” Faith is the realization of what is hoped for. (Hebrews 11:1) Famous people who excel in their […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-5,9-11 Responsorial: Psalm 90:3-6,12-14,17 Gospel: Luke 12:13-21 Seeing Our Lord in All Things Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:11) This concept of Christ being “in all” is a central aspect of Jesuit spirituality. The founder […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Genesis 18:20-32 2nd Reading: Colossians 2:12-14 Responsorial: Psalm 138:1-3,6-8 Gospel: Luke 11:1-13 Deepening Our Relationship with Our Heavenly Father through Prayer He will get up to give him whatever he needs. (Luke 11:8) Imagine the situation: you are traveling through ancient Palestine and […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Genesis 18:1-10 2nd Reading: Colossians 1:24-28 Responsorial: Psalm 15:2-5 Gospel: Luke 10:38-42 What Does it Mean to Have “Christ in You, the Hope for Glory” Christ in you, the hope for glory. (Colossians 1:27) There are three ways to look at these words: […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Deuteronomy 30:10-14 2nd Reading: Colossians 1:15-20 Responsorial: Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36-377 Gospel: Luke 10:25-37 Loving God & Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself, The Heart of the Gospel Message You shall love . . . your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27) Think […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14 2nd Reading: Galatians 6:14-18 Responsorial: Psalm 66:1-7, 16, 20 Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 Signs That We Are Heaven Bound Rejoice because your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20) Let’s take a moment right now to rejoice. We live in a […]
THE birth of St. John was foretold by an angel of the Lord to his father, Zachary, who was offering incense in the Temple. It was the office of St. John to prepare the way for Christ, and before he was born into the world he began to live for the Incarnate God. Even in […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21 2nd Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-18 Responsorial: Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11 Gospel: Luke 9:51-62 Winning the Battle for Our Minds For freedom Christ set us free. (Galatians 5:1) Did you know that a battle is going on in your mind […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1 2nd Reading: Galatians 3:26-29 Responsorial: Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9 Gospel: Luke 9:18-24 Saying Yes to Jesus’ Call to Follow Him Follow me. (Luke 9:23) Did you ever go off on adventures when you were a child? Perhaps you journeyed into the […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13 2nd Reading: Galatians 2:16, 19-21 Responsorial: Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 7, 11 Gospel: Luke 7:36–8:3 Receiving the Lord’s Overwhelming Mercy and Forgiveness I have sinned against the Lord. (2 Samuel 12:13) Sometimes our decision making is bad, and sometimes it’s […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: 1 Kings 17:17-24 2nd Reading: Galatians 1:11-19 Responsorial: Psalm 30:2; 4-6; 11-13 Gospel: Luke 7:11-17 Seeking and Experiencing Revelation from God It came through a revelation. (Galatians 1:12) One of the great joys in life is receiving what St. Paul called “revelation” from […]
St. Margaret Mary’s parents, Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn, were distinguished less for temporal possessions than for their virtue, which gave them an honorable position. From early childhood Margaret showed intense love for the Blessed Sacrament, and preferred silence and prayer to childish amusements. The death of her father and the injustice of a relative […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Genesis 14:18-20 2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Responsorial: Psalm 110:1-4 Gospel: Luke 9:11-175 The Transforming Power of Receiving Christ in the Eucharist They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets. (Luke […]
The Holy Trinity is the one true God in three Persons, equal in all things and co-eternal. The Father gives being to the Son, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. St. Anselm has endeavored to explain this most impenetrable of mysteries, and proceeding from a single point of view only, […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Proverbs 8:22-31 2nd Reading: Romans 5:1-5 Responsorial: Psalm 8:4-9 Gospel: John 16:12-15 Placing Our Trust in the Love of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I have much more to tell you. (John 16:12) Imagine you’re deep in conversation with a close […]
As a teen, I thought the clergy were supposed to do everything. We laity were just called to pray, pay, and obey. Oh yes, and keep the commandments, of course. The original 10 seemed overwhelming enough. Then I discovered the Sermon on the Mount and nearly passed out. Perhaps this is why many inactive Catholics […]
Fifty days after Easter the apostles and disciples of Jesus were assembled in an upper chamber, engaged in prayer, according to the recommendation of the divine Master. They awaited the accomplishment of the promise He had made to them, of sending them a Comforting Spirit, the Paraclete, Who should teach them all things. Lo! a […]
THIS great festival takes its name from the happy tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin, concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God. It commemorates the most important embassy that was ever known: an embassy sent by the King of kings, performed by one of the chief princes of His heavenly court; […]
RICHARD was born, 1197, in the little town of Wyche, eight miles from Worcester, England. He and his elder brother were left orphans when young, and Richard gave up the studies which he loved, to farm his brother’s impoverished estate. His brother, in gratitude for Richard’s successful care, proposed to make over to him all […]
AT the age of fifteen Francis left his poor home at Paula in Calabria, to live as a hermit in a cave by the sea-coast. In time disciples gathered round him, and with them, in 1436, he founded the “Minims,” so called to show that they were the least of monastic Orders. They observed a […]
An excerpt from An excerpt from Jesus of Nazareth PART TWO Holy Week From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection by Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI The Dating of the Last Supper The problem of dating Jesus’ Last Supper arises from the contradiction on this point between the Synoptic Gospels, on the one hand, […]
THAT St. Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is attested by many Saints. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take this city under his particular care and inspection, which was then the capital of the East, and in which the faith took so early and so […]
IN the reign of Marcian and St. Pulcheria, the Council of Chalcedon, which condemned the Eutychian heresy, was received by St. Euthymius and by a great part of the monks of Palestine. But Theodosius, an ignorant Eutychian monk, and a man of a most tyrannical temper, under the protection of the Empress Eudoxia, widow of […]
THIS Saint was born at Orleans, of a very illustrious family. At his birth his parents dedicated him to God, and set him to study when he was but seven years old, resolving to omit nothing that could be done toward cultivating his mind or forming his heart His improvement in virtue kept pace with […]
