I sat on my back, looking up the speckled with color wall at the rock climbing gym. “One more time,” I thought to myself. This past semester, some of my friends had gotten into the habit of taking time off from the stress commonly found around schoolwork at our Catholic, liberal arts school to drive […]
John 3:16-18 is arguably the most famous gospel passage. You see it written on placards at football games on TV. In a rare breakaway moment the evangelist addresses disciples to emphasize the importance of having faith in the Son of God. And don’t be one-sided about it either, John says. All truths of the faith must be accepted because […]
Many are ready to give a polite nod of some sort to Jesus of Nazareth. Most honor him as a great moral teacher. Many even confess him as Savior. But the Incarnation of the Eternal God? Second person of the Holy Trinity? God can’t be one and three at the same time. Such a notion […]
In Pope Francis’ general audience this past Wednesday he explains beautifully what Fear of God means. This particular Gift of the Holy Spirit can be taken the wrong way by many people. It can be taken as a literal fear, of something that could ultimately hurt us in some way. Our Pope knows this and […]
God speaks to us constantly through ordinary events and signs, but we aren’t always listening. We need to open our ears to hear his supernatural suggestions. As Jesus said, “let him who has ears to hear, hear.” How do we fulfill this desire of Jesus? 1. Place ourselves in God’s presence. Don’t be too busy to […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts Exodus 34:4-6,8-9; (Psalm) Daniel 3:52-56; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18) Worshipping and Adoring God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. (Exodus 34:6, 8) The Holy Trinity. Three persons in one God. Really, it’s too much for […]
When we speak of Jesus’ prayer, it is legitimate to put “prayer” within quotation marks. (Benedict XVI did this in Volume I of his Jesus of Nazareth). It is done when we want to highlight the uniqueness of Jesus’ prayer. It was, after all, the human prayer of the Second Person of the Trinity. But […]
Service to God means to submit to Gods will for you at all times. That sounds easy enough you may be thinking, but is it? As a mother of seven children fulfilling Gods will is hard work and it is made more difficult if I am lacking the Gift of Piety. What does piety mean […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1,24,29-31,34; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23) Receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit, The Power of God in Us They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:4) Today we celebrate that great day when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the […]
Is there anything so wicked as a man trying to silence his conscience? It is a willful act that happens in stages: Bit by bit, incident by incident, rationalization by rationalization, the voice of a man’s conscience can be stifled—that still small voice within him eventually becomes fainter, until his heart turns to stone and […]
The celebration of the Ascension used to leave me a bit flat. It was clear what Good Friday did for me. And Easter Sunday’s benefits were indisputable. But as for the Ascension, what’s in it for me? Christianity is about a kind of love we call agape or charity. It is love that looks away […]
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17:20-21) Pope Francis […]
Dr. Bert Ghezzi, well-known Catholic author of several books on the saints and the sacraments, has now written a book about how Catholics live. The Heart of Catholicism: Practicing the Everyday Habits that Shape Us (Ave Maria Press, 2014) “is a book about what Catholics do and why they do it. It describes the practices […]
Our spiritual lives are centered upon Jesus’ sacrifice, made present in the Eucharist. Probably the majority of us however, have schedules that keep us from attending Mass on a daily basis. It may come as a surprise to learn that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – and the majority of Jews at the time – found […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3,6-9; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20) The Faithfulness of Jesus in Leading Us and Guiding Us I am with you always, until the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20) This is a bittersweet day. On the one hand, we celebrate Jesus, the Son of God, […]
One of my fondest memories at Baylor was when I first walked downstairs and into the wonder that was my dorm’s cafeteria. Far away from home, I reveled in the sheer number of choices before me with no one to tell me which foods were appropriate to eat or laugh at odd combos. From breakfast […]
He wore steel rimmed glasses and had hair to the middle of his back. The fringe on his buck-skinned jacket bounced as he walked. At least that was the way I was accustomed to seeing Mike as he bopped around town. It was just a few years after Woodstock, and we were all taken with […]
In the May 21, 2014, Wednesday Audience on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, (this week focusing on The Gift of Knowledge), Pope Francis spoke several times about various gifts God offers us. First, let us examine the idea of gift. Each of us has experienced physically receiving a gift especially on a special occasion […]
When one studies the prayers and rubrics of the Mass (especially in the Extraordinary Form and ancient Eastern Rites), there is a striking aspect about all of them: just how Jewish they are. While Christianity developed in various cultures through thousands of years, the worship of God is still firmly rooted in Jewish customs and […]
By the time Cain and Abel show up in creation history, Satan had already inserted himself into human affairs and the fall of man. Adam and Eve were now living in a not so happy story of life without the garden, “toiling and suffering” in the outside world. The big lesson to be learned by […]
At some point in life each of us finds ourselves at a loss for what to say to God. It is usually at a time of intense trial. The pain of disease, agony of loss, or sting of betrayal leaves us overwhelmed. Our sadness and anger are so acute that we fell abandoned, as if […]
“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.” –GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy Continuing his Catechesis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis used this week’s lesson to discuss the gift of fortitude. When we consider the Gifts of the Spirit, […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts 6:1-7; Psalm 33:1-2,4-5,18-19; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12) Accepting Jesus’ Invitation To Come to Him Come to him … and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. (1 Peter 2:4, 5) Beloved, come to me. I am the cornerstone, Jesus. My arms […]
The announcement that the Church will beatify Pope Paul VI in October has led some observers to declare that Rome is intent on “canonizing” the Second Vatican Council by raising the Popes responsible for that assembly to the honor of the altars. Pope John XXIII who convened the Council was made a saint last month along […]
