Category: Catechesis

The Bad Evangelist Club: Win the Debate, Lose the Soul
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The Bad Evangelist Club: Win the Debate, Lose the Soul

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by on Mar 27, 2014 in Catechesis, Evangelization, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, MyChurchParish.com
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Before my conversion I engaged everyone I knew to see what they thought about everything I was discovering about Catholics. I had just finished reading Scott Hahn’s Rome Sweet Home and wanted to employ some of the tactics and sayings that worked for him on my opponent.   The usual reaction was one of apathy and […]

Jesus and the Theologians
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Jesus and the Theologians

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by on Mar 27, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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“Most theologians talk too much. They should pick up a broom and sweep the room. That says enough.” – Mother Teresa   After reading today’s Gospel Readings, I could not help but think of Mother Teresa and this quote.  To understand why, one would have to imagine that he is in the presence of Jesus […]

Reflections for Sunday, March 30, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, March 30, 2014

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by on Mar 26, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13; Psalm 23:1-6; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41)  Being Faithful and Obedient Servants of the Lord Anoint him, for this is the one. (1 Samuel 16:12)  Even from the earliest days, there was a strict hierarchy in every Jewish family. The father was the head of […]

Teach These Things to Your Children
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Teach These Things to Your Children

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by on Mar 26, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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A single story that brings your child’s heart nearer to God is worth an infinite number of likes and shares on Facebook. Your Internet audience might include any number of people — friends who are already convinced, strangers who will never be convinced, and people who will forget what you said a minute later. Rarely […]

The Annunciation and God's Favor
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The Annunciation and God’s Favor

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by on Mar 25, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured
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From today’s gospel: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” An interesting choice of words from the Angel Gabriel, “Favor with God”.  This has to be where Mary’s fullness of grace comes in because if I was told I had favor with God and then my life went on the […]

Avoiding Lenten Gimmicks
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Avoiding Lenten Gimmicks

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by on Mar 24, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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Some people try to get rich quick by aiming for a $400 million jackpot, and others try to lose weight quick through fad diets. These methods very rarely work even among worldly goals; why would we expect them to work any better in our spiritual lives, where perseverance bears the reward? There is no get […]

How to Stop Being the Prodigal Son
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How to Stop Being the Prodigal Son

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by on Mar 22, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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Today’s Gospel from Luke is one many know and love; the parable of the prodigal son. This is a great reading to meditate and reflect on during Lent. I’m not going to ask you if you’ve ever been the prodigal son or daughter. I’m going to ask you this: How many times have you been […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: Fatherhood

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by on Mar 21, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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Pope Francis reflected on the meaning of fatherhood during his weekly General Audience held on the Feast of St. Joseph—the Foster Father of the Lord.  The Pope asked all the ‘daddies’ in the crowd estimated at 60,000 to raise their hands and then he shared his special wish for fathers and their children: “Be for […]

Betraying with a Kiss
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Betraying with a Kiss

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by on Mar 21, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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If you’ve ever been betrayed by a best friend or by someone you loved deeply, remember that Jesus was, too. Judas was a part of Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus called him, chose him, spent every day in his company as they traveled together preaching the good news. At the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the […]

rich_man_and_lazarus
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Lazarus, the Rich Man, and Us

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by on Mar 20, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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Thursday MARCH 20, 2014 Gospel LK 16:19-31 As an Eastern Catholic, we are taught early on to fight death at all costs.  Contrary to popular belief, death is not natural and is actually a result of sin. As a result of sin  every man and woman, whether a pious believer or an atheist, will one day taste death. In this […]

Reflections for Sunday, March 23, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, March 23, 2014

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by on Mar 19, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42) Lent, A Time to Sharpen Our Spiritual Focus If you knew the gift of God … (John 4:10) It is a constant challenge to see spiritual reality in the midst of our everyday lives. One of the […]

Joseph's Fiat
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Joseph’s Fiat

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by on Mar 19, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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A reflection on today’s Sacred Scripture: “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him” (Matthew 1:24). When I discovered that today’s Gospel Reading was about Joseph and his “yes” to becoming the foster father of Jesus, I began to hunt for my grade school St. Joseph Missal. What a treasure! Happy memories […]

Shedding our Inner Pharisee
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Shedding our Inner Pharisee

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by on Mar 18, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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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. […]

How to be Merciful
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How to be Merciful

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by on Mar 17, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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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 […]

Lenten Transfiguration
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Lenten Transfiguration

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by on Mar 15, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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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 […]

Loving as God Loves
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Loving as God Loves

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by on Mar 15, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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”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 […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: The Date of Your Baptism

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by on Mar 15, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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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 […]

Forgive One Another
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Forgive One Another

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by on Mar 14, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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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 […]

All You Have to Do is Ask
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All You Have to Do is Ask

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by on Mar 13, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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“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 […]

Reflections for Sunday, March 16, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, March 16, 2014

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by on Mar 12, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Genesis 12:1-4; Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20,22; 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9) The Call to Holiness, God’s Design for Our Lives He saved us and called us to a holy life. (2 Timothy 1:9)  St. Paul tells us that we have been called to a holy life. But if […]

Dancing with the Saints
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Dancing with the Saints

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by on Mar 12, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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Epistle Reading:  Jonah 3:1-10 Gospel Luke 11:29 There are a lot of people in the world like Jonah, full of zeal and devotion to their cause.  Many dismiss them as crazy.  Priests are inundated and end up spending copious amounts of time listening to bizarre stories of people who tell stories almost as outlandish as the reading we […]

Become Holy This Lent by Being Yourself
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Become Holy This Lent by Being Yourself

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by on Mar 11, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ, MyChurchParish.com
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When Catholics talk about Lent, we usually talk about what we are going to change in our lives.  We view our lives as deficient, and in order to improve them, we must either subtract (give something up) or add (take on extra prayers, devotions, etc) to our lives to grow in holiness.  This has been […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: The Meaning of Lent

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by on Mar 07, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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Pope Francis looked up during his General Audience on Ash Wednesday and ditched the script, putting aside his prepared remarks to question the spectators gathered for the weekly encounter, “I want to ask: Your children, your kids—do they know how to make the sign of the cross? Do your grandchildren know how to make the […]

The Nature of Fasting
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The Nature of Fasting

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by on Mar 07, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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Reading:  Is 58:1-9; PS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19 The words of the first reading from Isaiah 58:1-9 are like brilliant beams of light, cutting through any false notions we might have about this season of repentance that we call Lent. Often we tend to think of Lent as a time to share in the suffering of Christ yet when we […]