Category: Learn & Live the Faith

Your 2016 Handy-Dandy List of Lenten Resources
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Your 2016 Handy-Dandy List of Lenten Resources

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by on Jan 26, 2016 in Cooking & Food, Evangelization, Featured, Men, On Media, Parenting, Women
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Lent comes early this year. February 10th is Ash Wednesday! That’s just three weeks away, folks. So instead of waiting until the last minute and grasping at your old standbys (giving up chocolate or God forbid, coffee), why not plan ahead using our convenient list of resources below? Make this your most spiritually fruitful Lent ever! Reprinted with […]

Broken (Liturgical) Windows
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Broken (Liturgical) Windows

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by on Jan 25, 2016 in Apologetics, Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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In a large urban parish which I attended some years ago I have noticed that the liturgical life seems to be shrinking in both action and attitude. The priests no longer hear confessions before Sunday Mass. On minor federal holidays the two regular daily Masses are reduced to only one mid-morning when most working people […]

Mercy Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry?
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Mercy Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry?

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by on Jan 21, 2016 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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“Why do they only have 45 minutes for confession?” asked my Protestant dad when I was home over the holidays. “Well,” I tried to explain, “Most church-goers don’t go to confession that often. They don’t really think they’re doing anything wrong.” A senior deacon from one of the first classes of people trained in the […]

Little Lies, Big Lies, and Narratives
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Little Lies, Big Lies, and Narratives

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by on Jan 19, 2016 in Apologetics, Featured, History
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Recently I read a collection of essays by various Catholic historians published in a book entitled Catholicism and Historical Narrative, edited by Kevin Schmiesing. As Schmiesing says in his introduction to the book, the fundamental job of historians is to “uncover the truth about the past.” “Yet,” he reminds us, “most historical debate occurs not […]

Seize Eternal Life in the Here and Now
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Seize Eternal Life in the Here and Now

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by on Jan 19, 2016 in Disability, Sickness & Suffering, Featured, Live in Christ
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Jesus’ prayer in the 17th Chapter of John is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer. In verse three we read “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” In the past, I have plowed through this verse without giving […]

Family Ties that Lift Us Up
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Family Ties that Lift Us Up

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by on Jan 18, 2016 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, Marriage, Men, Parenting
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Jesus’ invitation to discipleship comes with a warning: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mk 8:34). He made this statement shortly after Peter confessed him to be the Messiah, and he told his disciples what that role entails. The suffering involved in denying oneself and […]

In Syria, Food is 'The Most Deadly Weapon of War'
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In Syria, Food is ‘The Most Deadly Weapon of War’

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by on Jan 15, 2016 in Featured, Those in Need
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By John Pontifex NEW YORK—Food has become “the most deadly weapon of war” in Syria, according to a leading Catholic charity’s Middle East expert, who charged that both government and rebel forces are blocking humanitarian aid to force entire communities—already on the brink of starvation—to submit to their rule. He added that rebels have confiscated […]

Good Shelter Work
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Good Shelter Work

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by on Jan 11, 2016 in Creative Solidarity, Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, The Feminine Genius
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I acted the devil’s advocate. “So here we are, driving to the animal shelter to volunteer when people are hungry. Shouldn’t we be helping at the Food Bank?” I grinned so she knew I was playing a bit. Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. She pursed her sassy, fourteen-year-old lips and dodged. “Well, you can go […]

The Epiphany Star
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The Epiphany Star

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by on Jan 04, 2016 in Columnists, Featured, Live in Christ
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My five year old daughter told me: “Dad, I know what you call stars that draw a picture: consternations.” I chuckled, but thought: No dear, a consternation is when you refuse to eat your dinner for no good reason. I also overheard her explaining to her four year old sister: “The word asteroid has two […]

Christmas in a Stricken Community: Where was God?
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Christmas in a Stricken Community: Where was God?

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by on Jan 01, 2016 in Featured, Those in Need
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Living in a community stricken by scores of deaths each year from pills and cheap heroin of unprecedented potency, the question of where God was is raised in thousands of hearts in unfathomable grief. Our young people are getting addicted and dying in epidemic proportions. These are good kids, from good homes, good schools, good […]

A Figure Of Deep, Genuine Mercy
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A Figure Of Deep, Genuine Mercy

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by on Dec 31, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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The figure of the Pieta resides on the top shelf along the southwest wall of my living room, just a little higher and to the left of our 40-inch TV screen. Next to it stands a clear glass angel. Another foot-and-a-half to the left is a tall grey cross, the base of which proclaims “All […]

New Years Resolution
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Seven Spiritual New Year’s Resolutions

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by on Dec 31, 2015 in Featured, Live in Christ
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I think most Catholics in the world would love to grow in their relationship with Jesus. People have a genuine desire to grow in holiness, even if they are not able to articulate their desires for it. On New Year ’s Day many people re-evaluate their lives. They examine how their lives were in 2015 […]

In Bethlehem Then and Now, 'Jesus is the Door to Peace'
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In Bethlehem Then and Now, ‘Jesus is the Door to Peace’

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by on Dec 30, 2015 in Featured, Those in Need
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By Oliver Maksan JOSEPH AND MARY quietly rocked the child. Shepherds gathered around them. Children in costumes were enacting the Nativity of Jesus the subterranean chapels tucked away into nooks and crannies under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. A silver star marks the birthplace in a grotto right nearby. The young actors that […]

Christmas Fulfills Promise to Adam and Eve
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Christmas Fulfills Promise to Adam and Eve

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by on Dec 28, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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St. Ignatius was bishop of Antioch overseeing first century Syrian Christians and was a disciple of the Apostle John. He wrote a letter to the Christians at Ephesus as he was being transported to Rome to face wild beasts in the arena. Ignatius wrote, “For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary in accord […]

Reflections for Sunday, December 27, 2015
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Reflections for Sunday, December 27, 2015

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by on Dec 26, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 2nd Reading: Colossians 3:12-21 Responsorial: Psalm 128:1-5 Gospel: Luke 2:41-52 The Holy Family, Our Model of Faith and Trust and Love and Unity He went down with them … and was obedient to them. (Luke 2:51) Today is not a […]

From Loathing to Loving the Rosary
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From Loathing to Loving the Rosary

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by on Dec 23, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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One of the things I love about Advent and Christmas is the extra emphasis on the Blessed Mother. As a motherless Catholic, it’s been easy to embrace Mary as my own mother and I always love hearing the Scriptures about her this time of year. Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. For most of my years […]

Christmas Letters From the Middle East
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Christmas Letters From the Middle East

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by on Dec 22, 2015 in Featured, Those in Need
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Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako I—celebrating Christmas in ‘silence and amidst tears’ The feast of the birth of Christ is one of the greatest feasts celebrated by millions of Christians around the world and particularly in Iraq. But this year Iraqi Christians will celebrate Christmas in deplorable circumstances, one the one hand because of the deteriorating […]

It Is Good to Be Seen
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It Is Good to Be Seen

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by on Dec 21, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured, The Feminine Genius, Those in Need
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It is that time of year again, the time when we gather together to remember our blessings and bestow gifts upon one another in celebration of our Savior’s birth. It’s easy to get caught up in the secular world of stress, worrying, and over-buying, but as Christians it is important that we remember the reason […]

In Year of Mercy, Catholics in Middle East 'will pray for Daesh'
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In Year of Mercy, Catholics in Middle East ‘will pray for Daesh’

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by on Dec 18, 2015 in Featured, Those in Need
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By Oliver Maksan The Holy Year of Mercy, solemnly inaugurated by Pope Francis in Rome Dec. 8, 2015—on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception—is being hailed by Catholics throughout the Arab world International Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) gathered some impressions. Father Dankha Issa is a Chaldean monk in Alqosh. Last […]

An Unholy Alliance: When Mob Forgiveness Meets Selective Grace
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An Unholy Alliance: When Mob Forgiveness Meets Selective Grace

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by on Dec 17, 2015 in Featured, Law & Justice, The Social Order, Those in Need
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A small town in Missouri recently came under fire for rallying around an accused child sex offender and shunning the abuse victim—even after the offender pleaded guilty in court. “If it takes a village to raise a child,” said a local prosecuting attorney, “what is a child to do when the village turns its back […]

Do You <em>See</em> Your Neighbor?
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Do You See Your Neighbor?

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by on Dec 17, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured
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Let’s reflect upon Luke 7:36–50: “A Pharisee invited him to dine with them, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.” Are we not all sinners in vital need of God’s mercy? […]

"Camp Virgin Mary." Displaced Iraqis get Chapel in Baghdad
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“Camp Virgin Mary.” Displaced Iraqis get Chapel in Baghdad

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by on Dec 15, 2015 in Featured, Those in Need
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By Oliver Maksan BAGHDAD—Father Luis Montes is glad and he has reason to be: “We have just consecrated a new chapel. It was high time that our refugees got their own small church. This gives them back a piece of the home they have lost. And the people can now go to Mass without risking […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: Introduction to the Year of Mercy

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by on Dec 14, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, The Shepherd's Voice
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In his first General Audience during the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis explained why he has called for this extraordinary jubilee year.  “Yesterday, I opened here, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy, after having opened it already in the Cathedral of Bangui in the Central African Republic,” during his […]

Mercy Has No Limits
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Mercy Has No Limits

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by on Dec 11, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured
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Mercy and forgiveness go both ways: God toward us, and us toward others. As concerns others’ forgiving us, we cannot control that. It is a futile waste of time and energy to try to control others. We can only control, with the help of God’s grace, our own attitudes and actions. In Matthew 18:23–35 we […]