Category: Learn & Live the Faith

Traditionalist, not Utopian
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Traditionalist, not Utopian

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by on Oct 16, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, MyChurchParish.com
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Sometimes I think we traditionalists get far to caught up in the details of this or that crisis in the Church today that we forget why we are fighting. We become very much like the dystopians of the Old Testament. We aren’t fighting to restore some golden age. We are fighting to reach the golden age promised to the faithful in Heaven. If we can use the things of this world and this present age to reach that point, then even better.

A Mother's Blessing
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A Mother’s Blessing

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by on Oct 14, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, Parenting
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Five years ago, I stepped into a room to cover a news story for work. I was flustered because I was almost late getting there. I’m only going to be interviewing children, I thought to myself. It shouldn’t be a big deal. The session began. Fifteen children sat in a circle, an adult with them. […]

Reflections for Sunday, October 13, 2013
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Reflections for Sunday, October 13, 2013

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by on Oct 11, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (2 Kings 5:14-17; Psalm 98:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19) Allowing Jesus to Heal us of Spiritual Leprosy Jesus, Master! Have pity on us! (Luke 17:13) Until recently, a diagnosis of leprosy was a death sentence—a long, slow sentence marked by physical deformity, social isolation, poverty, and […]

On Unemployed Youth and Forgotten Elderly
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On Unemployed Youth and Forgotten Elderly

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by on Oct 11, 2013 in Featured, Those in Need
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There’s a great line in the book: Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know, by Diane Moczar. In writing about the downfall of Rome, she quotes an historian’s description of the Roman Empire before its demise: “a terrifying sluggishness of the whole population.” For me, this phrase denotes aimlessness, a lack of motivation and initiative, a […]

Everyone Who Asks, Receives
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Everyone Who Asks, Receives

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by on Oct 10, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ
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God is generous beyond our imagination: not only in the general sense of creating the universe, giving us life, and offering us the gift of faith, but also in the specific sense of making specific promises to specific people.  To understand this, just look at the following passage from the Old Testament. You shall therefore […]

What the Rite of Baptism Tells Us About Limbo
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What the Rite of Baptism Tells Us About Limbo

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by on Oct 09, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Parenting, The Catholic Family
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As the father of eleven who also knows the heartache of miscarriage, I was moved by a recent post by blogger Stacy Trasancos titled “The Spiritual Abortion Called Limbo,” exhorting even those who accept the longstanding theological opinion of the “limbo of the infants” to please pray for those innocent young souls who die before […]

A Mass-Centered Way to Talk About the Eucharist
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A Mass-Centered Way to Talk About the Eucharist

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by on Oct 09, 2013 in Apologetics, Catechesis, Featured
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A great opportunity to share the faith with both fallen away Catholics and with non-Catholics is to talk about that one central thing that distinguishes the Catholic Church apart from all other religions of the world.

Being a Contemplative in the World
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Being a Contemplative in the World

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by on Oct 08, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, Men
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Sometimes, I find myself aspiring to be a “contemplative.” But looking at the long and somewhat complex definition in the Catholic Encyclopedia, I wonder if that really is possible for those of us who have to live “in the world.” I won’t bother you with much of that entry in the encyclopedia. Suffice to say […]

Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part II)
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Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part II)

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by on Oct 08, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, The Social Order, Those in Need
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Pope Francis: Rupture vs. Change Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part I) Building on what has been said in the first two posts, we continue with the fallout from the pope’s interview with atheist publisher Eugenio Scalfari. If the pope’s refusal to take the bait on preaching specific moral norms didn’t make many tear their hair out in […]

Traditionalists and the Incarnation
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Traditionalists and the Incarnation

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by on Oct 08, 2013 in Apologetics, Catechesis, Featured, MyChurchParish.com
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In a previous article, I outlined my belief that one of the greatest dangers facing Catholicism today is a lack of belief in the doctrine of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.  This lack of belief stems from failing to appreciate the wide-ranging conclusions from such an event.  I pointed out how this problem has led […]

The Gaze of the Crucified Christ
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The Gaze of the Crucified Christ

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by on Oct 07, 2013 in Columnists, Featured, Live in Christ
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Where did Francis’ journey to Christ begin? It began with the gaze of the crucified Jesus. With letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and draws us to himself.  If I read only those three lines from Pope Francis’ homily for the feast of St. Francis […]

Egypt: “We Never Know Where the Extremists Will Strike Next”
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Egypt: “We Never Know Where the Extremists Will Strike Next”

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by on Oct 06, 2013 in Featured, International Issues, Live in Christ
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Despite a measure of improvement in the security situation for the Christians in Egypt, the media spokesman for the Catholic Church in the country, Father Rafik Greiche, continues to be concerned. Speaking to the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on Wednesday, he said, “Things have become somewhat calmer in […]

The Pope Francis Effect: Why I'm Having a Tough Time
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The Pope Francis Effect: Why I’m Having a Tough Time

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by on Oct 05, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ
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I have a confession. I’m having a tough time adjusting to Pope Francis. I admit that I’m a B16 fan girl and I’m still getting over Pape Bene’s understandable departure. It’s like when your best friend moves far away and no matter how hard you try, you can’t help but compare all your other friends […]

Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part I)
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Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part I)

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by on Oct 04, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, Those in Need
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The blows continue raining down on Francis over his interview with an atheist, and with an intense scorn that is simply breathtaking. This may take a few posts to cover in its entirety, but here goes… In my last article I defended Francis: He. Is. Peter. This pope has barely begun to cast his net and […]

Proselytism, Conversion, and Other "Solemn Nonsense"
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Proselytism, Conversion, and Other “Solemn Nonsense”

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by on Oct 04, 2013 in Apologetics, Catechesis, Featured, MyChurchParish.com
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In my previous column, we examined how the words of Pope Francis found echo in Pope Leo XIII.  A lot of Catholics were also “scandalized” by another statement from Pope Francis.  When an atheist asked if the point of their meeting was to convert him, the Holy Father Stated: Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes […]

Pope Francis: Rupture vs. Change
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Pope Francis: Rupture vs. Change

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by on Oct 03, 2013 in Featured, Leadership, Live in Christ, Those in Need
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“That’s not what he really meant to say…” These are increasingly common words spoken on behalf of Pope Francis. Increasingly, Catholic bloggers are having to compile montages of quotes to show the strain of orthodox continuity in the Pope’s interviews. For many traditionalists, it is the frightful spectre of a Jesuit pope ascending the throne […]

The Kingdom of God is at Hand
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The Kingdom of God is at Hand

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by on Oct 03, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ
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There is a well-known, extremely important, and sacredly joyous phrase from the tenth chapter of The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke, which is to be read at liturgy today. After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself […]

Reflections for Sunday, October 6, 2013
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Reflections for Sunday, October 6, 2013

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by on Oct 02, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Psalm 95:1-2,6-9; 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14; Luke 17:5-10) Living in the Power of God and Not the Power of Fear Stir into flame the gift of God. (2 Timothy 1:6) Did you know that fear is a gift from God? It helps us protect ourselves […]

7 Secrets of Confession
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7 Secrets of Confession

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by on Oct 02, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, On Books
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Fear not. The title, 7 Secrets of Confession, is designed to grab attention not break the seal. In fact, Vinny Flynn has penned his own “books of numbers” as author of 7 Secrets of the Eucharist and 21 Ways to Worship. This latest book serves as a helpful guide to Confession for those who have […]

Who Do We Trust In?
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Who Do We Trust In?

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by on Oct 01, 2013 in Disability, Sickness & Suffering, Live in Christ, Men
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Like Mount Zion are they who trust in the LORD, unshakable, forever. — Psalm 125 Do you ever think about how much we trust every single day? For instance, every time you turn on your car and pull out of the driveway, you are trusting the people who assembled that car and the mechanic who […]

Book Review: <i>My Sister, St. Therese</i>
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Book Review: My Sister, St. Therese

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by on Oct 01, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, On Books
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My mother always considered St. Therese to be one of my patron saints and so I have always had a great devotion to her. From my earliest years, I knew the story of her life and at age nine I first read her Story of a Soul. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit, I wanted […]

Jesus Didn't Found a Religion?
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Jesus Didn’t Found a Religion?

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by on Sep 30, 2013 in Apologetics, Catechesis, Featured, MyChurchParish.com
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In dialogues with Non-Catholics, most of the subjects you discuss won’t get you that far.  Instead, they will frequently tell you something along these lines.  “Jesus Christ didn’t found a religion, he founded a Church.  That Church is based upon confessing Christ as your Savior.  Catholics add to this and to the Bible with their […]

The Unsettling Witness of Pope Francis
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The Unsettling Witness of Pope Francis

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by on Sep 30, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ
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For a pontiff who is so big on emphasizing mercy, Pope Francis knows how to make me squirm. His witness for Christ turns the tables on my tendency to make my faith all about me. With a steady stream of up-ending spiritual remarks, the Holy Father has a way of capsizing my comfort zone. His […]