Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23; Psalm 137:1-6; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21) Thanking and Praising God for his Great Love and Mercy “God, who is rich in mercy.” (Ephesians 2:4) Heavenly Father, how great is your love! I am amazed at the depth of your mercy toward me. Your love […]
In one of his homilies, Fr. Mitch Pacwa of EWTN told the story of a group of seminarians who visited a silversmith to see how silver is refined so that they could understand better the references in Scripture about the necessity that we be refined like silver refined by a silversmith. The seminarians watched as […]
Mormons like Glenn Beck and Senator Orrin Hatch have long given a high profile to this American-grown faith. And with Mitt Romney in the running for the Republican nomination, the question of exactly how to categorize Mormonism has become news. An Evangelical pastor who supports Rick Perry told reporters he thought Mormonism is “a cult”, prompting a […]
Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. (Luke 5:27-28) As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, […]
Every day we make several decisions. They range from making the decision to get out of bed in the morning instead of hitting the “snooze” button, to making some major decision. Whether we are talking about our finances or any other decision, how do we discern the will of God? In the Compass Catholic classes […]
Recently, I began corresponding with a young man who once walked down a dark, destructive path. Eric is sentenced to twenty years in a Jamestown, North Dokota prison for his third drug offense. He tracked me down through Ascension Press, the publisher of my co-authored Amazing Grace books. After reading Amazing Grace for Survivors and […]
Imagine someone coming up to you and without hesitation telling you: “I desire to save your soul.” This is exactly what St. John Bosco would do in his attempt to rescue the kids of Turin, Italy from the depths of despair. He would make his point very clear to the youths he would encounter in the […]
Even if you don’t agree with him, you have to admire George Weigel’s moxie. It can’t be easy serving as the spokesperson for a “conservative” Catholic movement that labors so mightily against the preponderance of evidence to reconcile every last scintilla of conciliar innovation with the Faith handed down from the Apostles. Yet, he does […]
I read with interest Andrea Tornielli’s article on Medjugorje dated February 28, 2012.[i] At the end, I was shocked to find that Tornielli provided a Latin-Italian translation of the Vatican document “Normae S. Congregationis.” My shock was rooted in the fact that the Latin text of this document has escaped the public eye for 34 […]
As the sun sends red and blue hues through the stained-glass windows into a convent chapel in the Chicago area, a dozen Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception enter the rooom for their morning prayers. Their voices blend into invocations of praise as they chant the Liturgy of the Hours. Their white habits with black […]
The Second Vatican Council taught us that the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Christian life. Yet we must keep in mind that the same council makes clear that the Eucharist is not the sum total of the Christian life. Indeed the Eucharist, and all the sacraments, are memorials of a dramatic act […]
In Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (2005), researchers Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton argue that for many young adults in America, the spiritual life is understood in moralistic terms. But where orthodox (and Orthodox) Christianity focus on the necessity of “repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of a sovereign divine, […]
The brief reflection below is based on a 3-Minute Lenten retreat brought to you by Loyola Press. At the bottom of this reflection is a link for you to access the retreat. In today’s reflection, Jesus invites a rich man to invest in eternity. Give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven… […]
For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia —Galatians 4:25. In the Scriptures, the desert is the setting for purification, and the mountain is the site of revelation. Moses led the Israelites through the desert to prepare them to receive the Law, which God handed down on Mount Sinai (Ex 20:1-17) amid peals of thunder and […]
Because it is now almost axiomatic for American school textbooks to whitewash all things Islamic (see here for example), it may be useful to examine one of those aspects that are regularly distorted: the Muslim conquests. Few events of history are so well documented and attested to as are these conquests, which commenced soon after […]
Do you know what it means to receive a consolation from the Lord? In the work of prayer for example, it is when you feel a deep sense of His presence. But even in our day-to-day lives we can receive consolations from the Lord. These come in the form of a perk, or a little […]
In the English language, the special season before Easter is called “Lent.” The word comes from the “lengthening” of daylight hours as we progress from the darkness of winter to the new light of spring. But other languages, such as Spanish, have a name for this season that is derived from the word for forty. […]
Over the centuries, Christian artists have produced innumerable portrayals of the Lord’s crucifixion, but none so terrible as Matthias Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, a work at once transfixing and repulsive. The middle panel of the Isenheim triptych features Christ, pallid and emaciated and thorn-pierced, pinned to the tree. It is truly a garish scene, torn from […]
A quiet time in Rome, the end of February. A time of silence. This evening in a completely empty and silent Vatican, I had the rare experience of running into a little child inside the city. He was walking with his father near the back of the basilica. The child’s mother, a member of the […]
This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of Lenten ideas. But it’s a start! Many of the resources mention here are available on our website at www.crossroadsinitiative.com or can be found by visiting our links page. 1 Take 30 minutes to pray, ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance, look over this list, and make a […]
Gustavus Adolphus is known as one of the greatest kings Sweden has ever had. He was very proud of Swedish power, and during his reign he triumphed over armies of what today are known as the nations of Germany, Poland, Denmark, Finland, modern Sweden and other areas. He ruled very powerful armies, but was a […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18; Psalm 116:10,15-19; Romans 8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10) Knowing and Living the Gospel Message that God is for Us “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) With these ten words, Paul begins to summarize the points he has been making so far […]
“At once, the Spirit drove him into the wilderness, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and angels ministered to him” (Mark 1:12-13). These are the words written by Saint Mark that begin the story of Jesus’s works following his baptism in the Jordan River […]
In the Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent in the Ordinary Form of Holy Mass, Jesus proclaims, “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” but what does that mean? Is this Kingdom still to come such that we might participate in bringing it to fulfillment, or is the reign of Christ the King […]
