Free Ebook on Salesian Spirituality Every Sunday evening a Visitation Sister gently guides online chatters about their vocational discernment and provides spiritual insights. The discussion is called the “Living Jesus Chat Room,” named after the Visitation Sisters’ motto “Live Jesus.” On this evening, a woman who teaches at an alternative public high school for discipline […]
In economics, the first lesson I teach my pupils is the lesson of things that are seen and things that are not seen. Actions have some effects that are readily apparent and others are overlooked or not perceived. It’s the same with our military veterans. We see the obvious price they’ve paid—the time they spent […]
What struck me the most about Mother Teresa when I saw her for the first time was her diminutive size and the rounded hump on her back. It actually startled me for a moment. I had not known she was so short. I immediately attributed the hump to her constant stooping to care for the […]
Dear Wounded Fathers, Of course on this brokenhearted day your minds should turn to Ars, that small and despairing French town. The response to this swallowing red-tide of Church evil can be found in there. There, in the secret of its wavy countryside, your comeback lay. Every answer to this omnibus of hierarchical and priestly […]
Even as we see our government and our leaders try to solve our problems, it’s clear that we cannot rely on them to solve our spiritual problems. Instead, when we as a civilization open ourselves up to God’s love, he will pour a new anointing of His Spirit upon us. Our plan must be to […]
Single Catholics: the Vocations Solution It is widely known, in both Catholic and non-Catholic circles, that the Catholic Church is experiencing a shortage of priestly and religious vocations at this time. We often hear prayers at Mass for an increase in these vocations. There are those who are called by God to this vocation who […]
By Eva-Maria Kolmann NEW YORK—An Indian prelate has described Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who will be canonized by Pope Francis Sept. 4, 2016, as the “best missionary of the millennium.” Bishop Salvadore Lobo of Baruipur, who headed the canonization committee, reported that Christ had said to Mother Teresa in a vision: “Go into the houses, […]
The most terrifying aspect of living out Catholic sexuality is that it requires us to unflinchingly kill an entire world of potentials. In this world of dreamers, it can be very difficult to commit oneself to a given way of life simply because it entails giving up all other ways of life. It can be […]
By now, every Catholic — and a whole bunch of non-Catholics — are aware the Church faces a vocations crisis. Yes, we need more women and men discerning a call to join the religious life and the priesthood. It’s important that adults in the pews encourage such discernment as a legitimate, honorable and holy life […]
One thing most loving parents say to their kids at one time or another is, “Honey, you can be anything you want to be when you grow up!” I used to think this was a wonderfully affirming statement—until I became Catholic. Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. I was married and pregnant with my first child […]
By Daniel Konstantinovic NEW YORK—August 6, 2015 marks the one-year anniversary of the expulsion from their convent of a group of Dominican sisters who had been serving Christians on Iraq’s Nineveh Plane for many years. That day, ISIS forced the women religious into exile in Erbil, capital of Kurdistan. Discovering that Kurdish militia had fled […]
Despite the message our culture sends, marriage and parenting aren’t the frightful things they’re often made out to be. The hardships that come in family life are outweighed by true and lasting joy, when we keep the proper perspective – perspective being the key word here. Parenting isn’t easy, but it makes us into the […]
When my family migrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1986, I didn’t want to go. I wanted to finish college at home and settle down with whomever God picked out for me to marry, after a courtship of at least five years. But God laughed at my plans. I met my future […]
Countless articles, memoirs and studies explore why so many marriages in our society deteriorate and ultimately fail. Just recently, a blog post at USA TODAY by Anthony D’Ambrosio gained attention for identifying the top five reasons that marriages don’t work: intimacy issues, financial strife, failure to truly connect, desire for attention, and an obsession with […]
God gives mothers whatever good they ask for their children. Why? Because they are humble. They are living signs of humility and only the humble are filled with God. Jesus also gifts mothers with a share of His sorrows and passion to be applied to the salvation of their children. “It makes me happy to suffer for you, […]
Billboards around St. Louis recently are showing a new advertising slogan for a franchise of gyms: “What Will Be Your Legacy?” Nothing against people who enjoy working out and lifting weights — which I should do more often — but my idea of a real legacy to leave my family and friends has nothing to […]
Occasionally I am asked why I became a priest. My response is always the same: “Because God asked me to.” Is it really that simple? Basically, yes. Priests aren’t delivered by the stork, and we don’t fall from the sky. Well, in a way we do, because our vocation comes from on high. Ultimately a […]
Mothers are by far the most beautiful creatures in the world. There is nothing more beautiful than a mother. There has never been a beauty pageant winner more beautiful than a pregnant woman. A pregnant woman glows with the grace of God. She is one with God. Her love has borne fruit with the life […]
Not long ago, I did an exercise in which four words were listed horizontally and I had to rank them as they applied to me by giving a “4” to the one most descriptive of myself down to “1” for the least descriptive of me. For example, the first list of words was: independent, compassionate, […]
God guided me into the next step of my spiritual journey recently. I was accepted into formation with the St. Louis, Mo., group of the Secular Carmelites. I’m excited. I have my heart and soul open for what might be ahead. I recently completed my year of “aspirancy” with the Secular Carmelites. That stage involved […]
Marriage, being the most intimate of friendships, depends on trust. The friendship between spouses weakens if anything stands in the way of trust and, in weakening trust, the bond of marriage suffers. Each marriage is tried on the level of trust. Whether through past personal histories or present infidelities, illness or job loss, childlessness or […]
If someone told you that there was something you could do for as little as five minutes per day to virtually assure that your marriage would last unto death, wouldn’t you do it? Well this is it! Pray together daily. Marriage is not a couple, but a trinity. The third person is God. We need […]
Remember the scene in the movie The Passion of the Christ when the androgynous, almost-beautiful-but-not-quite Satan character is carrying a baby, and when the face of the baby is revealed, it turns out to be old, ugly, and creepy rather than a sweet baby face? This was confusing for a lot of viewers, and when […]
It can be quite tempting for husbands to misuse their authority as the head of the household in relating to their wives. Within my own therapy experience, I have seen men misquote Scripture as justification for disregarding their wives’ opinions and wishes. The fifth chapter of Ephesians is a popular source for this kind of […]
