Ascension Press has released a new book by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR called Habits for Holiness. The book is all about making spiritual progress on the journey of living out the faith, of prayer, and of virtue. It is not impossible to become holy, and this is the goal of the book to teach […]
At age 16, I thought that aspiring to holiness was out of the question. If you really wanted to be holy, I thought, you had to be a priest, nun, or brother. And you had to spend your days doing “religious stuff” like praying, preaching, teaching catechism, or serving the poor. But I had developed […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the Creed, we confess our faith that the Church is “holy”. But how can we say that the Church is holy when she is all too evidently made up of sinners? Saint Paul helps us to see things aright when he tells us that “Christ loved the Church and gave […]
The moment doesn’t last that long. A few minutes, tops. It happens every Saturday morning I’m able to drag my body out of bed at 6 o’clock to join my brothers in Christ at a local Bread Company. Either Larry Boldt or Jim LaVictoire passes out a card to each member of our group — […]
In a recent conversation with a Protestant friend, I mentioned that we all are called to be saints. “That’s just too Catholic for me,” she said. Those words stung. What does “too Catholic” mean? Do people of our faith tradition give the impression to non-Catholics that we strive for something different than them? For that […]
As I make my way through Lent, I like to periodically stop and assess how I’m doing, and re-orientate myself toward my Lenten goal. This year, I’m feeling a bit scattered, and although I’ve been doing a pretty good job at keeping my Lenten resolutions, I don’t feel as though I have a really good […]
A life of holiness is not something that is relegated to the cloister and the monastery. It is for everyone. This is something I learned from studying the lives of the saints, from learning to pray with the Church, and from the Scriptures themselves. We are all called to be perfect as our heavenly Father […]
I’m working my way through a book called Everyday Sanctity, written by Schoenstatt Sister of Mary, M. A. Nailis. With texts from it’s founder, Fr. Joseph Kentenich, this volume addresses one of the pillars of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement, everyday sanctity, which is the practice of giving everyday life the character of holiness. Although it’s become […]
Suddenly the world isn’t what it used to be. You notice that the way people talk is overwhelmingly vulgar, because now your ears are accustomed to the sweet song of Christ. When the Lord’s name is taken in vain, you wince, or feel a pang in your heart. When the Blessed Virgin is treated as […]
This week I’ve been reading about the “back stories” of the saints. It can be easy, sometimes, to think of holy people in two-dimensional, sanitized terms. Earthbound angels who floated through life, never contradicting, never offending . . . warm and appealing and endlessly agreeable. Yet “niceness” is not a theological virtue, and those who […]
We are all called to holiness. Sometimes this can seem like an impossible call, especially when things get tough. And, at times the path to heaven can look like a fork in the road. What to do? If you read the lives of the saints, you’ll discover that they’re all so different that no one […]
Rosie grabbed my arm as I walked into Mass one weekday morning. Whispering in a hushed tone she asked: “Can you help me measure the candle? I can’t reach the top of it to measure it. I was helping to set up for a funeral, and I dropped the candle and broke the glass that […]
When I was teaching high school, my final exam question was simple: ‘In your own words, with support from Scripture, Tradition, and material gleaned from class, answer the following: Who is Jesus Christ?’ The answers were always enlightening, and while some were certainly profound and showed a remarkable insight, many answers betrayed the current world-view […]
Holiness is not merely faith, it is not merely virtuous behavior, it is not merely serving others, and it is not merely acts of piety. Holiness at its core is the belief that we were made to share in the life of the Holy Trinity coupled with the desire and the determination to act in […]
With great clarity and even greater charity, Pope Benedict XVI has once again shown how blessed we are to have him as the leader of our universal church! In his most recent weekly Wednesday address, the pope urges all of us to answer our call to holiness and gives us practical advice on how to do […]
