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 […]
Keys to Grow in Virtue and Grace Fr. Quan Tran, Roman Catholic priest and Author has written a book offering keyways to grow in love of the Lord through growth in virtue and grace. The book is beautifully written with each chapter focusing on a key element of how we can grow in imitation of […]
Discovering the Incredible Ways God Speaks to Us Popular Catholic Talk Show Host, Author, and Journalist Teresa Tomeo has written a new book, Listening for God: Discovering the Incredible Ways God Speaks to Us. Beautifully laid-out with vignettes from several authors and evangelists within chapters, the book offers beautiful insights into seeing and experiencing the […]
Recognizing God in Small Moments Recognizing God in the everyday moments are an art. Whether we are young, somewhere in the middle or old. Life has its slow times and the busy times. I think having eyes to see “His hand” in all we do is something that take patience! Think for a moment about […]
I stood by helplessly and watched as a text message received by one of my older children instantly transformed a situation that showed much promise into a state of uncertainty. My child was visibly disappointed and frustrated. All I could do was give a reassuring hug and offer some words of consolation. Throughout my work […]
Shielding my eyes from the blinding sun, I sensed, rather than heard, a presence to my left as I stood in line waiting to board the plane. His face was about five inches from mine. I could see his lips moving but could hear nothing. Finally I faced him squarely and he repeated himself. “What’s […]
“For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:9) On Good Friday, the impossible happened. God Himself was executed by His creatures. On Easter Sunday, this same God, our Lord Jesus Christ, rose from the dead, victorious over the power of the grave. In so doing, […]
One of my most fond memories of my semester in Rome was from our trip to Northern Italy. We visited quite a few museums and beautiful churches, yet one moment that stuck with me was our visit in Florence. After a long and beautiful Tuscan day, several of us went to a bar. Nights like […]
My knowledge of the Angelus prayer was minimal at best before reading Praying the Angelus by Jared Dees (Ave Maria Press, 2017). I doubt that I am alone in that regard. Dees, a high school theology teacher, describes his own confusion when first listening to the Angelus in Latin when in Rome and then learning […]
It’s easy to fall into the habit of praying in too small a circle. We pray for our personal intentions, for our families and closest friends, our parish, but we sometimes forget to open the lens a bit and commit to intercessory prayer for those who may have no one praying for them at all. […]
A boy falls and skins his knees. A boy wrestles in the living room and bonks his head on the coffee table. A boy tries to field a ground ball at shortstop, only to take a bad hop that bloodies his nose, or gets plowed by a much bigger boy on the football field. “Boys […]
Holy Week and Easter Sunday, the 2016 versions, are in our rearview mirror. That means we are in the midst of the Easter Season – a.k.a. Eastertide or Paschal Time. To exemplify the importance the season holds on the Church liturgical calendar, Eastertide lasts 50 days, longer than both Lent and Advent. St. Athanasius reckoned […]
Supersize, maximize, be all you can be…because if you are going to do something, why not get the most out of it? Prayer is one of those things. We know we can do it poorly — babbling like the pagans do and not even paying attention to what we are saying. “What the world most […]
This past Advent as I attended Sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest mercifully imposed a seemingly unchallenging penance: say one “Our Father.” The 10-year-old Mike would have loved that penance a whole lot more than what the priest typically prescribed at the time. I’ll never forget the day he prescribed young Mike an entire Rosary as […]
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 […]
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 […]
On October 12, 2013, “Pope Francis revealed to the world his special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. . . He spoke of Mary as the ‘new Eve’ who unties the knot of Eve’s disobedience.” In May 2014, Marge Fenelon traveled to the Holy Land with the […]
I guess you never know how little faith you have, until it is tested. Faith never grows, unless it is tested. I have found it to be a vicious lifelong cycle. I think I have faith, it gets tested, and I realize how little faith I have after all. I have been praying for something […]
Praying to the Saints is the opposite of idolatry.
The Saints in Heaven are living witnesses and members of the Church.
My mind has been calmed by, among other things, a bookmark and a simple prayer. I’m writing these thoughts late in the evening Thursday, October 15. For the Catholic Church, this has been the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila. Among those in the Discalced Carmelite order – be they priests/friars, nuns or lay […]
