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 […]
“Why do they only have 45 minutes for confession?” asked my Protestant dad when I was home over the holidays. “Well,” I tried to explain, “Most church-goers don’t go to confession that often. They don’t really think they’re doing anything wrong.” A senior deacon from one of the first classes of people trained in the […]
My brother and I could be rambunctious children. There were times our rowdiness more than made up for the fact there was only two of us. One moment leaps to mind. We were roughly 12 and 9. Our dad had gone out on an errand and we were told to stay quiet while our mom, […]
You know, there are some really cool things about Jesus. For one, he was the Son of God. How awesome is that?! There’s more, though. He was a man. A dude. Like me. Well, kind of like me. Actually, He wasn’t really very much like me — but He hung around a lot of guys […]
Confession, also known as The Sacrament of Reconciliation, can be a hard sell, even among Catholics who actively practice their faith. In the Introduction to The Light is On for You: The Life-Changing Power of Confession (The Word Among Us Press), Cardinal Donald Wuerl acknowledges that only “slightly more than 60 percent of practicing Catholics […]
Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman once said: “Faith is illuminative, not operative; it does not force obedience, though it increases responsibility; it heightens guilt, but it does not prevent sin. The will is the source of action.” If the will is the source of action and faith is illuminative because it comes from God, then […]
On the last Saturday before Christmas break, I introduced the belief of a forgiving God to my First Communion class. The lesson was based on a re-telling of The Prodigal Son. As usual, the class, the full complement of twenty-one this particular Saturday, participated eagerly in the discussion. The students had many questions: what if […]
I am a cradle Catholic, but my family was not very good about going to confession regularly. It is possible that because my parish priest growing up was beyond liberal, my parents wanted me nowhere near him. Or maybe my liberal parish didn’t offer confession regularly. (The attached school made us say, “In the name […]
After the death of Dr. Bernard Nathanson last February, we were reminded that somebody once asked him why he became a Catholic. Because, said Dr. Nathanson, (who’d been a leader in the movement to legalize abortion and performed or presided over many thousands of abortions, then seen the light and become ardently prolife) no other […]
I’m so happy to share the good news about ”Confession” a great Catholic app for your iPhone and iPad – and to share that this app is not only wonderfully helpful, but also 100% reliable, having earned the imprimatur from Bishop Kevin C. Rhodes of the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend. You may […]
