Posted by Web Staff on 5/02/21
Christ's resurrection enables us to grow in this triple peace because in the middle of this stormy, turbulent world, it gives us a firm anchor: our hope for life everlasting. We renew this hope every Sunday, when we pray the Creed. This has been exemplified through the centuries by ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 4/20/21
Moral right and wrong are not up for grabs; they are the laws that God has written into our human nature. Lying, stealing, murdering, cheating - sins like these damage our lives and societies, just as putting sand in a car's engine will damage the car. Human nature was ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 4/11/21
St. Ignatius Loyola's famous little book, The Spiritual Exercises, contains several contemplations on the Resurrection. One of these deals with what St. Ignatius thought would have been Jesus' very first appearance after rising from the dead - an appearance to his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. This appearance isn't ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 4/06/21
An anecdote from Roman history sheds an interesting light on Christ's Palm Sunday victory parade. In 27 BC, Octavian, a great general of the late Roman Republic, was paraded around Rome in a chariot, while the Romans cheered his name. He was being honored by the Senate for avenging ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 4/06/21
When Jesus suffered on the cross, He revealed His love for the Father and for us. When He allows crosses in our lives, it's because He wants to give us a chance to show and grow our love - because only a mature, tested love gives real meaning and ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 3/24/21
When we let this Christian joy penetrate our hearts, we find the strength we need to resist temptation and to carry our crosses. This is the experience of all the saints and martyrs. One of my favorite examples of Christian joy and courage is that of the teenage virgin ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 3/18/21
The famous modern artist Pablo Picasso was born into a Catholic family in 1881. But he rejected his Catholic upbringing in his early 20s, mostly because he saw religious morals as an obstacle to the hedonistic fashions of his age. Picasso never publicly returned to the Church, although a ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 3/06/21
The reason Christ is so unique is because He is, as we profess each week in the Creed, true God and also true man. Jesus is one person: the eternal Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. But ever since the Incarnation, when He became man, ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 2/27/21
It is a good idea to pay more attention than usual to the crucifix during Lent, maybe using an image of the crucifixion as a screen saver, making sure you have at least one crucifix on your wall in your home, or having a holy card with the image ... Read More »
Posted by Web Staff on 2/20/21
It is obvious that we should have unlimited confidence in God, but that is exactly why the devil tempts us against it, and that is why we need to be reminded that God always hears our prayers. In Scotland in the 1600s, Catholics were persecuted - priests and laity ... Read More »