Have you ever encountered a stranger in need who asks you for money? A homeless person on the sidewalk downtown? An unemployed veteran in a wheelchair, soliciting funds from passers-by? Someone standing at a stoplight with a cardboard sign asking for help? These encounters pierce our hearts, or at least, they should pierce ou[...]
There isn't a definitive way to throw an Epiphany party. Different cultures have celebrated in different ways. I'd like to be more specific and personal, and share some tips from the beautiful ways in which my own mother has hosted Epiphany parties.
It is not difficult to see the beauty of the the birth of Christ in the sweet manger scene where the Infant is wrapped in swaddling clothes and adored by Mary and Joseph. Yet, in truth, we are not naive witnesses to this scene.
Most of us think of Thanksgiving as a time of love and closeness. We eagerly await reunion with family and friends as we celebrate our special traditions. The memories we make will last a lifetime, and of course, there’s that wonderful meal we enjoy together. Those are the ideals of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Some readers are intimidated by its apparent intensity. But Kempis knew the weakness of men and the resolve and perseverance necessary to reorder our lives for Christ. Though he wrote it for his brothers, who lived in community and withdrawn from the world, much of The Imitation of Christ is also applicable to us.
We are all going to die. Every single one of us. And, over time, so will all those whom we know and love. Fear is a natural part of our humanity, but it is not the better part. The better part is to rejoice in the gift of our immortal souls, and to embrace the hope and the promise implicit in bodily death. This is a grace of the[...]
Looking back now, I see that this great man of faith had a remarkable ability to penetrate hearts and souls not just by the words he spoke, but by the way his life expressed those words.
Ours is a happily-Catholic home. You don’t have to get much further than the threshold of the front door to realize it. Like many Catholics, we display statues, holy pictures, and other tangible reminders of our faith. These serve as inspiration for our devotional life and sometimes mark the current liturgical season. [...]
Bernadette relied on prayer and the prayers of others to carry her through her trials when they seemed almost unbearable. At one of her lowest moments she prayed: O Mary, my gentle Mother, here I am, your child who can bear no more. See my needs and above all my spiritual distress. Have pity on me; grant that one day I may be w[...]
Summer offers an opportunity to take an inventory of your relationship with God and to see where you might be lacking. Sometimes a few months is all we need to get back on track and to concentrate on a few things that can make a big difference. The following are three simple ways to grow in holiness this summer.