Hey there, As the Coronavirus pandemic opened up in our communities, our Church doors were slammed shut. And we yearned for what we once took a little for granted. We attended Mass virtually and prayed the Act of Spiritual Communion. Some waged battles to re-open their Church, even taking the issue up with the courts. And a few Priests defied the law by holding public Masses. Some of …
Continue Reading about Fulfilling Your Duty in The Catholic Church
Hey there, There’s a lifestyle movement that's been growing in popularity for several years called Minimalism. It’s the idea that less is more. Clean out those closets. Get rid of all the excess clutter. Own fewer possessions. You’ve probably seen the hype about the tiny house movement as well. People are moving into 100 to 400 square foot homes. Then there’s the occasional Smart Car you see …
Hey there, Bless your heart! Heart and soul. Broken heart. Bleeding heart. Heartburn. We talk a lot about our hearts. And why not .... the heart is a powerful organ. It pumps our lifeblood throughout our body, keeping us alive. And we attribute the heart to our emotional lifeblood … our love. Just as deadly as a heart attack, we hear about someone dying of a broken heart. Of …
Continue Reading about How The Immaculate Heart of Mary Will Lead us to Heaven
Hey there, A year ago this August, the Pew Research Center published shocking resuslts from a survey of Catholics stating that only one third believe that "during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus." This is a bleak outlook on what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls "the source and summit of the Christian life." (CCC 1324) Fortunately, a …
Continue Reading about Why Corpus Christi is Not Just Another Feast Day
Hey there, I love a good mystery. Fiction and nonfiction. Police shows, detective stories, murder mysteries. If there’s a whodunit, an unsolved crime ... I’m in. I would have made a great detective. I love learning more as clues are revealed. Tracking down leads. Trying to think of possible solutions. It’s incredibly satisfying when the mystery is solved. But it can get a …
Continue Reading about Investigating The Mystery of The Holy Trinity
Hey there, What do you think of when you hear the word prophet? Is it someone who predicts the future … like Nostradomus? In the Catholic Church, prophets don’t predict the future; they proclaim messages from God. Like those from the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Moses, to name just a few. Until the ultimate prophet came along, Jesus Christ. We learn from the prophets …
Continue Reading about Salvation Hinges on Real And False Prophets
Hey there, In the 1993 film Groundhog Day, cynical weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) begrudgingly travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the Groundhog Day festivities. Stuck in town overnight due to a snow storm, Connors awakens the next morning to find he is reliving February 2nd over and over and over and over .. At first Connors uses his time selfishly, stealing money and …
Continue Reading about Your Happily Ever Afterlife Depends on The Works of Mercy
Hey there, Here we are in the holiest week of the year … with only 4 more days to Easter. Lent is always a time of suffering, though the suffering is typically of our own choosing. And we know exactly how long it will last. We can even forego the suffering on Sundays since those are technically not days of Lent. But this Lent has been different. The Coronavirus pandemic came and …
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Hey there, Jesus was standing over the woman caught in adultery and challenged the crowd that “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.” Suddenly, a rock hits the back of his head. Jesus turns and exclaims, “Mom!” It’s nine months until Mary becomes Jesus’ mother on Christmas day … so today we celebrate when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and asked her to be Jesus’ mother -- a.k.a. …
Continue Reading about How Mary’s Annunciation Fiat is Key to Our Holiness
Hey there, "The devil made me do it." "The devil is in the details." "Play devil’s advocate." These are just a few of our popular phrases. We have songs about the devil … movies and shows. He’s all over the place. And the reality is, he IS all over the place … embedded throughout our culture … tempting us all the time. His goal is to turn us away from God. And now that our …
Hey there, February is here and while most people are preparing to recognize their loves in a few days, the Catholic church celebrates the Holy Family all month long. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus … the Holy Family for us to emulate. They serve as our example, encouragement, and inspiration for how to build our family. Pope Francis urges: “Dear families, always live in faith and simplicity, …
Hey there, Pop quiz: what do Starbucks, Dyson, and Jerry Seinfeld have in common? They each took something mundane and ordinary and turned it into something extraordinary. Starbucks took a simple cup of coffee and created a global specialty coffee empire. Dyson re-engineered a vacuum cleaner on its way to becoming a leading-edge technology innovator of household appliances. And …
Continue Reading about How to Turn Ordinary Into Extraordinary
