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 …
Continue Reading about Cultivating Hope During Uncertain Times
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 …
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Hey there, Happy New Year! And Christmas blessings to you too! Yes, Merry Christmas. Most people believe Christmas ended on December 25th with Jesus’ birth. But that’s when the Christmas season began for us. It occurs to me the extended Christmas season is kind of like a wedding. Before the wedding, there are months of preparation. Reserving a church and a reception hall. …
Continue Reading about Why Jesus is Still The Reason For The Season
Hey there, Any self-help guru will tell you there are several keys to achieve a goal: Clearly define the goal Break the goal down into smaller, achievable accomplishments Do a little everyday towards the goal We have been applying these techniques throughout our lives. When we were in school and working to graduate. In our professions to get that dream job … or …
Hey there, Last week Genuflect prematurely covered the topic of Christmas … so we would have time to begin important Advent Preparation. This week, I’m going to be even more premature by wishing you all ... a Happy New Year! I’m not referring to 2020 though. You see, this Sunday is the beginning of Advent … and it’s the beginning of the church’s Liturgical Calendar. The Catechism of …
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Hey there, Did you see all the Christmas stuff in the stores before Halloween? They get earlier and earlier every year. It’s not even Thanksgiving and stores are already promoting pre-black Friday sales. At the risk of adding to the pre-Thanksgiving Christmas hype ... I’m going to talk about Christmas now too. But hear me out … I have a good reason. Once December gets here, our …
Continue Reading about How Advent Preparation Now Will Lead to a Joyous Christmas
Hey there, I grew up in the post-Vatican-II world. I’ve always celebrated the Mass in English. The priest has always faced the congregation. And I’ve received communion in the hand for many years now. I always had an awareness that “in the old days” the Mass was in Latin and you couldn’t see what the priest was doing. So what’s all this I’m hearing lately about people attending a …
Continue Reading about Traditional Latin Mass: Celebrating Like The Saints
