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. …
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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 …
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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
Hey there, I’m a big Mission: Impossible fan in case you missed the reference in the title. Ethan Hunt always accepted his mission … despite all the risks. Regardless of the possibility of being disavowed should he and his team be captured. Fortunately, Ethan always prevailed. As Catholics, we too are given a mission. Pope Francis has declared the month of October the Extraordinary …
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Hey there, When someone tells you to “Follow my lead,” you understand they want you to do what they do … or do what they tell you to do. And if you trust that person, you’ll follow their lead. And expect the best outcome. So if I were to tell you that God has given you your own personal angel whose sole job is to lead you to heaven … wouldn’t you want to follow his lead? The trick of …
Hey there, Has anyone ever told you “do you?” They were telling you to be true to yourself. Maybe you’ve even said it to someone else. The psychologists tell us being authentically yourself leads to more happiness. So the phrase and mindset have grown in popularity over the past few years. I can attest to one aspect of my life where this philosophy made me a lot happier. Remember …
