Hey there, I suspect we can all agree on one thing … 2020 can’t end quickly enough. We’ve spent most of this year in the grips of the Coronavirus pandemic. Sickness … and even death. Lockdowns and quarantines. No public Masses. And who can forget the toilet paper shortages. Fortunately, we Catholics get an early jump on the new year. This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent … …
Continue Reading about Finding Joy in Advent (Especially During Coronavirus)
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, 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, 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, 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 …
Continue Reading about Happy New Year … Liturgically Speaking
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 can’t help but notice that society as a whole is obsessed with justice. You can’t turn on the news or open the newspaper without seeing stories about crimes, criminals, their judgments, and outrage over cases. Books, movies, and television shows about crime top popularity lists … and have for years. "Law and Order," "Criminal Minds," "Cold Case." "Die Hard," "Fargo," …
Continue Reading about This Week’s Top Resources For Giving People Their Due
Hey there, Welcome to the beginning of the second year of Genuflect! It’s hard to believe that Genuflect turned one year old on August 18. I’m excited about the growth Genuflect has undergone in the past year and what the future holds for year two and beyond. You can read more about that here. We've already covered two of our Catholic virtues: prudence and humility. This week focuses on …
Continue Reading about This Week’s Top Resources For Summoning More Fortitude
Hey there, Prudence is an old fashioned word. I suspect most people compare it to the term “prude.” And that’s definitely not “cool” in today’s modern times. Nor is it a fair representation of prudence. Prudence is a name given to some ... though not very many people lately. You can see in this graph the number of people named Prudence in the US has declined steadily since the 1800s …
Continue Reading about This Week’s Top Resources For Using More Prudence
Hey there, I must admit last week was pretty rough. And frankly there was an occasion where I didn’t exhibit much humility. Okay, no humility. So it’s no surprise that as I was finalizing the topic for this week’s Genuflect, the subject of humility was coming through loud and clear. I realize now it definitely was a personal message the Lord was sending me … and I interpreted it to be …
Continue Reading about This Week’s Top Resources For Humbling Yourself
Hey there, Here we are in the second full week of Lent with two abstinence days and one fasting day behind us. Or was it two fasting days and one abstinence day? Do you know the difference … and why we even do it anyway? Don’t eat meat. Eat limited meals. Age exceptions. There’s a lot to remember. It’s not just us who get confused. While researching articles for this issue, …
Continue Reading about This Week’s Top Resources for Discerning Abstinence and Fasting
