Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
An old Chinese proverb says, “If your vision is for a year, plant wheat. If your vision is for ten years, plant trees. If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.” To build a future, we must fill people with hope and equip them with the resources to get...
At some point on our spiritual journey, the steps get steeper, the passages get narrower, and we run into roadblocks. Jesus, the one who called us to this journey, warned us this would happen: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate” (Lk 13:24a). Growth into spiritual maturity requires serious effort on our behalf. But if we are genuine and spiritual maturity is our goal, can we expect to do anything less?
After the death of his wife, C.S. Lewis reflected on his feelings of grief. “No one ever told me,” he wrote, “that grief felt so like fear.”
It is a frightening turn in life when someone we love is no longer present. When a person with whom we shared a significant loving relationship dies, we miss the security that person gave us—whether as spouse, parent, sibling, or friend—and we miss his or her love. We try to cope and go on, but it can be overwhelming. We can feel stuck, rooted in the time and place when everything altered too quickly.
What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him. —1 Corinthians 2:9 When my grandchildren go to the playground, they often don’t want to leave. It used to be that when I would...
Earlier this year Pope Benedict XVI gave a series of weekly addresses on the Doctors of the Church. On March 30 he spoke about Saint Alphonsus, saying he “had a realistically optimistic vision of the resources of good that the Lord gives to every person.” A lot in that statement...
Saint Gerard has become one of the most beloved saints in the world. Visitors at his shrine in Materdomini, Italy, discover a room dedicated to the miracles attributed to Saint Gerard. Thousands upon thousands of letters, photographs, and gifts of thanksgiving from all over the world recognize Saint Gerard’s powerful intercession.
Note: The articles in this six-part series will explore the traits of spiritual maturity described by Mathew Kessler, CSsR, in his reflection “A Reliable Compass” ("From the Publisher," December 2010).
Spiritual Maturity | Part 1 of 6
In the middle of the night, a man named Nicodemus visited Jesus. Nicodemus was a public leader, a Pharisee, whose world was swirling around him. He told Jesus, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God”—a bold claim on the heels of Jesus’ recent actions in the Temple. Jesus had just thrown out the merchants with the message, The Kingdom of God is at hand.
“Just where is your head?” Growing up, I often got lost in my own world instead of focusing on whatever was at hand. I’ve since learned that I take in information primarily through listening. Unless I make an effort, I tend to miss a lot of nonauditory details—especially visuals—and what...
Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.—Matthew 5:44 The weird thing about writing a column like this is the time lag between when I write it and when you read it. As I write this column in May, it has just been announced that Osama bin Laden...
In these days of high unemployment, almost no one feels really safe in his or her job. Along with job insecurity, we can feel the vulnerability of what a job loss might mean to our ability to make our mortgage or car payment and ultimately to have financial control over our lives.
Living them, teaching them It’s important for us to let the seasons breathe in their proper way and to let them shape our lives. Spring shows death giving way to life as buds blossom from what appeared to be dead bushes. Summer heat saps our energy and hurts us if...
Developing Eyes That See Jesus Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.—Luke 24:15b-16 On the Third Sunday of Easter, which this year is also Mother’s Day, we’ll hear the Gospel passage about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. I...
Tending Our Temples
Do you not know that you are the temple of god, and that the spirit of god dwells in you?—1 Cor 3:16
What has faith to do with fitness? We might as well ask what has the soul to do with the body. The answer in both cases is “everything”—at least it should! The Catechism of the Catholic Church (355) tells us that God has united the spiritual and material worlds in humanity’s nature. We are made up of both a soul and a body, and together the two form that unique unity that is a human person. We are not merely souls imprisoned in flesh. The body is not something illusory or evil. When God made humanity and all of material creation, he declared his work “very good” (Gn 1:31). What’s more, God took on human nature in the Incarnation, and we are to be resurrected, as Jesus was, in body and soul.
Threefold Pattern of Christian Living Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”—John 11:44 As we progress through Lent to an unusually late Easter, we hear the story of the raising of Lazarus. Once I was part of a little troupe that proclaimed this gospel at a prayer...
Pope Benedict XVI recognized the mission of the Redemptorists and of Liguori Publications on March 30 in his weekly Wednesday audience. In his recent “catecheses”—short instructions to the faithful—the pope has reflected on the doctors of the Church, one of whom was Saint Alphonsus Liguori. In his audience, the pope examined Alphonsus’ life and legacy.
Don’t leap from beads to bunnies What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.—Romans 7:15 My granddaughter is in second grade and celebrated the sacrament of penance for the first time. Watching her skip to the confessional,...
Part 2 of 2 Many individual faults and failings led to the economic crisis of the past three years, and it’s important to recognize that every personal problem carries consequences for society as a whole. Our ability to order our society depends on our ability to order our lives. To...
The Way of the Cross is one of the oldest and most beautiful devotions of our Catholic Faith. How did it begin, and why do we still practice this ancient custom today?
1-R (Gen 14:19); 2-S (Ex 15:20); 3-E (Gen 8:4); 4-X (Gen 42:19–24); 5-K (Gen 5:24);6-J (1 Kings 19:19); 7-I (Gen 30:21); 8-U (Num 12:3); 9-O (Num 20:25–29); 10-T (Gen 22:2); 11-H (1 Kings 18:20–39); 12-P (Ex 3:1–2); 13-D (Gen 2:19); 14-N (Lev 2:11); 15-C (Jn 2:1–11); 16-B (Acts 18:11); 17-Q...
We cannot help but live and think in the context and concept of time. Our language is laced with it, our days are organized by it. We might even feel harassed or oppressed by it. The clock tells us when to get up, when to go to work, to church, or to some social event. It imposes limits on what we can do. Time steadily continues, tick-tick-tick, never missing a beat. The next day or week or year arrives right on schedule.