Liguorian Magazine

Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.

Category: Archives

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Archives

Faithful Fitness

 fitness_lady.jpgTending 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.

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Religion in a Culture of Science, Skepticism, and Do-It-Yourself Spirituality

For many people, religion has become like an old grandfather tucked away in a senior citizen’s home. People stop by to see him when they are in town, mostly on Christmas and Easter, and listen to him ramble on about the good old days, but most of what he says does not seem relevant to their modern lives. They kindly pat him on the head before leaving, then quickly forget what he said as they seek their way through this modern world that has passed him by. And if religion in general is out of date, for them, Catholicism is surely irrelevant. Although some religions change and adapt to the world, the Catholic Church with all its traditions is hopelessly stuck in the past.

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“My Pal Big Al”: The Unique Ministry of Fr. Joe Kempf

Fr. Joe and big AlThe big furry blue creature with a gray face and two prominent tusk-like teeth seems to be an unlikely sidekick to a parish priest who was awarded the prestigious Great Preacher Award by Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2004. But most of the time, wherever Father Joe Kempf preaches, his “ole buddy” Big Al goes too.

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A Leap of Faith: Midlife Career Changes

“I loved my job and had no intention of leaving, but when I saw that ad, I knew it was the job I was meant to have,” Tom Gorski prefaced his remarks about his decision to embark on a second career. Seven years ago at the age of fifty-five, Gorski—who during his thirty years at TWA had moved from the position of ticket agent in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to that of vice president of airport operations in the United States—took a pay cut to become vice president of Catholic Charities in St. Louis, Missouri.