Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
Prayer is the intimacy of being honestly human and letting God be God. In this intimacy, we gently learn to trust and open our hearts to God. The Creator and the Spirit’s love are the courage, generosity, and compassion that inspired Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. “Not what I will...
A Portal Into Mystery The common and best-known definition of icons is, “They are windows into mystery.” In short, the result of reading and praying icons is a spiritual experience. In the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, the “window” is plentiful redemption. Where is the entrance point for us...
Recently, I jaunted down memory lane. It started when I tore apart my home office in preparation for a new printer. If you’re like me, every project leads to a larger and more complicated undertaking. And I take after my father, which means that cleaning always involves pitching, so in...
The month of January brings to mind new beginnings, a time of firsts. The root of the Latin word for January (Ianuarius) comes from the Latin word for door (ianua). January, the “door” into the new year, is when we often feel compelled to invoke resolutions on how we will...
I’m always amazed by the bizarre (unique?) “special days” that pop up each month. Take December. There’s National Fritters Day on December 2, Wear Brown Shoes Day (4), International Civil Aviation Day (7), Put On Your Own Shoes Day [who does that the rest of the year?] (6), National Roof...
For me, November serves up a heaping portion of gratitude along with a side of gloom. In preparing to gather together with loved ones around a table filled with family favorites, I’m acutely aware of all that I have to be thankful for. With that comes an equal sentient of...
September is a season of change. We anticipate the shifting colors of fall foliage. The September equinox, which occurs this year on September 22, signifies the official onset of fall and shortening days. Autumn is my favorite season—I look forward to the cooling temperatures, the smell of savory spices, and...
It’s the eyes that get me. With the Mona Lisa, it’s the smile. With The Scream, it’s the open mouth. And what pulls me into the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is the look in Mary’s eyes. They hold you in a steady gaze, sad and hopeful, as...
People of faith sometimes disapprove, reflexively, of the stuff that constitutes modern life: movies, TV, the internet, social media, commerce, psychology, pop culture, and more. It’s easy to discount these things. They don’t necessarily grow from the same ground as those things that are the foundation of our Catholic faith....
“Welcome to our parish, Father. Do you have the Mass this morning?” grumbled the woman in the sacristy. “Yes. I’ll be taking your good pastor’s place at all three Masses today,” the replacement priest replied. “Anything I should know?” “Well, Father, we prefer no incense; it sets off the smoke...
It’s hard being an American Catholic in an election year. Humans are tribal, and American political parties—and factions thereof—are sometimes brutally tribal. If you’re not a member of the tribe, you’re looked on with distaste, disdain, contempt, fear, and worse. Such polarization makes it easy to show what tribe you...
In our daily work here at Liguori Publications, we often discuss how to best write about our faith. A big part of writing effectively about faith is recognizing how crucial the internal journey is. That spiritual journey within is our theme for this issue. In addition to Liguorian, Liguori also...
Children know thirty to forty offensive words by the time they enter school, suggests data from psychology professors Timothy Jay and Kristin Janschewitz, though no one knows if kids are aware of what the words mean. Likewise, children may not fully understand all the words they use in prayer. I’ve...
I have a theory about nurturing faith in the family. It goes like this: If a child’s faith is an integral part of his or her everyday life—not just the overtly religious parts—it will become so central to that person’s identity that he or she could never leave the Church because...
I probably learned to count by praying the rosary with my family, mostly because I was calculating how many prayers were left before I could go do something else. The rosary was a thread that ran through the life of my family. One of the last images I have of...
It’s for our children.” “No child left behind.” “Latch-key kids.” “Anchor babies.” “It’s not a choice; it’s a child.” That short list of slogans and terms demonstrates that for decades politicians and political campaigns have focused on a lot more than kissing babies. At times, children are front and center...
As we enter January and February, I can’t help but feel a bit melancholy after the excitement of Christmas. Now I have two more months of bleak weather where I’m likely to be trapped indoors with fighting kids who will start to push me to my limits. This is the perfect...
May all your troubles in the coming year be as short-lived as your New Year’s resolutions,” quipped an anonymous realist. Recall the ambitious list of resolutions often created with good intentions at the beginning of each year—intentions to start walking, stop smoking, floss more, fuss less, lose weight, gain indulgences…you...
The icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is a powerful instrument of evangelization. The message of the Gospel can be found in the heritage of the Marian tradition that is reflected in the liturgical life of the Church. The Mass text for the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual...
The Rosary: A Creative Prayer of Love In his apostolic letter On the Most Holy Rosary, Pope John Paul II writes: “With the rosary, the Christian people sit at the school of Mary and are led to contemplate…the depths of [Christ’s] love.” Unfortunately, a complaint people have about praying the...