Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
May-June 2014 As you read this, Fr. Don Willard and I are approaching our first anniversary as the leadership team at Liguori Publications. It often feels like mere weeks since we started. As did our predecessor, Redemptorist Fr. Mat Kessler, I like to keep you updated on what’s happening at...
May/June 2014 ‘There is only one calling, and it is the one Jesus addresses to each of us: “Come and follow me.”’ Every time I sit at the desk in my home office, I glance at the small crucifix lying on it—a simple wooden cross with a small metal corpus....
May/June 2014 Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has reflected on the Virgin Mary’s place in the divine mystery. Recent popes have positioned Mary as one who, by her acceptance of the message of the angel at the annunciation, became the dwelling place of the Incarnate Word. The early...
May/June 2014 When the Communists were trying to take over Spain during the Spanish Civil War, an event caught the attention of many people. The Alcázar, an ancient fortress and training school for Spanish army officers, was under the command of Colonel José Moscardó. When Moscardó was ordered to surrender...
May/Jun 2014 The Holy Spirit is often described as the bond of love that exists between the Father and the Son. The mutual self-donational and self-communicative intimate bond between the Father and the Son is so perfect that perfect love exists between the two. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the...
May-June 2014 Faith grows only when it is stretched. Since the moment Pope Francis first appeared on the balcony at St. Peter’s, he has been engaging the world. He energizes us and at the same time challenges us to actively participate in our faith. Most of us would rather practice...
May/June 2014 "Most, if not all, Catholics at some point find themselves worrying about the future of the Church." When I was in the college seminary, a venerable old Redemptorist came for a visit and said, “I met the seminarians, and I am not impressed.” I heard other comments about...
April 2014 The first time it happened, I was speechless. A mother had come to the rectory. She didn’t like the answer she’d gotten from the parish school’s principal about the importance of timely tuition payments. When I gave her the same answer, she screamed at me. She called me...
April 2014 It’s really hard to say “I’m sorry.” Maybe it’s a pride thing. We want to believe we’re good people, and rightly or wrongly, admitting fault calls that into question. Plus, it leaves us vulnerable. There’s always a chance that the other person won’t accept our apology. We no...
April 2014 Why should we receive the sacrament of reconciliation? Almost every Catholic has to answer this question at some point. Many people don’t understand why Catholics must confess their sins to a priest, and many people believe we need to acknowledge our sins only to God. So how do...
Let me start by acknowledging that I’m a big fan of pop culture. I don’t like everything, but pop culture offers music, movies, art, books, and other works that can be entertaining, energetic, and redeeming. So please note that I speak here as a fan of pop culture. But pop...
March 2014 The human brain works better when we walk. We think more clearly and more creatively. Our memories get better. We learn things more quickly and more completely. Our concentration is stronger. Walking reduces the risk of stroke, heart attack, and other health problems. You may know all this...
March 2014 The word Lent is a reference to the season of spring. When I was a child, every spring my grandmother would open the windows and doors. Fresh air would fill our home, and cleaning would begin. We did a “deep” cleaning that lasted an entire day. Every inch...
March 2014 "Jesus didn’t just sit on a mountainside telling nice stories". A popular Christian blogger once wrote that we need one thing and one thing only: Jesus. At first blush, the catch phrase “just Jesus” makes a lot of sense. Christianity is, after all, a lifelong pursuit of...
March 2014 "The willingness to fall and the ability to fall ‘just right’ are invaluable". You probably don’t remember your first steps. It’s part of the collage of “firsts” that moms and dads want to record and remember forever. We struggle to stand, wobble, tumble, and then start again—and...
March 2014 The power of an icon lies in the sacred presence it invites us into as we pray and read the image before us. (Iconographers use the word written instead of painted because icons are considered another way of writing the gospel message. Therefore, instead of simply looking at...
March 2014 The story is often told of a father and daughter who were part of a traveling circus in Poland during World War II. During their act, the teenage daughter would jump from a high wire—without a net—and her father would catch her. One morning the father had gone...
March 2014 "Christianity isn’t just a theory people speak and write about; it’s a way of life". For centuries, Christians have walked ancient pilgrimage routes to the sacred sites of Christendom. It’s not surprising that the most popular has always been the Holy Land, where pilgrims can walk in the...
February 2014 In her autobiography, The Long Loneliness (HarperOne, 2009), Dorothy Day shares her experience with prayer. She was a single mother living on her own and lacking money, with no clue as to what to do with her life. She went to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception...
February 2014 Iconographers painting the face of Our Mother of Perpetual Help use a fourth-century style to describe what our Blessed Mother looks like. This description circulated throughout the churches of Syria and Greece, where early iconography developed. This distinct form is taken from ancient fragments of a manuscript attributed...