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Inspires
Being Healed of Passivity
The point of today’s homily is that the Father wants us to become more active as persons, because we tend towards passivity. We want a better life, but we want it in the easiest way possible. Most people want to be in better shape, but without pain. That’s why they sell those ab machines—if we just roll in them, then we’ll lose weight. We want to overcome our sins, but we do the minimum to accomplish it. We all tend towards passivity.
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 18
“Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5)
Mary is our advocate who will intercede for us, even without our asking. So, we too, must be steadfast and faithful in doing whatever Jesus tells us to do all the days of our life.
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 13
Pope Francis: Work is not only a means of earning a living: it is also a place where we express ourselves, feel useful
In his catechesis at the General Audience focusing on Saint Joseph, Pope Francis looks at Joseph's life as a worker, and says the dignity of labour is essential for our human development and our growth in holiness.
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 12
Best Graces of 2021
May I ask: Are people still greeting each other, ‘Happy New Year’? If so, good, because it’s still the new year, there are still opportunities to grow, and we all want to grow.
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 9
Pope Francis: Fathers are not born, but made
At the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis reflects on the fatherhood of St. Joseph, and prays that all children might enjoy the bond of paternal love, even if through the praiseworthy practice of adoption.
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 5
Desire for a Better Year
Happy New Year again, everyone!
I’m going to make a statement, and I’d ask for your honest reaction, either a thumbs up, halfway, or thumbs down. And the statement is this: 2022 is not going to be easier than 2021. How do you feel about that?
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 2
Four Distractions from Intimacy
One spiritual truth that we need to keep in mind is that it’s the good things that distract us from Jesus. For many people, the devil doesn’t tempt us with sinful things because it doesn’t work. So, he tempts priests to think more about his people than Jesus—that’s my problem. He tempts parents to think more about their children than Jesus. He tempts us to think more about COVID than Jesus. What have we been discussing during Christmas get-togethers? Did we talk about important things, such as how we’re doing spiritually, our deep hopes for the next year, where we want to grow, and the best graces of 2021? Or did we talk about COVID, and problems in the world? Did that help? We seem to talk about everything except Jesus, the Person Who loves us.
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 1
Take Courage, Get Up, Leave Our Comfort Zone, and Travel Far and Wide Until We Behold the Newborn King.
When we give food and water, welcome a stranger, cover the naked, care for the sick and neglected, or visit the imprisoned and those who are alone, we offer ourselves as gifts to the infant Christ. These acts of love are our treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh; gifts fit for a king.
Publish date: 2022 - 1 - 2
Pope Francis: A persecuted and courageous migrant
At the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis reflects on the courage of St. Joseph in rescuing Jesus from the massacre of Bethlehem, and urges Christians to live that courage in our everyday lives.
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 29
Parents Know Best
Merry Christmas, everyone! On this Feast of the Holy Family, let’s look at the parenting of Joseph and Mary, and compare it to how parents are portrayed in popular animated films. Deacon Steven Greydanus is a Catholic film critic and a voting member for the Oscars, and he’s written a few articles on the theme of ‘Junior Knows Best’
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 26
Where Humility Will Help Us
Merry Christmas, everyone! We’re going to talk about humility tonight, because Christmas celebrates Jesus’ humility. He didn’t come to earth as a powerful, grown man, but as a baby. Why? To disarm us, to help us let down our guard. Let’s consider three ideas:
• First, where do we need to admit our need for help? Where would we like to grow in the upcoming year?
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 25
A Sword Will Pierce Your Own Soul (Luke 2:35)
Piercing indeed is the pain of not understanding your own child. But that was only one of many piercing pains Mary had to suffer in order to help Jesus accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation.
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 26
Pope Francis: Jesus is the foundation of our joy
At the Wednesday General Audience ahead of Christmas, Pope Francis reflects on the birth of Jesus, and says the event is a reminder that we are loved first by God without any merit of our own.
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 22
Strengthening Weak Points
I want to tell you a story about Bryan. In his mid-20s, he and his girlfriend were far from God and sexually active. Bryan had such a strong addiction to pornography that he was no longer able to be physically intimate, and so he found a new girlfriend. (He said that he had a fourth-degree black belt in selfishness.) But his intimacy problems continued. Eventually, he and his former girlfriend got back together and decided to marry in the Church because she was Catholic.
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 19
The Mystery of Mary is the Mystery of our Christian Faith
No one mystery of the Christina Faith exists in isolation from one another
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 19
Pope Francis: Joseph’s silence is not muteness
In his catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis reflects on St Joseph’s silence in the Gospel.
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 15
Console Others, Not Yourself
For years now, when I hear Confessions, one of the penances I sometimes give is this: “I want you to thank Jesus for three things in your life that are going well… and you have to do it with a smile.” And the person usually laughs. Why? Because it helps when we smile; and sometimes we have to choose to do it in order to cheer us up; and this penance shows how a little action can help, right?
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 12
Worry not, “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5)
“Rejoice in the Lord always”; pray at all times to seek Christ’s help and consolation (Philippians 4:4).
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 12
Pope Francis: Let us not lose heart, no one who asked for Mary’s help has ever been abandoned!
(Vatican News) Pope Francis addressed the faithful on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and urged them to be like Mary in her humility, and therefore closeness to God. Addressing the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Angelus on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed […]
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 9
Patience in Desolation
Our opening question is: When will the darkness pass? In the book Discernment of Spirits in Marriage, which we’re using as an aid, Anne sees a pattern: When we’re in dark times, it feels like it’s “going to continue, all day, all week, maybe even forever if the darkness is heavy enough. Then you find that it doesn’t. It ends sooner, usually a lot sooner than the darkness wants you to believe” (80-81).
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 5
Advent is not only a time of promises and anticipation, but also a homecoming.
Make straight our crooked ways; recognize the blindspots of our lives and fill our spiritual valley with compassion and kindness; level our mountain of pride and self-centeredness; and in the silence of our hearts, heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 5
Pope Francis: When God intervened “unexpectedly” in their lives
Continuing his catechesis on St Joseph, Pope Francis offered engaged couples a reflection on moving beyond the ‘enchantment’ that comes with falling in love, toward a mature love that can stand the test of time.
Publish date: 2021 - 12 - 1
Recognizing and Deflecting Desolation
Mark wrote in his journal that things are a mess. This past month for him has been dark, and he’s keeping his wife at a distance. He’s not praying as before, and has skipped his prayer meetings with other men for the past two weeks. Today has also been tiring. He hasn’t stopped from the moment he left home. As an optometrist, he had to tell two patients that they would likely lose their sight, and one got very angry with him, saying that she would find another doctor. Because of all this, Mark left the family dinner as soon as he decently could (Fr. Timothy Gallagher, Discernment of Spirits in Marriage, 45-47).
Publish date: 2021 - 11 - 28
