Lent is just around the corner coming up fast, so fast that it’s actually starting today! Of course, I have to ask the million-dollar question… What are you going to give up for Lent? Perhaps you’re one of the many people looking to give up chocolate. Maybe you want to go big and give up … Continue reading Don’t just Give Up and Settle for a Mediocre Lent
I honestly have no idea how or where to start this piece. My brother asked me to share the story of Francis and his influence on the world around us and me personally. By Francis, I mean St. Francis of Assisi, a guy that lived a little over eight hundred years ago. Volumes have been … Continue reading St. Francis of Assisi
Countless people living in today’s mixed up world need good examples of how to live a spiritual life surrounded as we are by confused moral principles, distractions of every kind and overwhelmed by business - some of which is due to our own making. A wonderful Saint and counselor to many people, laity,and religious alike, … Continue reading St. Frances de Sales
Introductions can be rather miserable for someone who tends to be a bit introverted like myself. Meeting people can be awkward. It can be clunky. It can be embarrassing. They can be especially tough when a friend or family member is making the introductions after talking the other person up for some time. There can … Continue reading St. André Bessette
April 2, 2005. My confirmation day. I had been preparing for months. My family was looking forward to it for longer than that. I was raring to go. I remember being excited as I buttoned up my white dress shirt, and slipped on my black dress shoes. I moved downstairs to put on my tie. … Continue reading St. Pope John Paul II
In the years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the story spread by word of mouth and then by written accounts. At first, the story was told by those who were “eyewitnesses from the beginning” (Lk. 1:2, Acts 1:21) primarily the 12 Apostles. As more interest grew among the Greek speaking Jews in Jerusalem, … Continue reading Saint Luke the Evangelist
Catholics are weird. That’s unquestionable. We stand, sit, and kneel at Masses. We pray to dead people. We post crucifixes. As my grandmother would say, “We enjoy our smells and bells.” Perhaps no part of the Catholic faith is stranger, than the veneration of relics. When we hear the word relic, we might think of … Continue reading The Power of a Relic
Happy Feast of All Saints! One question that has been on our minds leading up to this beautiful feast day is how to truly celebrate All Saints’ Day and all that it means for us. For every other Holiday, we already have traditions set out for us that make the season so special and get … Continue reading Celebrating the Feast of All Saints
Are you restless? Do you ever have the feeling that you are just wandering through this life without any aim or goal? Join the club! I think we have all had this sense of aimlessness at one point or another. So, what do we do about it? Once again, we look to the Saints who … Continue reading Are We Settling for Second Best?-A reflection on St. Augustine
(Psst! Make sure to read Part I here!) I hope that St. John’s arguments have helped to clear up some misconceptions regarding the Catholic practice of venerating Icons. But, despite not being idolatry, we can still ask ourselves why Icons matter at all? What role do these merely physical items really have to play in … Continue reading If Icon, You Can: Celebrating the Saints through Holy Images, Part II
Defying Mediocrity 