Feb122013

THE POPE IS RESIGNING?

By My Year of Faith on February 12, 2013 in Bishop Kevin Rhoades

We've all asked that question these past 24 hours, maybe a little incredulously. How does the pope resign? Why is he resigning? What happens now? Who will be the next pope? When? While there have been lots of news stories, articles,...

Feb112013

JOY REVEALED

By Emily Barnes on February 11, 2013 in Feasts and the Liturgical Calendar

I vividly remember my first complete thought as I sat down on the bed and cried in my hotel room that first night: “I don't belong here. I want to go home.” Our group had just arrived in Lourdes, France for the first leg of our World...

Feb102013

CELEBRATING LENT AS A FAMILY

By Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle on February 10, 2013 in Faith at Home

Our Church wisely gifts the faithful with a Liturgical calendar comprised of many seasons of grace in which to journey closer to heaven. Lent is a distinctive journey of spiritual growth. Pope Benedict XVI has said, “It means accompanying Jesus...

Feb092013

WE ARE BEING SAVED

By Deacon Jerry Kohrman on February 09, 2013 in Sunday Readings

This weekend we are invited to observe St. Paul as he visits the Corinthians. Paul, in his customary zeal, does whatever he can to make the point that what he is saying about Jesus is the Gospel truth. He wants to emphasize the point that the...

Feb082013

FORTUNATE ONE

By My Year of Faith on February 08, 2013 in Saints

Imagine being so scared that you forget your own name. That was the reality for one Sudanese girl, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of seven. When she could not give them her own name, they named her Bakhita, which means...

Feb072013

A WHO’S WHO OF LENTEN SACRIFICES

By My Year of Faith on February 07, 2013 in The Faith in Action

It's official. We've got less than a week to decide what to give up for Lent. For some of us (who may or may not have just finally decided what our New Year's Resolution will be) we approach this coming week with a bit of anxiety and...

Feb062013

PAYING A DEBT OF JUSTICE: ALMSGIVING

By My Year of Faith on February 06, 2013 in Catechism

Today, we examine the third Lenten practice: Almsgiving: CCC 2462 Giving alms to the poor is a witness to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God. CCC 2445 Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of...

Feb052013

A FASTING BUFFET

By My Year of Faith on February 05, 2013 in Prayer and Devotion

Have you ever considered that fasting is one of the sweetest, most delicious of the spiritual foods that nourish our souls? Fasting allows us to unite ourselves intimately to Jesus on the Cross, and it helps us to really long – no, hunger! –...

Feb042013

A SURGE OF THE HEART

By Catechism of the Catholic Church on February 04, 2013 in Catechism

Editor's Note: The entire 4th section of the Catechism focuses on prayer. We encourage readers to read more than we have highlighted here. 2558 ”Great is the mystery of the faith!” The Church professes this mystery in the...

Feb032013

PRAY 60

By Fr. Andrew Budzinski on February 03, 2013 in Prayer and Devotion

It goes without saying that today is a big day for football fans as the Super Bowl is getting ready to kick off. And what’s just as fun as the game itself are the commercials. The Super Bowl may be the only television event where the...

Feb022013

PRESENTATION AND CONSECRATION – BIG REASONS TO CELEB...

By My Year of Faith on February 02, 2013 in Feasts and the Liturgical Calendar

Today is the Feast of the Presentation! It's also the World Day for Consecrated Life! Two big causes for celebration in the Church today. On this day in 1997 Blessed John Paul II initiated the first ever World Day of Consecrated Life. In...

Feb012013

THE LIGHT FOR REVELATION TO THE GENTILES

By From the Writings of Pope Benedict XVI on February 01, 2013 in From the Writings of the Pope

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus and is also the World Day for Consecrated Life. Tomorrow on the blog we’ll have a web-challenge, so make sure you come back to participate in thanking all the men and women religious who...

Jan312013

IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE

By Fr. Tom Shoemaker on January 31, 2013 in Sunday Readings

Chapter 13 of First Corinthians, St. Paul's famous chapter on love, is surely one of the most famous chapters in all of the Bible. These words are read at most weddings. These words are found in greeting cards and on coffee mugs. These...

Jan302013

THE CHRIST EXALTED

By Catechism of the Catholic Church on January 30, 2013 in Catechism

659 “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.”[1] Christ’s body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural...

Jan292013

THE GOAL IS HEAVEN

By My Year of Faith on January 29, 2013 in The Faith in Action

If you aren't a Notre Dame fan, missed the National Championship game, or got up to get a snack during the commercial break, you may have missed this: This commercial is the latest of many from Catholics Come Home, an apostolate started by...

Jan282013

FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS!

By Brother Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP on January 28, 2013 in Saints

Why didn't Jesus Christ write a book? Of course, we Christians believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, but Jesus never Himself put pen to paper. I can imagine the possible titles of His works now: How to Win Converts and Influence...

Jan272013

YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM HE

By Catechism of the Catholic Church on January 27, 2013 in Catechism

“Then the angel said to the women in reply, ‘Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’” Matthew...

Jan262013

MR. POTATO HEAD THEOLOGY

By Nate Proulx on January 26, 2013 in Sunday Readings

I have a cartoon brain, and so whenever I've read this passage from First Corinthians, this is what has always come to mind. Doesn't it for everyone? My favorite part about this reading is the sheer absurdity that St. Paul presents....

Jan252013

PRAYING FOR A NEW DAMASCUS: THE MARCH FOR LIFE

By My Year of Faith on January 25, 2013 in The Faith in Action

Today is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. And it is no small grace that today is also the day when more than 500,000 people will gather in Washington, DC for the annual March for Life. We commemorate St. Paul’s conversion because it...

Jan242013

THE DEAD WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD

By Catechism of the Catholic Church on January 24, 2013 in Catechism

632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was “raised from the dead” presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.[1] This was the first meaning given in the apostolic...

Jan232013

EMBRACING A CALL

By My Year of Faith on January 23, 2013 in Saints

Did you know that Pope Benedict XVI canonized seven new saints on October 21, 2012? During his homily he introduced each new saint, one by one. Of the American saint we celebrate today, he said: “I now turn to Marianne Cope, born in 1838...

Jan222013

40 YEARS WE’VE WANDERED

By Mary Glowaski on January 22, 2013 in The Faith in Action

It has been 40 years since the passage of Roe v Wade. 40 years can seem a very long time. That’s 40 years of passionate, angry, despairing – at times even hateful – language and actions in response to the destruction and pain of...

Jan212013

THE FAITH OF REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

By Deacon Mel Tardy on January 21, 2013 in The Faith in Action

I had never heard such a piercing scream from my mother as this. Terrified, I ran towards the kitchen as fast as my 4 year old legs could carry me. My mother sobbed loudly as if seriously injured, with a crackling frying pan on one side and...

Jan202013

IN JUSTICE AND MERCY

By My Year of Faith on January 20, 2013 in Prayer and Devotion

Tomorrow is the Presidential Inauguration. Please join us in praying, today and tomorrow, this beautiful prayer for government, written in 1791 by Archbishop John Carroll, SJ. He asked that it be prayed all throughout his diocese. And today,...

Jan192013

THE WINE OF GRACE AND JOY

By Fr. Jacob Meyer on January 19, 2013 in Sunday Readings

If there is one area in our culture where Catholics have a reputation, it is for our weddings. The first reaction to a Catholic wedding is normally, “wow this is LONG!” That is soon followed by, “Wow! You Catholics know how to throw a...