Readings for January 4, 2015: The Epiphany of the Lord Up until now, all has been quite humble. A donkey-ride to a dusty town south of Jerusalem. Hotel rooms all booked up. Giving birth in a stable and laying the…
Epiphany Reflections
The Gift of Epiphany
Tomorrow is the Feast of the Epiphany and the end of the Christmas season is upon us. We have waited and prayed through Advent, preparing ourselves for the coming of our Lord at Christmas. We celebrated the Nativity of our…
Be a Saint
Catholic Answers Live radio show host Patrick Coffin always closes the show with the admonition, “Be a saint…what else is there?” For a long time it just sort of went in one ear and out the other, until one day…
Reflections on Mary as Mother of God
Readings for January 1, 2015: The Octave Day of Christmas, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God The mother of the Messiah has been called many things in the last 2000 years – the Virgin Mary, Our…
Thou Shalt Not Cyberbully
On a recent episode of The Son Rise Morning Show, host Matt Swaim and I looked at the topic of cyberbullying. The conversation was prompted by a Vatican press conference on the topic: Entitled “Stop threats on the internet,” the…
Culture and Evangelization: Working with the People You’ve Got
One of the realities of parish and community life today is that we nearly always have a meeting of multiple cultures. My own parish is home to first-generation European, Asian, Latin-American, Middle Eastern, and African immigrants, born-and-raised Americans from several…
Are You a Prophet?
Throughout our lectionary readings at Mass during this month of December we hear of and from a lot of prophets. Isaiah, Zechariah, Elijah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Malachi, Nathan, and even the New Testament prophets, John the Baptist and Anna. These prophets…
Celebrating the Holy Family
Readings for December 28, 2014: The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph The Passion of the Christ was the most intense movie I’ve ever seen. But there was a moment of comic relief, a flashback to a young Jesus…
Back to Basics
Many of us identify ourselves as Roman Catholics. We go to Church on Sunday. We celebrate the major feasts of the Church and we try to lead healthy and fulfilling Catholic lives, based on the tenants of the faith, in…
11 Easy Ways to Evangelize at Christmas
Christmas is the origin of Christian evangelization in the world because the primary Eucharistic event of our faith is the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is God’s Living Word made flesh in the womb of the…