Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. When I ask the question, “What is the Immaculate Conception?” to groups of children, teens, and even adults the first answer is without fail, “When Mary conceived Jesus.” The crestfallen look…
The Immaculate Conception
First the Fast, Then the Feast
Readings for December 8, 2013: Second Sunday of Advent Christmas cards speak about it. Christmas carols sing about it. Even the angels at Bethlehem proclaimed it. “Peace on earth.” “The lion shall lie down with the lamb.” (Is 11). “Justice…
Receiving the Gift of Advent
Thanks to a quirk in the calendar, the season of Advent is now well underway. Hopefully we’ve have not broken our promises to ourselves to spend less time stressing about all the things we have to do, and spent more…
Peter and the Papacy
Recently we saw stories in the news that the relics of St. Peter would be on display. Coincidentally (if you believe in that sort of thing) the other day in Bible study we were reading Matthew 10. In this chapter,…
CARA Study Shows Me Why Social Media Matters
Carol Zimmermann of Catholic News Service recently wrote a great article which gave an overview of this year’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate report to Catholic press on the current state of communications efforts in the Catholic Church: Most…
Keeping Christ in Christmas–Our Family’s Approach
“Actions speak louder than words.” “One picture is worth a thousand words.” “Talk is cheap.” There are lots of different sayings in the English language that generally express the same thing–words alone don’t do the necessary job of communicating, especially…
The ART of Giving
This week I would like to draw some attention to very special cause. Jen at CatholicInspired.com has hooked up with Cross Catholic Outreach to create The ART of Giving. In brief this is an on-line art show to help empower kids…
Testimony of a Grateful Grandmother
Have you ever been grateful for something negative that happened to you? Well, maybe not while it’s happening. A friend of mine is a classic doting grandmother. Nothing fills her with joy more than a visit from her little grandson,…
A “Missionary Option” That’s No So Optional
Unless you managed to spend the Thanksgiving holiday away from all modern forms of communication (or so immersed in friends, family, and cooking that you didn’t notice), you probably heard that Pope Francis released a new Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelli Gaudium…
Advent: The Real Meaning of Christmas Lights
Readings for December 1, 2013: First Sunday of Advent As fall moves onward towards winter we have places to go, things to do, people to meet. Yet as we go about our business, we notice the days are getting shorter. …