Readings for December 9, 2012: Second Sunday of Advent Faith, hope, and love. St. Paul, in I Corinthians 13:13, say these three are the bottom line. They are called the theological virtues, the qualities that make us most like God….
Advent: A Season of Hope
Giving of Ourselves
I recently read an article entitled “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” written by Peter Singer. In the article, Singer suggests that, if all people were to give as much as morally achievable to the poor (he calls this marginal utility), we could…
Gracious Communication in the Internet Age
Today was going along just fine — productive, happy, and relatively stress free — until a certain email crossed my desk. The name and subject of the email will be withheld so that hopefully I can forget this dialogue ever…
Have a Holly Jolly Advent
It’s beginning to look a lot like Advent, everywhere you go… All I want for Advent is my two front teeth… Advent is a coming, the goose is getting fat… On the first day of Advent my true love gave…
The New Evangelization on tumblr
In a recent conversation among my community of friars, we discussed Pope Benedict’s 2012 address on World Communications day, The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in the Digital World. One of the older friars asked, “Why just the priests? Why not everyone?…
Bring a Friend
One of the ways you can celebrate the Year of Faith is to bring a friend to church. A personal invitation to a neighbor, coworker or family member can be effective—and yet risky. The great calling of the New Evangelization…
Old Style Evangelization Made New Again
“Mom, there’s someone at the door.” It was a Saturday morning and I hadn’t showered yet. I’m pretty sure I had only had one cup of coffee, so all my brain cells weren’t firing yet. That must be why I…
Lessons from Catholic Missions
Today, December 3rd, is the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, the Patron Saint of Missions, so let’s reflect for a moment on how we can apply the success of Catholic missions abroad to our local New Evangelization efforts. Without the…
Advent: The Reason for the Season
Readings for December 2, 2012: First Sunday of Advent “Advent” is simply the Latin word for “coming.” If we can manage to meditate on any “coming” in December besides the comings and goings of Christmas shopping, it would be Christ’s…
Waiting
The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise… Jer. 33:14 By now the turkey is long gone. The exhaustion and excitement of hitting the big sales has dissipated. Many of us don’t remember the score of the big…