Recently our deacon gave his homily on Matthew 24:14-30, the parable of the talents. He presented the talents as the presence and grace of God, given to us in different amounts. At the sign of peace I realized there weren’t…
An App for the Year of Faith
The Year of Faith is, without a doubt, an exciting opportunity. It is, without fail, a chance to great things. It is, I must admit, completely overwhelming to me right now. Imagine my relief, then, to find that the Diocese…
Faith Like a Child
What does the phrase “we must have faith like a child” really mean? How can we mature in faith yet act like a child? The phrase came from one of Christ’s own teachings. Jesus told His disciples, “Amen, I say to you,…
Hear, O Israel
Readings for November 4, 2012: Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time A nice hotel in Jerusalem looks much like a nice hotel in just about any other city in the world but for one thing. At the entrance of each room…
Finding God on YouTube Some More
I hope that at least some of you have gone over to YouTube and had some fun watching and praying with the super abundance of Catholic videos to be found there. I know I am continually discovering new hymns and…
Advice for When You’re in a Rut
This article is a very personal one for me. The Holy Spirit placed it upon my heart to write a letter to a young friend of mine named Kristin who is somewhere on the seas defending our country for the…
Confronting the Mystery of Death
Readings for November 2, 2012: The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) I’ll never forget that bleak January day when my father died. It was very hard to believe in the resurrection as I watched the undertakers carry…
Are we too busy to be catechized?
I keep going back to a small portion of a blog post from Bishop Kicanis: A challenge for the synod fathers is to understand how we might better catechize the people, deepen their knowledge of the faith and their understanding of…
All Saints Day: Holiness Is for Everyone!
Readings for November 1, 2012: Solemnity of All Saints At age 16, I thought that aspiring to holiness was out of the question. If you really wanted to be holy, I thought, you had to be a priest, nun, or…
Can Non-Christians Go to Heaven?
It never fails that in each of my high school religion classes someone asks, “Can a non-Christian go to heaven?” It is an important question that preys on many of us. We have seen people of heroic moral virtue in…