The Catholic Church teaches the doctrine of transubstantiation, namely, that in the Eucharist, the communion wafer and the altar wine are transformed and really become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Have you ever met anyone who has found…
The Eucharist: The Body of Christ?
A Question of Intimacy
“Remain in me, as I remain in you.” John 15:4 Okay. I know that I over-think things, sometimes to an obnoxious degree, but I just couldn’t understand the morning Gospel. It might have been the word “in”. I could see…
Jesus is the Person Behind the Words that Christians Use
We Christians sometimes use special words to talk about what we believe. We talk about faith, grace, and works, and love, and hope too. These are all things that we need, things related to salvation. For instance, in hope we…
Introducing “Living as Missionary Disciples”
Have you ever wanted a CliffNotes version of doing evangelization in parish life? Look no further. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recently released the leadership resource Living as Missionary Disciples, a rich, yet concise, guide to the theological foundations…
The Bible: the Good Books
When you go to your shelf or nightstand to read the Bible, what do you grab? (You do grab something, right?) You take down one bound volume — a book. If you read Sacred Scripture on your tablet or computer,…
The Art of Praying
In his book, The Art of Praying, Romano Guardini explains in wonderful detail how to go about the act of prayer, and the vital importance of understanding all of its aspects, from preparation of time, place and self, to the…
Diet
We have survived Easter and the fifty days. We ease back into the routine of life and the down time of summer, school’s out. The liturgical year slips into its benign period and for a while anyway spiritual demands are not…
A New Catholic Sister
As a convert, close spiritual relationships with my Catholic sisters-in-the-Lord are among God’s most treasured and healing gifts. One Catholic sister-in-the-Lord, is dying of brain cancer. She’s the Grateful-for-Adversity Grandmother I wrote about last year. I went to visit her…
Why Do We Have to Die?
“Why do we have to die?” This is a question that many of us wrestle with for as long as we’ve understood the concept of death. It is that thing that so many of us fear above all things. But…
Pentecost: The Difference that the Spirit Makes
As a teen, I thought the clergy were supposed to do everything. We laity were just called to pray, pay, and obey. Oh yes, and keep the commandments, of course. The original 10 seemed overwhelming enough. Then I discovered the…