Finally, the “hectic” has faded and all of the hullabaloo from the Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day corridor has settled down. I’ve got to admit, it’s almost a relief. As vacations wrap up we greet co-workers, friends and family who…
How Was It?
Fruits of the Season
Whether the holidays bring us closer to our family or we still keep our distance, they are always our family. Some family members are more loveable than others. We are more loveable to some of them than to others. But…
Catholic Pop Culture of 2015
As I have for the last two years I shall recall any good things from the popular culture that are harmonious or helpful to Catholic culture. There were many things past year and many things coming up in 2016 that…
Epiphany
Readings for Sunday, Jan 3, 2016 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…
Sing A Song Of Joy!
All the ends of the Earth have seen the saving power of God! I don’t know about you, but the refrain of today’s responsorial psalm makes my heart sing for joy. All the ends of the Earth have in fact…
Realigning Your Resolutions for Relationship
Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming Jacqueline Vick to the New Evangelizers blog! As a child, I rang in every year with the same routine. My parents would allow me to stay up until midnight, and as the countdown…
Cracking Open Our Hearts of Stone
Editor’s Note: This is a re-post from 2013 that fits in very well with the Year of Mercy. It wasn’t so long ago that my motto was, “I will forgive, but I’ll never forget.” Sometime later I read, “To forgive,…
Christian Prayer: A Catholic Tradition
Editor’s Note: This is a re-posting from 2014 on prayer which I thought could be useful as we contemplate resolutions for the New Year. At times referred to as the Divine Office, the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Breviary,…
The First “Rocky”
Often my Protestant friends will allege that when Christ declares, “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”1 – that He wasn’t really…
God With Us is Just the Beginning
Many disciples of Jesus through history (including more than a few canonized saints!) have written about periods of spiritual dryness–where prayer seems unusually tough, God seems distant, or in some hard-to-express way, things just aren’t right in one’s life. For…