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…
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…
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…
Evangelizing Our Kids
One day, the Pharisees tested Jesus with an important question – of all 613 of the Bible’s laws, which is most important? The Lord quickly shot back a response: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,…
Big Fish / Little Fish
In the scheme of things it can sometimes be too easy to become unaware of our proper place in the world. We focus on our own career, family, hobbies, and personal responsibilities. That’s enough to draw anyone’s full time attention,…
Just Talk to Me
Just a short walk from my home is a cozy cafe that I visit daily. Many evenings I can be found sipping a great Fair Trade blend of coffee, nibbling on one of their delightful sweets, and engrossed in a…
A How-To Guide for Adoration with Small Children
As part of my daughter’s American Heritage Girls troop service hours, each family is asked to volunteer at the 24 hour Adoration Chapel. 1 hour. 60 minutes. Doesn’t seem like a lot of time to give, but with small children…
Other People’s Vocations
“I don’t love it!” That’s what our then-four-year-old used to say whenever she didn’t care for something. Time to turn off the TV? Clean-up? Go to bed? I don’t love it. When I tell people I enjoy teaching religious education,…
Knowing the Person of Jesus
Being that the World Synod of Bishops recently covered the theme of the New Evangelization, I had been mining for quotes, ideas, and themes to engage here. This quote, however, stopped me: The Gospel that Jesus Christ came to reveal…
Two Callings: One God
Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the…