Category: Catholic Church

Living A Life Of Virtue

Last night, my men’s group began to study ways we can live virtuously. As a society, we don’t talk much about the virtues, which are basically the skills needed to live a moral life.

In our culture today, we do a lot more talking about values than we do virtues. Although values can be a good thing, they are subjective and don’t necessarily help us over the long haul. Our understanding of virtue goes all the way back to Plato and Aristotle, with further development in the New Testament.

Just what is a Virtue? A good definition is: an habitual and firm disposition to do the good, which allows a person not only to do good acts, but to give the best of him/herself. Being virtuous means that you should do good with ease, promptly, consistently and with joy. Sounds like a tall order…

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Blessed John Paul II

For the past ten years, Roman Catholics have been celebrating the 2nd Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a day to be reminded of the infinite mercy of God, and the grace available to all those who turn to Him and accept that mercy.

This Divine Mercy Sunday, a special event has just occurred in Rome. Pope John Paul II has been beatified, which is the Church’s official recognition of his saintly life, and another step towards being declared a saint.

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Alleluia

The Resurrection by Piero della Francesca, 1460

A Very Blessed Easter To You And Yours

Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. (Luke 24:5-6)

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Pope John Paul II

It’s hard to believe six years have gone by since Pope John Paul II went home to the Father’s house. It is hard to imagine that there will ever be another pope like him. His legacy will be felt and studied for centuries. In the weeks to come, he’ll be recognized for his saintly qualities and his remarkable life. For today, I thought this little meditation from the band U2 would be a nice way to remember him.

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Gabriel’s Message

I broke the news to a group of college students last night. Nine months from today, we’ll be celebrating Christmas. That’s right. Today’s the Feast of the Annunciation, the moment humanity learned of Emmanuel, God with us.

You may recall that the image above, the Cortona Annunciation by Fra Angelico is one of my all time favorites. I’ve had the chance to see it several times in the Museo Diocesano, and each and every time, the vibrancy and beauty of this great artist’s masterpiece leaves me stunned.

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The Lenten Journey

The word Lent is from the Anglo-Saxon lencten (spring). This penitential season of six Sundays and forty weekdays prepares us for the great feast of Easter, and it begins today.

Historically, Lent was the retreat-like final preparation for those who would be initiated into the Church at Easter. Many others began using the time for repentance and renewal.

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Praying With The Holy Spirit

Post author By seedthrower1
Post date 03/07/2011
1 Comment on Praying With The Holy Spirit

Thanks for all the prayers for our Confirmation retreat. I’m happy to say it went off without a hitch, and when you put on such an event that involves hundreds of people, that’s no small feat. I promise you that the Holy Spirit was with us each step of the way.

So often I find myself ramping up my prayers to the Holy Spirit whenever I focus on something really big, like a retreat or a major decision. When it comes to the little things in life, however, I think I try and go it alone more often than not. Now, I’m not talking about asking the Holy Spirit to help me decide what I’m going to have for breakfast. Rather, I’m talking about inviting God into normal rhythms of life.

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The Holy Spirit

We have about two hundred teens going on their Confirmation retreat this weekend. It takes literally hundreds of hours to prepare for this annual event, and I’ll be the first to admit it’s pretty exhausting. I’ll also be the first to say that it’s also exciting to watch the Holy Spirit at work.

I think most of us know that the Holy Spirit is a part of God. Through Scripture, we understand that the Holy Spirit was there in the beginning as a mighty wind (Gen. 1:1), and will be there at the end as life-giving water (Rev. 22:17). But sometimes, in the midst of our daily living, we miss the presence of the Holy Spirit. What can we do to change that?

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President’s Day

Happy President’s Day. The observance commemorates the 22 February 1732 birth of the “Father of the Country,” George Washington. While Washington’s birthday has been marked as a national holiday since at least 1796 — the final year of his presidency — subsequent years saw Abraham Lincoln’s 12 February birthday added to the calendar as a separate observance.

I remember as a kid that one of the great things about February were the almost back to back three-day weekends we enjoyed. Sadly, the Lincoln holiday was suppressed about twenty years ago, but Washington’s anniversary widely became dubbed “President’s Day” in the years since.

In 1791, Archbishop John Carroll, the father of American Catholicism and our nation’s first Catholic Bishop, wrote and delivered his famous “Prayer for the Nation.” It is a reminder of our need to pray for our leaders, and for our country.

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Living the Gospel

When you really think about it, you can’t truly live the Gospel without suffering some pain. Last week, I was giving some students from the United Church of Christ a tour of our church. They asked about the stations of the cross, and why we had them displayed all around. It was a good question.

Jesus said that if we wanted to be his disciple, we were going to have to pick up our cross and follow him. The stations of the cross remind us that to be a Christian means that we’re going to experience some suffering along the way.