Father Jim Costigan, CPM Some things are easy to forgive. A fan mistakes you for the reigning Miss America, you correct him, then he graciously apologizes — that’s pretty easy to forgive. But then there’s the friend who didn’t keep your secret, the woman who stole your man, the date who raped you, the man […]
Making a great Easter season
The season of Easter. What do we think about it? We all know that Lent is celebrated [or do most of us use that word “celebrate” when it comes to Lent?] for forty days – a full season of special attention to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. And Easter comes, and then what? One of my […]
Making a Holy Lent
How do we make a holy Lent? Some of the saints teach that when we pray, we need to add fasting and almsgiving to our prayer. Think of prayer as the soil of our soul’s garden. If something is going to grow in the garden, it also needs rain. And even with rain, it still […]
Epiphany and Witnessing to Christ Jesus
The Church has just celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of the Christ Child to the Magi, the wise men from the East. This holy feast reminds us that Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, not to save one nation or for one period of time, but to save all peoples of […]
Longing for Heaven
St. Augustine of Hippo (one of the patrons of the Confraternity) says in one of his works: “I implore you to love with me and, by believing, to run with me; let us long for our heavenly country, let us sigh for our heavenly home, let us truly feel that here we are strangers.” As […]
Retreats and Silence
For those who might be interested, I was interviewed on Relevant Radio on Tuesday, October 29th on the subject of retreats and parish missions — why is it important for all of us to try to make a retreat or attend a parish mission from time-to-time. Here is a link to that interview: http://relevantradio.streamguys.us/IL%20Archive/IL20131029.mp3 And […]
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Our Lord is not speaking of those who suffer material poverty, but of those who are humble in heart and soul. And it isn’t enough that we are humble – St. John Chrysostom […]
Prayer, Virtue and Perseverance
“Ask, and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” “We should consider most seriously and attentively what these words of the Lord may mean for us, for they warn that not the idle and feckless but those who ask, seek, and knock will receive, find, […]
In the Image of God
Scripture tells us that Our Lord Jesus Christ is “the image of the invisible God,” and that each of us is created in the image and likeness of God. So we can see our soul as an image of Christ, who is the Image, or Word, the perfect expression of the Father. The early Christian […]
Importance of the daily examination of conscience
In the “Office of Readings” of the Liturgy of the Hours, there are a couple readings from an obscure Greek abbot by the name of St. Dorotheus. He was the founding abbot of a monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity, who lived in the 11th century. I would like to share a couple thoughts from […]