Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Today, the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Maria Goretti, a young girl who gave her life for Christ when she was only twelve years old. Was she ordered to deny Christ? No. Was she commanded by persecutors to spit upon a cross (as often happened in other times, […]
The Gift of Fear of Offending God
Fear is a fundamental gift because it roots us in the truth about God and divine things. These things are terrible: the ways of God, the justice of God, the mercy of God, the silence of God, the holiness of God. They are beyond us, above us. A child has no fear amid terrifying and […]
Holy Communion
“Being for every man the touchstone of faith and love, the Eucharist, like the cross, divided minds as soon as it was announced… When the renegades had withdrawn, Jesus was left alone with the twelve apostles. Then he asked them this question, and it seems that our ears can still hear his supplicating tone: “Do […]
Our Personal Mission from God
“God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission – I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for his purposes, as necessary […]
Persevere in Prayer
“God sees everything; we know this in a very abstract way, but we must discover it on the practical level. Prayer opens us up to this discovery by revealing to us the marvelous transforming power of poverty, which passes from mere lack to dependence on the person we love. The fact that God knows our […]
Jesus’ Promise for Divine Mercy Sunday
“… My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who […]
St. John Chrysostom on Prayer
Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, so our spirit, when it is intent on God, is illumined by his infinite light. I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer […]
St. Thomas on Humility
“If you seek an example of humility, look on the Crucified. Although He was God, He chose to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to suffer death…. The Master chose to die for His servant; the Life of the Angels suffered death for man.” St. Teresa of Avila famously said that the three most important […]
Our Lady of Guadalupe
On December 12th, the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas. Why would the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a poor Indian man in Mexico all the way back in 1531 A.D. be so important that she has been declared the patroness of the Americas? When the […]
The devout life takes time…
I was encouraged to read this excerpt from St. Francis de Sales…there is hope! The soul which rises from out of sin to a devout life has been compared to the dawn, which does not banish darkness suddenly, but by degrees. The slow cure is always the surest, and spiritual maladies, like those of the […]
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