Are you letting the Holy Spirit move you? Because when He does you better buckle up for the ride! The Spirit never moves us backwards, only forwards toward God, grace, and virtue. He sends out on mission to tell the world about God, and more importantly, to show God to the world.
“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” This is the mission that Jesus leaves with the apostles before He ascends into heaven. But it wasn’t just for them; this is the mission of the whole Church. That means all of us. Ask God for the grace you need to fulfill this mission, and that the gifts of Holy Spirit be unleashed in you.
“You can’t pick and choose the people you love . . . especially if they’re in your family.” But besides our families, we are called to love everyone as Christ loved us. How did He love us? He sacrificed His life. That means love can’t be all about warm fuzzies; it’s about self-sacrifice.
What fruit does your life bear? You can’t just say that you love God, and that you’re a Christian; you have to follow through with your actions and prove it. This only becomes possible when you’re connected to God, the true vine that gives life.
The readings this Sunday are about how Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. Jesus makes a voluntary sacrifice for us; He wasn’t forced to give up His life for our souls. Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: Acts 4:8-12; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29; 1 Jn 3:1-2; Jn 10:11-18
What does Karate Kid teach us about God? Find out in this podcast as well as how our past, present, and future all matter to God. Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Ps 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9; 1 Jn 2:1-5a; Lk 24:35-48
Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter / Divine Mercy Sunday: Acts 2:42-47; Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Pt 1:3-9; Jn 20:19-31
Catholics believe in indulgences because ultimately we know we’re all sinners and need God’s mercy. When a person commits a sin, there are two kinds of punishments that they have to deal with as a result of that sin. The first is called “eternal punishment” which means the sinner can’t enter heaven because of a grave sin that is not repented from. Through Christ’s sacrifice we don’t have to suffer eternal punishment if we repent. The second kind of punishment is called “temporal punishment” and every sin we commit carries a temporal punishment with it.
Joanna and I became friends in college, when I was a junior and she was a freshman. Her family had converted to Catholicism when she was a teenager and she struggled to embrace their new beliefs. I was a theology major who loved my Catholic faith and a good discussion. Joanna would often knock on my door, offer me a pudding snack, and spend hours grilling me about the Church. Not Just a Symbol Joanna’s biggest issue with the Catholic Church was the Eucharist. Having been raised Episcopalian, she had celebrated the Lord’s Supper as a “symbol” since her childhood. [...]
Editor’s Note: I never guessed 40 days could fly by so fast! But here we are in Holy Week and I’m not so sure my heart is prepared to fully enter into the Triduum – the most epic time of year for us as Catholics. What about you? Are you prepared? If you feel like you need a recap of this journey through the desert we just took, listen to Fr. Mike Schmitz’s homilies from the last couple weeks. If that sounds boring to you – you’ve never heard this holy man preach! Just press play . . . you [...]
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord: Mk 11:1-10; Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15:471
This Sunday’s readings reveal to us the beauty of the New Covenant that Jesus made with us on the cross. We no longer only know Him from afar, but Jesus desires to dwell within us in the Eucharist. Fifth Sunday of Lent: Jer 31:31-34; Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33
This Sunday it’s all about the “why.” Find out why God sent his Son, why you should care, and why it matters this Lent. Fourth Sunday of Lent: 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21
My second favorite day is Sunday. Growing up, Sundays were lazy, watch TV or movies all day in my PJs, don’t brush my teeth until 3:30 pm kind of days. Then after Mass and Life Night, I started my two hours of homework because the rest of day I was clearly too wrapped up in more important things like watching Men in Black three times in a row. I always thought, “Surely this is what God meant when he gave us the 3rd Commandment – Laziness, bad hygiene, and procrastination.”
I stepped into the confessional and kneeled down at the kneeler. The priest opened the partition and I froze. I could not for the life of me remember what to say to the priest. Luckily he sensed my nervousness and walked me through the whole thing.
Because I know that sometimes we forget what to say I’ve provided a basic structure of what you should say at the beginning of your confession. I hope it helps!
There’s a hole in the side of my parents bathtub and it’s all my fault.
I was 11 years old. We had only lived in our newly built house for 2 years. On this particular evening my siblings and I were getting ready to go to a square dance. Yes, I just said square dance. Leave me alone. It was cool.
