Category: Learn & Live the Faith

Is There Still No Room for Him at the Inn?
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Is There Still No Room for Him at the Inn?

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by on Dec 27, 2013 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured, Live in Christ, The Social Order
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At this time of year we frequently see a clash between the secular and the religious. We hear arguments that make many of us cringe while others rub their hands together with joy, pleased with the debate they have again provoked. For instance, we hear from those like Bill O’Reilly that Christmas was declared a […]

Consider Christ
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Consider Christ

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by on Dec 25, 2013 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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With today’s writing I want to speak to an audience I don’t normally speak to.  We “smart” Catholics like to look down on those who don’t do things the way we do.  We look down on those who aren’t there with us every Sunday at Mass.  This is the audience I’d like to speak to. […]

The Deeper Meaning of Christmas
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The Deeper Meaning of Christmas

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by on Dec 24, 2013 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured
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In the days of Caesar Augustus, an era of peace was established in the Mediterranean world after centuries of strife.  But this peace was forged by the proud ambition of emperors and the edge of their armies’ swords. Upon this stage appears a baby acclaimed as king by eastern dignitaries.  Neither Caesar nor Herod will […]

A Mother Expecting: Parallel to Advent
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A Mother Expecting: Parallel to Advent

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by on Dec 23, 2013 in Evangelization, Featured, The Feminine Genius, Women
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My due date was the 26th of December, but by Christmas Eve 1985, I was ready to be done with it. I stretched out on the bed and reluctantly prepared for another night of leg cramps and propped pillows. The Christmas presents were wrapped and ready. The Christmas cookies decorated. The overnight hospital bag was […]

The Advent of Virtue: Week Four
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The Advent of Virtue: Week Four

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by on Dec 22, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ
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This is it — we’ve reached the Fourth Week of Advent and the fourth virtue for this series. We will conclude with a final summary next week, but for now, please take the time to revisit the past three weeks here and enjoy this last reflection. WEEK FOUR (December 22-24): JUSTICE “Justice … consists in […]

Long Lines and Other Christmas Hardships: Gifts from Above?
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Long Lines and Other Christmas Hardships: Gifts from Above?

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by on Dec 21, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, The Catholic Family
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On a recent Saturday I went to the grocery store and took a number at the deli. They were on number 49. My number was 62. It was quite a crowd. Some people came in pairs, browsing in front of the glass displays as they waited for their turn, making it hard for me to […]

The Memoirs of the Apostles: The Epistles of Saints James, Peter, John and Jude
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The Memoirs of the Apostles: The Epistles of Saints James, Peter, John and Jude

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by on Dec 21, 2013 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured
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The seven Catholic Epistles written by Saints James, Peter, John, and Jude form a small but integral portion of the New Testament. These letters have always interested me, ever since I learned about the epistolary genre of Scripture when I was a boy at Catholic school. I wonder how much attention these writings receive, written […]

The Christmas Story's Best Supporting Actor
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The Christmas Story’s Best Supporting Actor

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by on Dec 21, 2013 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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In the drama of the incarnation, Jesus is, of course, the star.  That’s the way it is at every birth.  All eyes are on the baby.  The co-star, though, is definitely mom.  Without her love and labor, the event could not have happened.  In this case, without mom’s faith it couldn’t have happened either.  According […]

The Link Between Catechesis and Liturgy
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The Link Between Catechesis and Liturgy

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by on Dec 20, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, MyChurchParish.com
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From time to time in various debates about the liturgy, the principle of lex orandi lex credendi surfaces.  While the Latin might be a little off putting, the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the concept as follows:  When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles – whence the ancient […]

Raising the Bar in Every Area of Life
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Raising the Bar in Every Area of Life

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by on Dec 20, 2013 in Education, Featured, Live in Christ, Sports
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As a two-time NCAA Division I All-American and National Champion high jumper, Bill Thierfelder had long been accustomed to raising the bar in a literal sense. Now, he does so in a metaphorical way by promoting excellence and virtue in every aspect of life. In fact, each light post at Belmont Abbey College is adorned with a […]

The Wise Virgin
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The Wise Virgin

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by on Dec 19, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, The Feminine Genius, Women
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Who is she that comes forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array? (Song of Solomon 6:10) Does that Scripture really refer to the sweet mother in our crèche? The adoring mother, demurely gazing at the Babe, surrounded by inquisitive shepherds and under […]

The Elderly Who Are Isolated and Abandoned
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The Elderly Who Are Isolated and Abandoned

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by on Dec 19, 2013 in Featured, Those in Need
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As I walked through the lobby of the assisted living facility, I saw him again – the elderly gentleman whom I had greeted three hours earlier. Had he been there all morning? I wondered. I was on patient rounds in the building that day, visiting the residents that staff had identified as needing to be […]

Reflections for Sunday, December 22, 2013
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Reflections for Sunday, December 22, 2013

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by on Dec 18, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Fourth Sunday of Advent Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 24:1-6; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24) View NAB Reading at USCCB.org Sharing With Others the New Life We Have in Christ  She was found with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18) For the first two months of a woman’s pregnancy, […]

Stealing Christ's Job
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Stealing Christ’s Job

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by on Dec 17, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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In the Old Testament, the Azazel goat, translated as scapegoat, was one of two goats chosen for a ceremony on The Day of Atonement. The first goat was sacrifice but a priest would lay hands on the second goat and symbolically transfer all the sin and guilt of the community on to this animal. The […]

Keeping Christ in Christmas - Our Family's Approach
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Keeping Christ in Christmas – Our Family’s Approach

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by on Dec 17, 2013 in Columnists, Featured, Live in Christ
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“Actions speak louder than words.”  “One picture is worth a thousand words.”  “Talk is cheap.”  There are lots of different sayings in the English language that generally express the same thing–words alone don’t do the necessary job of communicating, especially in the case of a personal message.  Like “I love you,” for instance. So human […]

When I Will Concern Myself with the Roman Curia
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When I Will Concern Myself with the Roman Curia

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by on Dec 16, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, Women
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Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s up? Who’s down? Who’s headed up or headed down?  Whose influence is waxing or waning? Ah, Rome.  The Eternal City of intrigue. Ah, Vaticanistas. Of making many speculations there is no end. I will concern myself with the goings on of the Roman Curia when: All the dust is gone […]

Snippets From an Exhortation: The Anti-Modernism of Pope Francis
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Snippets From an Exhortation: The Anti-Modernism of Pope Francis

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by on Dec 16, 2013 in Catechesis, Evangelization, Featured
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The narrative that has been played out since the election of Jorge Bergoglio is one of a Pope ready to overturn all the doctrines of the Church , ordain women priests, change the teaching on marriage and homosexuality, and generally turn the Catholic Church into a minor caucus within the Democratic Party. This narrative was […]

Mary: More Than Just a Character in a Story
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Mary: More Than Just a Character in a Story

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by on Dec 16, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ
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I regularly receive an email called “Daily Heartlight.” It features reflections by a rotating group of people, all of them Protestant and most of them preachers. Most of my spiritual reading is Catholic, but I find these often have good insight about faith and Scripture. As we’re approaching Christmas, several reflections have involved Mary and […]

The Advent of Virtue: Week Three
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The Advent of Virtue: Week Three

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by on Dec 15, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ
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Rejoice! (Gaudete!) We’re already halfway through the season of Advent. If you missed Weeks One and Two, or if you would like to reread them, they can be found here and here. This week, we match the cardinal virtue of temperance to our Advent journey. THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT (December 15-21): TEMPERANCE The Apostle James exhorts us in […]

Gaudete Sunday: Joyfully Waiting
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Gaudete Sunday: Joyfully Waiting

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by on Dec 14, 2013 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Saint James the Just, one of Christianity’s early leaders, counsels readers across the ages to be patient but productive while waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises.  The canonical epistle composed by James (or by his community of disciples) urges his audience—“The Twelve Tribes of the Dispersion”—to be patient and to continue to live holy […]

My Son’s Discernment and His Call for Confession
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My Son’s Discernment and His Call for Confession

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by on Dec 13, 2013 in Featured, MyChurchParish.com, Parenting, Vocations
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The art of daily discernment is a practice and a virtue that many of us tend to forget and at times ignore. By definition the act of discernment from the Latin meaning discernere means one’s ability to distinguish what is happening around them whether positive or negative and to move toward a sound resolution of […]

My Little One, Am I Not Your Mother?
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My Little One, Am I Not Your Mother?

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by on Dec 12, 2013 in Featured, History
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Today the Church celebrates the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a great appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego, which forever changed the course of history in the Americas. Her appearance on Tepeyac Hill, Mexico in 1531 helped convert millions and millions of people in the New World — Native Americans, […]

The Fred Who Tricked Me
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The Fred Who Tricked Me

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by on Dec 12, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, Those in Need
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Well, his name isn’t really Fred, but when I’m telling a real story about real people and maybe the people don’t come out sounding too good, I like to make up a pseudonym.  I just think it’s the decent thing to do.  I’m writing about Fred because he’s an example of really bad, I mean epically […]

Reflections for Sunday, December 15, 2013
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Reflections for Sunday, December 15, 2013

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by on Dec 11, 2013 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Third Sunday of Advent Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 35:1-6,10; Psalm 146:6-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11) View NAB Reading at USCCB.org Allowing the Eucharist to Transform Us   They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. (Isaiah 35:2) Thinking about the Eucharist always brings certain Scripture passages […]