Steven Spielberg’s 1982 motion picture classic E. T. — The Extraterrestrial captured the hearts and minds of moviegoers around the world, with its combination of comedy, drama, and tragedy. The plot of the film described E.T.’s quest to “go … [Read more...]
Benedict XVI on Self-“Excommunication”
January 26, 2020 by Joel R. Gallagher
In his Encyclical Eccelsia De Eucharista, Saint John Paul II reiterated the proclamation of the Second Vatican Council that the celebration of the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”[1. Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia De … [Read more...]
The Power in a Penance
June 28, 2017 by Dr. John Buri
About six or seven years ago, I participated in the sacrament of reconciliation. (By the way, that was not my last time.) At the heart of my confession was the fact that I had recently been responding to my wife with “irritation” or “an … [Read more...]
The Plain Duty of Fasting
March 9, 2017 by Brandon P. Otto
Is not the neglect of this plain duty (I mean fasting, ranked by our Lord with almsgiving and prayer) one general occasion of deadness among Christians? Can anyone willingly neglect it and be guiltless?[1. John Wesley, The Journal of John … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
January 30, 2017 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Question: Would you care to comment on women deaconesses? The question of reinstating them has been raised by a Cardinal. Answer: The question of women deaconesses is a long and complicated one. It has arisen because the Church is clear … [Read more...]
The Pillars of Lent
February 1, 2016 by David Vincent Meconi
The purifying Season of Lent is quickly upon us. We human persons are enabled to do something that lower creatures cannot, and higher creatures need not: to sacrifice and thus to learn to delay partial gratifications for even greater … [Read more...]
Make Your Hearts Firm This Lent
February 1, 2016 by Maria Cintorino
During Lent, the Church calls the faithful to conversion by calling to mind the image of Christ being drawn into the desert by the Spirit. There, for forty days and forty nights, Jesus prays, fasts, and is tempted by the devil. By … [Read more...]
Fasting and the Call to Holiness
October 10, 2013 by John B. Buescher
Our salvation depends wholly on God’s grace, of which we are completely undeserving. But through fasting, as well as through prayer and almsgiving, we can open up space for God’s grace to enter. The Second Vatican Council’s document, … [Read more...]
Prayer as the Wellspring for Positive Transformation
June 12, 2013 by Carolyn Humphreys, OCDS
As long as we are faithful to prayer, we maintain a clarity of vision that promotes higher ideals and elevated standards of conduct. ... The more we pray, the more its fruits nourish our daily lives. John Chrysostom once wrote: “Prayer i … [Read more...]
Lenten Reflections: Fasting
March 4, 2013 by Paul Kokoski
Denying material food ... nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Our Lord, and be nourished by his saving word. Through prayer and fasting, we allow Christ to satisfy our deepest hunger and thirst for God. Christ in the Wilderness … [Read more...]
Mystagogy in the Digital Age
April 4, 2012 by Fr. Michael J. Denk
Mystagogy means to lead those, just initiated into the life of the Church, to an understanding of what it is they are now to become. Every Lent, the Church invites us to immerse ourselves in the three traditional practices of prayer, fa … [Read more...]
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