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The Rosary | The Joyful Mysteries

The Rosary is one of the most beautiful prayers in the Catholic tradition. It's also one of the most commonly misunderstood, which is often the case for many of our Protestant brothers and sisters. Yet, it doesn't have to be. Put simply, the Rosary is a prayerful meditation on the life of Jesus Christ through the eyes of his mother. I invite you, whether you are Catholic, Protestant, or other, to watch this beautiful video by our friends at Word on Fire.  Today we pray the Joyful Mysteries.  We meditate on five key events in the life of Jesus Christ through the eyes of his mother, the Virgin Mary. For more, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | St Dominic of Silos

Dominic of Silos, O.S.B., was a Spanish monk, to whom the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, where he served as the abbot, is dedicated. He is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church.

For more about this saint, please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Divine Office | The whole world awaits Mary’s reply

In today's Office of Readings we encounter a reading from a sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 - 1153).

Bernard was born near Dijon, in France, in 1090, of a noble family. In 1112 he joined the new monastery at Cîteaux. This had been founded fourteen years before, in a bid to reject the laxity and riches of much of the Benedictine Order of the time (as exemplified by the great monasteries such as Cluny) and to return to a primitive poverty and austerity of life.

Bernard was a man of great holiness and wisdom, and although he was often in very poor health, he was active in many of the great public debates of the time. He strongly opposed the luxurious lives of some of the clergy, and fought against the persecution of the Jews. He was also a prolific writer, and the Liturgy of the Hours uses extracts from many of his sermons.

For a reflection, "The whole world awaits Mary's reply," please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Articles of Faith | The Eucharist: In the Words of the Church Fathers

Today we explore some of the early Church Fathers sayings about the Eucharist.  Many of our mainline Protestant brothers and sisters, who know their history, will agree who these early Church Fathers were.

Catholic brothers and sisters, though not a Holy Day of Obligation, Holy Thursday has rich and historical significance for each of us:  for before departing the Upper Room to begin his Passion, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist, giving thanks to his Father, and commanding his Apostles to love one another, as He has loved them (cf Jn 13:34); and he commanded them, "Do this in memory of me" (Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:19-20; 1 Cor 10:16; Jn 6:53-57, 1 Cor 11:23-30).

For more on this great Mystery of Faith, from the Church Fathers in their own words, please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Articles of Faith | Jesus is the reason to be Catholic

Today, let us resolve to live out our baptismal promises as Catholics. Let this be the year that all Catholics - faithful and fallen away - resolve to be a light in the darkness. Be not afraid!

For my reflection, "Jesus is the reason to be Catholic," please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

Thomas, Disciple of Christ | Son of the Church

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Articles of Faith | The Scandal of the Eucharist

The Catholic belief in The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a hard saying, no doubt.  Yet, it's no harder a saying as was said by Jesus himself as he begins his colloquy with his disciples in the synagogue at Capernaum (see Jn 6:30). This teaching, the Catholic Church defends as the definitive and apostolic origins of the Eucharist, points to the Eucharist (from the Greek for "thanksgiving") as the "source and summit of the Christian life".

For a beautiful summation of the scandal of such a saying - and the recognition of how hard it is to believe - enjoy this brief writing from Fr. Richard Veras of Saint Joseph's Seminary; and for a Catholic answer addressing common Evangelical Fundamentalist challenges to the Catholic understanding of the Real Presence, please also see more of this post by clicking on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Catholics Come Home | Fallen Away Catholics

The story of the Prodigal Son, as we encounter in the Gospel of Luke (15:11-32), is one of the most poignant in all of literature. Sadly, there are many Catholics today who have fallen away from their faith. Each has a story of his own. Yet, by the sacramental power of one's baptism there remains a call unanswered - the yearning of a Father desiring the return of his child to the home of his baptismal birth.

For more about this post, and for a 2 min video expressing the tender mercy that awaits at home in love's embrace, click on the image. Our father in heaven wants us home. He wants you home. If you’ve been away from the Church for one day, or for a lifetime, come home. Your family misses you.

For more, please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | St Anastasius I, pope

Pope St. Anastasius I was a 4th century Bishop of Rome. The writings of the Church Fathers tell us that he was a distinguished Roman Christian known for his charity and holiness. He was elevated to the Chair of St. Peter in 399 A.D., succeeding Pope Siricius, and his pontificate lasted not quite four years.

For more about this saint, please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Divine Office | The operation of the redeeming Incarnation

In today's Office of Readings we encounter a reading from the treatise "Against the Heresies" by St. Irenaeus (ca. 130 - 202 A.D.). Whenever we take up a Bible we touch Irenaeus’s work, for he played a decisive role in fixing the canon of the New Testament. It is easy for people nowadays to think of Scripture – and the New Testament in particular – as the basis of the Church, but harder to remember that it was the Church itself that had to agree, early on, about what was scriptural and what was not. For a reflection, "The operation of the redeeming Incarnation," please click on the image. Peace be with you!