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The Rosary | The Luminous 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 Luminous 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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The Rosary | The Glorious 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 Glorious 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 Brigid of Ireland

A nun, abbess, and founder of several monasteries, Brigid of Kildare was a woman who defied authority, possessed great strength of will and determination, and whose cheerful giving of food and shelter to any passing traveler laid the foundation for Ireland’s legendary hospitality.

For more about this saint, Ireland's first nun, please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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The Rosary | The Sorrowful 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 Sorrowful 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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Divine Office | In Christ are the first-fruits of the Resurrection

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. Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr, was a disciple of St. Polycarp, who was the disciple of St. John the Apostle. For a reflection, "In Christ are the first-fruits of the Resurrection," please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | St John Bosco

He was born in Piedmont of a peasant family, and he was brought up by his widowed mother. He became a priest, and his particular concern was for the young. He settled in Turin, where, as in so many cities in the 19th century, the industrial revolution was bringing enormous movements of population and consequent social problems, especially for the young men who came there to work. John Bosco devoted himself to the care of the young, first of all by means of evening classes, to which hundreds came, and then by setting up a boarding-house for apprentices, and then workshops for their training and education. Despite many difficulties, caused both by the anti-clerical civil authorities and by the opposition of some senior people within the Church, his enterprise grew, and by 1868 over 800 boys and young men were under his care. To ensure the continuation of his work, he founded a congregation, which he named after St Francis de Sales (a saint for whom he had great admiration), and today the Salesians continue his work all over the world.

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

Peace be with you!

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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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Divine Office | I have always laboured out of love

In today's Office of Readings we encounter a reading from a letter by Saint John Bosco, priest

He was born in Piedmont of a peasant family, and he was brought up by his widowed mother. He became a priest, and his particular concern was for the young. He settled in Turin, where, as in so many cities in the 19th century, the industrial revolution was bringing enormous movements of population and consequent social problems, especially for the young men who came there to work. John Bosco devoted himself to the care of the young, first of all by means of evening classes, to which hundreds came, and then by setting up a boarding-house for apprentices, and then workshops for their training and education. Despite many difficulties, caused both by the anti-clerical civil authorities and by the opposition of some senior people within the Church, his enterprise grew, and by 1868 over 800 boys and young men were under his care. To ensure the continuation of his work, he founded a congregation, which he named after St Francis de Sales (a saint for whom he had great admiration), and today the Salesians continue his work all over the world.

For a reflection, "I have always laboured out of love," please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | St Martina of Rome

St. Martina of Rome (d. 228 A.D.) was born to a noble Roman family and orphaned at a young age. She was zealous in the practice of her faith, remained a virgin, and, in preparation for the Christian persecutions sweeping the city, gave much of her inheritance to the poor. She was martyred under Roman Emperor Alexander Severus. According to the accounts of her martyrdom, she was discovered praying in a church and was arrested by Roman soldiers.

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

Peace be with you!

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Do you reject Satan?

This Sunday following the Epiphany the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord.  It is here we recall in a special way Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan by John the Baptist.  In it we are also reminded of a great mystery revealed.  God the Father reveals Jesus as his "beloved Son" and the Holy Spirit comes down from heaven in the form of a dove. Here, we reject Satan and all his empty promises.

For my reflection, "Do you reject Satan?" please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

Thomas
Disciple of Christ | Son of the Church

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A Catholic New Year Resolution | Be not afraid!

As we embark on a new year, 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, "A Catholic New Year Resolution," please click on the image.

Peace be with you!

Thomas, Disciple of Christ | Son of the Church

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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 baptismal 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!