Is Stewardship Meant for Everyone? 7

by • New Evangelization • Tags: , ,

In the middle of today’s Gospel, St Peter raises his hand to ask our Lord, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” Jesus answers him with another parable to illustrate what a faithful steward is and concludes with these words to underscore his point (in response to St Peter):

“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Our post-modern, consumer culture does not allow us to reflect much on stewardship. When we hear the word “steward” we might think of Stew Leonard’s or this man: More…

Christ’s Transfiguration: Depending on God in Turbulent Times 9

by • Art and Culture, New Evangelization • Tags: , , , , , ,

Blaise Pascal once wrote:

“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.”

The picture above, taken from the bottom portion of Rafael’s Transfiguration,could stand on its own as separate painting. As a composition, it appears to be complete. Yet even to the viewing eye,  it certainly lacks something. By itself, its meaning is not clear. More…

Saints Build Bigger Barns Too 3

by • New Evangelization • Tags: , , , , , , , ,
St John Vianney

St John Vianney

St John Vianney was well known as the humble, austere, potato-eating priest from Ars, who spent hours hearing confessions, by day, and dueling with the devil, by night. Little was it known how much he valued money. More…

Learning to Pray As We Ought 12

by • New Evangelization • Tags: , , , ,
I think we can all relate

I think we can all relate

Father! The first word Jesus teaches us to say when we talk to God.

As St Teresa of Avila observes, prayer is “nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Fundamentally, prayer consists in cultivating our personal relationship with God. From there, everything else follows.

To illustrate his point, in today’s Gospel Jesus uses a parable of a man pestering his neighbor for bread. Imagine if Jesus’ parable were told differently. More…

Biltrix Discovers “puzzling” New Planet and Is Nominated for Most Influential Blogger Award 29

by • Blogger Awards • Tags: , , , ,

We’re calling it Planet Biltrix and we will be offering Space Shuttle tours starting Wednesday, once gravity is installed. More details later.

But first…

Thank you Teresa at Catholibertarian

Thank you Teresa at Catholibertarian

Thank you Teresa at Catholiberarian for nominating Biltrix for the Most Influential Blogger Award!

And now for… More…

Life As a Pilgrimage: What Can We Learn from St James? 5

by • Culture War

Reblogging my own stuff today, because, Hey, He’s my Patron…

Biltrix's avatarBiltrix

July 25, Feast of St James the Apostle

To follow the path God set before you all your life. Imagine only doing that. What would that be like?

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Life as a Pilgrimage: What Have We Learned from St James? Reply

by • Culture War

Biltrix's avatarBiltrix

Calicem salutaris accipiam et nomen Domini invocabo!

Three lessons I’ve learned from Saint James

The Catholic Church venerates saints in a particular way.

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Activism and the Battle of Prayer 1

by • New Evangelization • Tags: , , , ,

Gospel then: In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells Martha that she’s anxious and worried about many things and seems to imply that she’s stressed out because in the midst of her activity she’s forgotten the one important thing.

Gospel now: Everyone is too busy nowadays. When it comes to prayer, we constantly hear the typical objections – No time. Even when we make the time, the prayer itself can be “too busy,” mechanical, and routine. Our prayer reflects our busy lifestyle and vice versa, because we typically live as we pray and pray as we live. To live a better life, we must learn to pray. More…

St Philip Neri and the Lesson of the Better Part 11

by • New Evangelization • Tags: , , , ,

Saints are those who best understand the lesson of the better part. St Phillip Neri understood the lesson well. More…

Anxious and Worried about Many Things 16

by • New Evangelization • Tags: , , , , ,

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5

  • Christ reminded us at the Last Supper, when he told his Apostles that he was the vine and they were the branches, that we should always stay united to him.
  • His encounter with Mary and Martha in this Sunday’s Gospel teaches us the same lesson, a lesson that Martha really needed to learn.

Martha needed to learn that what we do for Christ has to flow out of what we are for him: true and devoted friends. More…