By Fr Jason Smith
Fisherman’s Ring
With Pope Benedict being on everyone’s mind and heart, and today being the feast of the Chair of St Peter, I thought today would be the perfect opportunity to tell my favorite personal encounter with Pope Benedict.
Back in April of 2006, while still a seminarian, I had the privilege of serving at the Easter Vigil, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI. More…
At the end of every pontificate, there is always a lot of buzz and speculation surrounding the issue of the next Pope.
Who will he be? Will he let priests start marrying, allow women to be priests, or change the Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception? More…
Who are they? What are they trying to do and Why? In the following video, these Brothers in Black –(former students of mine)– tell their story.
Things become old much too quickly.
Imagine my delight, then, when last Friday I met someone who told me his Grandmother was present on October 13, 1917 at Fatima; she was personally present at the moment when the sun danced and fell out of the sky.
Suddenly Fatima jumped out of history like the sun did that day and became relevant and modern to me. More…
Henry has advanced dementia. He sits all day, unresponsive, slumped over in his wheelchair in the nursing home. He does not even recognize his own daughter when she talks to him.
When they place the earphones on his head and play some of his favorite music from his iPod, something beautiful happens. His eyes grow wide with excitement. Henry comes alive!
I’ve often thought of this season as “The Joyful Season of Lent.”
After all, Lent even comes with a built in happy day, Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. But we don’t have to wait a month before we can enjoy some happiness during Lent. God made us to be happy NOW and in eternity. More…
Mmm… Not really. More on that later.
Lent is a good time to go to confession. So…. How long’s it been since you’ve been to confession?
Oh wait! I’m not supposed to ask that question. Never mind. Here, watch this video… More…
A good friend of mine asked me to write about what it’s like to hear confessions.
The truth is, a priest can’t say much about the content he hears in confession, but in nearly every confession I have heard, I have said the following:
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One Ash Wednesday, my dad announced to my brother and I that for Lent he would be fasting on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays. He wondered if we would like to join him.
Aaron and I looked at each other thinking he had flipped his lid. Aaron said he’d stick to giving up arguing; I said I’d continue to refrain from hitting Aaron until Easter. With all of our resolutions on the table we were ready to begin our Lenten regimen.
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By Fr Jason Smith
I have found no better representation of conversion and penance in art than The Penitent Magdalene, by George de la Tour. Though simple, it expresses the essential elements behind every conversion, and we can find in it powerful lessons to apply to our own life. Let’s take a closer look.
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Biltrix 