Fr José LaBoy
John Paul II, back in 1985, began a series of Wednesday audiences later entitled “A Catechesis on the Creed”, divided into 3 parts, each dedicated to one of the persons of the Trinity: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. In the Wednesday audience on Jan. 9, 1985 he stated the following: More…
Fr Jason Smith
I went to Manhattan yesterday to get a wisdom tooth pulled. Thankfully the dentist was so adroit I was left with an hour or two of leisure to snap pictures of the city and Grand Central as I waited for the train.
As I snapped shots here and there I couldn’t help but observe the energy of the city. I kept thinking to myself, “No wonder it is so hard to stop and pray.” On the train ride home I put down the camera and picked up the pen to jot down a few notes–both to remind myself and to help others–on how to pray amid our busy life. More…
By Br Eric Wandrey
About seven miles off western coast of Ireland, a lonely island looms out of the sea, the tip of a massive oceanic mountain. 54 acres and 715 feet high, Skellig Michael is home only to a colony of Northern Gannets, but there was a time when this remote outcropping hosted more than seabirds. For over 600 years, it was home to Irish monks who sought complete solitude and close communion with God. More…
God Is With Us
During the last 9 days before Christmas, the Christmas Novena, the Church invites us to meditate on the Incarnation of the Son of God and his coming to us as a child born of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Church has special prayers during these days called the O Antiphons, which are prayed each night along with the Magnificat during Evening Prayer for the Liturgy of the Hours. More…
Keep your eyes on the finish line
“I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
More often than not, it is near impossible to find the connection between the second reading and the Gospel for Sunday’s liturgy. The reason for this is that, more often than not, there’s not one, because the liturgy of the word is designed that way. The first reading and the Gospel always have some connection: The Lord fulfilling an Old Testament prophesy, for example. The responsorial psalm, often echoes a sentiment from the first reading, to reinforce its message. But the second reading More…
Listening is as important as asking in prayer
Somewhere between faith and hope lies the virtue of trust, which among the three is perhaps the one that counts most on us.
In today’s Gospel (Luke 18:1-8), the Lord shows us how and where we can exercise and measure our trust. The measure of our trust in God reveals itself when we examine our prayer.
Jesus uses a parable to illustrate this point. More…
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…
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…
One of the biggest reasons people give for not studying their faith is that they don’t have enough time.
But everyone has time for a one minute video!
Finding the place to pray makes all the difference
During the season of Lent, the Church invites us to pray more and to pray better.
Isn’t it odd, though, that when we begin to think about prayer, the first things that come to our mind are the objections? If this happens to you, then maybe your focus is out of place. Literally. More…
Biltrix 