Whether we like it or not, all of us are creatures of habit. We have our schedules, our routines — and I find myself continually surprised at how much summer throws them off. Kids are out of school, activities multiply, vacations happen, family visits. Life gets looser. And it’s easy, in that looseness, to think the spiritual life gets put on pause too. That our faith, like everything else, takes…
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Everybody grew up with a different father. Even siblings raised in the same house can carry different versions of the same man. Maybe your father yelled a lot, and now you brace yourself when someone raises their voice. Maybe he was mentally checked out, and now you find yourself checking out too. Maybe you never respected him, and now you don’t much care what anyone thinks. Maybe he was completely…
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From Calvary To Pentecost — And Into Our Lives Today — The Blessed Mother Continues To Lead Us Closer To Her Son. It’s a fitting coincidence — or maybe not a coincidence at all — that May, the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, so often falls during the Easter season. This May, we move from the end of the Easter season to the Ascension, and then Pentecost. Mary’s…
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Faith isn’t something we set aside … It’s meant to shape every part of our life. There’s an expression you’ll often hear, not always related to faith, but it certainly can be: “Leave your faith at the door.” Or “Leave your beliefs at the door.” Or “Leave your opinions at the door.” Should we be leaving our faith at the door? Is there ever a situation where we should leave…
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The Silence of Saint Joseph March 19th is the Feast of Saint Joseph, and I think it’s a good reason to pause and reflect on his example as we continue through Lent. One thing you always hear about Saint Joseph — or maybe you don’t hear it, pun intended — is his silence. There is not a single word recorded as having been spoken by Saint Joseph in all of…
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Same Lent, Different You It’s a blessing that Lent happens every year. It makes me think of hearing a song you loved when you were younger. Or picking up a book you read years ago. The song can take you back. It breathes some youthful life into you, remembering bygone days. There’s nostalgia in it. Familiarity. Rereading a book is similar yet different. There’s still familiarity, you know the story,…
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A Formula for Prayer This week is Catholic Schools Week, and it’s made me reflect on those lessons that stick with you from your school days. I think of the scientific method—a practical tool we probably don’t realize we use every day. We make hypotheses, test them, adjust. It’s become second nature. What if prayer could be like that? I recently came across a cheat sheet I’d made years ago…
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Christ Comes, Sees, and Conquers At the start of Advent, our pastor preached about Christ’s three comings: He came at Christmas, He comes now in our daily lives, and He will come again at the end of time. As I sat there listening, the famous Roman saying popped into my head—Veni, Vidi, Vici—”I came, I saw, I conquered.” Julius Caesar’s declaration of swift military victory. We can reflect on these…
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Begin Again You may or may not know that the Church’s new year starts with Advent — not January 1st. A few years ago, we started a family tradition for ringing in the new Church year: pick a saint for the year. We sometimes pick saints out of a hat or flip to random pages in kids’ saint books. Then we ask for that saint’s intercession throughout the year. It’s…
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Giving Back As Catholics, we are called and asked by the Church to give of our time, talent, and treasure. We probably think of this most directly in relation to our local parish: what we tithe, how we volunteer, how we use our talents for the good of the Church. But there’s a misconception here. We think we are giving. That’s not the full picture. We’re actually giving back. The…
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