We Are All Called to Lives of Holiness
Image taken from Wiki Commons. I recently started reading Bishop Robert Barron and John L. Allen Jr.’s book To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age. I’ve read quite a few of Bishop Barron’s more theological books and I own both the Catholicism series and the most recent Pivotal …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Why the Culture Wars Don’t Evangelize Souls"
Image taken from Wiki Commons. It is easy in our daily lives to discount the seemingly minor encounters or experiences we have throughout any given day. We are so busy going through the motions that we often forget to pay attention to where God is blessing us and showering us with His gratuitous love. He …
Continue reading "Looking Past the Monotony of Daily Living In Order to See God’s Gratuitous Love"
The topic of silence has grown in popularity on social media in recent months. This is especially true in light of the various pieces written on Cardinal Sarah’s brilliant book, The Strength of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Silence is an important topic. We are inundated with noise. This noise is not only an assault on …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Silence in Advent Prepares Us for the Joy of Christmas"
I will continue my series on the Beatitudes and the work of Servais Pinckaers next week. My husband was in the hospital for 2.5 days with a partially collapsed lung, so I was unable to delve deeper into the Beatitudes. Since I spent more time in the hospital with my husband this week, I thought the topic of laughter …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Finding Laughter and Joy Amidst Suffering"
Christ is risen! Alleluia! We have entered into the great and joyful season of Easter. It is a time of re-birth and hope as we live the Resurrection. We rest in the truth and wonder that sin and death are conquered by Jesus Christ and that all things are being made new. Even in this …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Waiting on the Lord During Easter"
I stood on a cold, frosty afternoon looking out the window at my daughter playing in the snow. She was bedecked head to toe with winter gear to protect her from the bitter wind, a wind she hardly noticed. Her fuchsia snow pants insulated her knees from the icy snow and she sat contentedly eating …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: On Being Human and the Need to Wonder"
I have written multiple blog posts about my increased understanding that I needed to give up Facebook. I only rarely used Twitter and saw it as an overwhelming amount of information with absolutely no real human connection. It is a place to vent political ideology in 140 characters, and that largely includes Catholic writers too. Facebook was …
Today I am waiting for my dad to undergo some medical tests to see why he is so sick and whether or not it is life-threatening. Ever since I got word last week that my dad's chronic illness was not the cause of his weakness and he is bleeding internally, I have been thinking and contemplating the …
Continue reading "Strange Beauty in Art and Life: The Agony in the Garden"
The moral life has been hampered greatly by the prevalence of both nominalism (a system based on opposition) and a system of morality based on obligation over charity. For the first 1500 years of the Church, the moral life was seen as the movement of grace within the individual who then strives to live the …
Continue reading "The Cardinal Virtues: The Queenship of Prudence"
I remain Catholic because these words guide my life and remain with me even in the darkest of nights: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." John 6:68. This Scripture passage is most realized in the Holy Eucharist in which Christ himself pours out the perfect sacrifice for us …
