It’s been said that we make 35,000 decisions every day. Some decisions are small things like what we want to eat, what time we'll brush our teeth, and what show we want to watch. Other decisions are more life-changing like choosing a career path, buying a house,...
I’ll be the first to admit that integrating the Catholic faith into my everyday life isn’t always easy.Okay, that’s an understatement. It’s far from easy. The number of things I have to do every daycan sometimes leave no room for God. Did I just say that?No room for...
This week on the podcast we talk about how in the first reading, Peter is no longer under the authority of the Sanhedrin. He is in the Spirit and has the courage to face the punishment that comes from proclaiming the Gospel. We talk about fear of being publicly...
She’s not here anymore. I didn’t know why I was so sad, looking out at the beautiful magnolia tree in our backyard, in full bloom, with the warm spring breeze gently blowing into the house. But I was sad, and it didn’t make sense. I was 11 weeks pregnant. Everything...
This week on the podcast we go over the entrance into Jerusalem and the problem of suffering in our faith life. How our Baptism, or conversion, is a joyful entrance in to the life of faith, but it is the suffering of the cross that is our path to unity with God. In...
Catholic-Link is excited to share with you about the ministry of Stay Close To Christ. We are partnering with this great Catholic store to provide you a 10% discount AND the chance to benefit the ministry of Catholic-Link with your purchase. Use our...
Prayer is like breathing. It’s something that we have to do but it doesn’t totally depend on us. It's not like we make a conscious decision to breathe. With prayer something similar is happening; we put in our part but at the end of the day it's the Holy Spirit...
I pray that someday I'll be the type of person that can articulately, gracefully, and boldly respond when I hear someone near me speak the Lord's name in anger or frustration or as a curse word. Right now, I'm not there. I don't really know how to put into words...
Do you have any Catholic Bible verses memorized? If we really believe in the power of the Word of God, we should make an effort to study it, understand it, and memorize it. It is a gift that we have been given to help us in our faith. It is very useful in...
Some of the most frequent questions we get at Catholic-Link are about prayer. Our readers want to know: How Do I Pray? When Should I Pray? What Can I Do To Improve My Prayer Life? We have a library of resources for you on prayer to help answer those questions,...
This week on the podcast we talk about the lenten practice of fasting. Fr Ian is fired up! The whole point of fasting during lent is to get our flesh in line with our spirit, since "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". To fast from good things for a time...
Every year I search for a unique way to help my children understand the season of Lent. Sometimes I find something and other years we just do what we've always done, but this year I'm really excited about what God led me to. I've felt called to teach my children the...
In the last few years, the Catholic scene has been exploding with new prayer journals. This trend is a good tracking point for the effectiveness of the New Evangelization. The need for these journals shows that more people are yearning to spend time in prayer and to...
This week on the podcast Fr Ian and Alanna discuss the power of our spoken word to reveal who we are. We also discuss how important it is to discern what people say by comparing it to the fruit of their words. It is possible that they are lying and we need to be...
This week on the livestream Fr Ian and Alanna go down the rabbit hole of Blessings and Woes in the Old Testament Covenant and the argument found in the wisdom literature about how bad things happen to good people. The second reading on the resurrection brings us to...
The Church is in the midst of multiple crises. The sex abuse scandal reemerging, around the globe, has shown that while great progress has been made, there is much work to do and much justice left unpursued. There are countless victims of abuse who have not felt...
My husband walked into the living room, stood there for a minute, then interrupted me mid-lip-sync with, “That song is heretical.” Dude. Thank you for ruining my dance party. I loved the tune, and the words flowed, so I had cranked the praise music up to help make the...
This week on the podcast we talk about motivation and what is required to keep us going. A few things we go over is companionship, mission, and knowledge of what you are created for. The second reading we talk about the primacy of love in the use of our gifts....
Mass With Kids: A Seemingly Impossible Task Parenting young children at Mass seems like an undoable task. How can they be expected to be still and silent for an hour or more? Should I take turns with my spouse and do Mass in shifts? Will the other parishioners be...
This week Fr Ian and Alanna discuss the connections within the Sunday readings. Ezra was a leader in the spiritual revival of Jerusalem after the time of Exile, Nehemiah was the governmental leader who came in and built up the protections for the people. Ezra was...
It’s easy to fall away from prayer. There are many times when I will have a steady prayer life for a few weeks at a time, and then go months without reading my Bible. The only nourishment I get is going to Mass. I’ll feel the difference. It will feel as if God has...
Fr. Ian Van Heusen and Alanna Burg discuss the readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary time. We begin discussing the topic of our identity and how we view ourselves before and after the encounter of God in our lives. We have considered ourselves forsaken, but now...
Eduardo Verastegui who you may recognize from films such as Bella (2006) and Little Boy (2015) is using his fame for good. He is currently in the process of creating the world's tallest statue of Jesus! Mexican architect Fernando Romero is the designer behind this...
The alternate title for this week's recording is "Brimstone and Fire" because Fr. Ian said it so many times referencing his homily this past Sunday. We counted 8 times! This week we start off talking about the lowliness of Bethlehem and how it is surprising that...
Priest, Prophet, and King A Baptized man shares in the offices of Christ of priest, prophet, and king. A Baptized man who is the father of children is a priest, prophet, and king in a particular way. His house is his domestic church and his children are the flock that...
How to enter? Subscribe to our weekly emails!
Tip: These make amazing Catholic Christmas Gifts too!