“You mustn't be afraid. If God is calling you, he'll take care of everything. All you need to do is receive him with a lot of peace, joy, and confidence. I believe fear is a big excuse that is responsible for truncating the true happiness that only God can offer,”...
Whether one would admit it or not, every person has preconceived notions or opinions on any given situation. These can be brought about through one’s education or just by their life experiences. How one allows those experiences affect how they relate to those around...
Have you ever wondered why the Catholic Church is structured in a hierarchical form? Or, what makes the difference between a deacon and a priest? Or how our local parishes fit into the global relationship of the Church? Each member of the Church has an equally...
The Pope Francis TED talk is trending all over the news today. Filmed at the Vatican, the talk debuted during TED's international conference in Vancouver on Tuesday night. It was a surprise for all who attended. Media coverage from CNN to the Huffington Post has been...
I know, I know, the title is not encouraging, but let me explain to you why I think it correctly responds to the reality that I want to explore. We are living in a very difficult time for the Church, a time of pain and embarrassment due to various types of scandals:...
Life is a unique movement of light where the beginning and the end meet. Just as we are born from our mother’s womb into earthly life, so too, we’ll be born from the Earth’s womb into eternal life. The impulse that assures the completeness of such movement is the...
I sometimes think that Lent is a little easier to live out than Eastertide is, perhaps because we are so much more familiar with suffering than we are with joy. We’ve all experienced suffering, probably more than we wanted to, but joy doesn’t seem to be as obvious in...
This is a matter we seldom talk about with clarity, I don’t know exactly why. My impression is that we talk a lot about sin in an abstract way, or using an academic-theological terminology that the common Christian doesn’t always understand. Nevertheless, we are...
The lives of the saints provide us rich, beautiful sources of instruction in virtue. But there's a particular heroism to be gleaned from stories of the martyrs. Today we present 15 saints - some well known, others, more obscure, but all are admirable for a common...
Jesus comes to Peter to wash his feet. Peter says to him, "Lord, do you want to wash my feet?" Jesus answers, "What I am doing you do not know now but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not...
Good Friday is the most solemn day of the year for Christians. This is the day when we remember Christ's death on the cross for us. We remember the suffering He endured for our sake. We are reminded of the depths of His love for us. Do not let Good Friday go by as...
In this Lenten series and Catholic Bible Study, Father Ian VanHeusen presents his weekly spiritual exercise based on scriptures to help us grow in our relationship with the Lord. St. Ignatius of Loyola explains, “By the term “Spiritual Exercises” is meant every method...
Have you noticed the proliferation of zombie apocalypse imagery and themes everywhere in popular entertainment? The phenomenon is ironic to me, because just now as zombies preoccupy campy media, real life has become increasingly anesthetized. Death and sin are swept...
“What are girls made of?” That’s the question this Nike commercial asks. “Made of flowers and rings, gossip and marmalade, that is what our girls are made of,” is the response in a traditional song that the young girl in the ad responds with. The audience nods...
Self-care is a term that has grown in popularity of late. Suddenly it's everywhere: thrown around with hashtags all over social media, used in advertising and on lifestyle blogs, and even making appearances on health websites. Clearly, it means different things to...
Holy Week should be the most important week of the year for all Christians. It should be the week in which we give of ourselves to the fullest in order to fully receive Christ during the Easter celebration. That's the ideal. However, we all know that sometimes...
In my life I’ve listened to diverse opinions about what candidates for the priesthood should be like, how they should behave before entering the seminary and how they should lead an impeccable life. Many people believe that those men who feel the call of God to the...
“Follow your dreams!” the world tells us when we are young, but as we grow up, we learn that living our dream is not only hard, it’s also often criticized. Especially dreams involving radical vows in a religious order, low-income paychecks at a non-profit, or...
Of course, there is no question that the spiritual benefits far outweigh any practical benefits that children may receive when they attend Mass and that the reason we attend Mass is to be with and worship Our Lord, but we’ve already written about that in a few other...
The Gospel of Matthew gives emphasis to St. Joseph, for it is through him that the legal, filial line passed from King David to Jesus. The following are virtues we all stand to learn from St. Joseph. St. Joseph's Silence If we look at Sacred Scripture, there is not...
In this Lenten series, Father Ian VanHeusen presents his weekly spiritual exercise based on the Sunday Readings to help us grow in our relationship with the Lord. What is a Spiritual Exercise, you ask? St. Ignatius of Loyola writes, “By the term “Spiritual Exercises”...
This post aims to compile some of the reflections the Lord has given me during a retreat I lived not long ago. They are not the result of my own inspiration whatsoever, but a true gift from God and the good preacher, whom God put in our path. In our lives, we are like...
"You can be the most pro-life person in the world, but until you sit there and you... you hear those words and you look at your future going forward, that's when you have got to face the reality and make your own decision.” - Royce Young Those are the powerful words...
Have you ever heard someone say, “My sin is too big for God to forgive”? Or, maybe you yourself even feel this way at times? This is a lie that the devil would like us to believe, but the truth is no one’s sin is bigger than God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness. He has...
In this Lenten series, Father Ian VanHeusen gives us a weekly spiritual exercise based on the Sunday Readings to help us grow in our relationship with the Lord. What is a Spiritual Exercise, you ask? St. Ignatius of Loyola writes, “By the term “Spiritual Exercises” is...