There are four Marian (related to Mary) Dogmas. Dogmas are those doctrines of the Church which have been defined by the Pope and the teaching authority of the Church. Dogmas are teaching, or doctrines, of the Church that have been bolded, underlined, and...
In the Fourth Century, St. Ambrose of Milan used a beautiful title for the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Mother of the Church.” This title was officially used by Pope St. Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council. In 2018, Pope Francis added a new feast to the Roman...
It’s Easter! Yes, really, it is STILL Easter. The Church, in her great joy and celebration of Easter, celebrates eight full days of solemnities in honor of the Resurrection of Christ called the Easter Octave. The most obvious signs of this celebration are found in the...
What is RCIA? What are the Steps? For the past few decades, the normal way for an unbaptized non-Catholic to enter the Catholic Church is the RCIA process. This stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. There is an entire book of the Church (aptly named...
The Mother of All Vigils The Easter Vigil is the most extraordinary liturgy of the entire year in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. The Roman Missal guides the celebration of this great night and even refers to the Easter Vigil as the “mother of all vigils,”...
It's always so much fun filling a child's Easter Basket. There are many great Catholic children's books to choose from, Shining Light Dolls, Catholic coloring books, Saint stickers, and saint games available that help keep the focus of Easter on Jesus. Throw in a...
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...
Use this Catholic Bible Study for your own personal spiritual growth or with the apostolate you are involved with. Matthew 20:17-28 Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time 17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to...
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...
"For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20 At the beginning of Lent, we often make the mistake of trying...
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...
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...
Does your child's Catholic school have a Catholic library? You'd be surprised at what books you can find on the shelves of Catholic schools across the country. Talk to your school librarian to make sure that your school's books are carefully curated and selected....
Traditionally, Catholics bless their home and those who live in their household on the Feast of the Epiphany each year. It's not difficult to do and we highly recommend you give it a try! Here's how. What You'll Need To Bless Your Home On The Epiphany Prayers - These...
Did you know that each month has a traditional Catholic devotion? This year, let’s focus on each devotion month-by-month to grow in our faith and traditions! Make yourself notes, write them on your calendar, and pray a specific prayer each day of the month to...
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...
Need a Christmas playlist? We suggest these Christmas carols sung by nuns, seminarians, and a priest! Not only will they put you in the Christmas spirit, but you can also use it as a reminder to pray for vocations. Gabriel's Message...
Catholics are to take advantage of the sacrament of Penance at least once a year--if you’re Catholic, you should remember that from your CCD or RCIA class. Advent is a particularly good time to do this. If, like most of us, you hurry to clean your homes in preparation...
This week we talk about the call to rejoice in the suffering of our time. We venture into anxiety and the culture, how to care for our spiritual health and our physical health. The implementation of gratitude is so important in fighting the dryness and anxiety, and...
Can the Guadalupe Tilma Make An Atheist Convert?! Well, I believe it can. In general, Our Lady appears to men and women of faith, and she does so in order to share a particular message to her children. These apparitions, almost without exception, are accompanied by...
All of us have surely noticed the jump in Mass attendance at Christmas. Many Catholics who don’t attend Sunday Mass regularly, make it a point to attend either a vigil Mass on Christmas Eve or a Mass on Christmas Day, in an attempt to add a spiritual dimension to...
People have all sorts of “Mary problems,” like issues with the titles Catholics give her, with her apparition sites, with her statues in our chapels, or with our dogmas declaring her perpetual virginity, immaculate conception, or assumption into heaven. Those can all...
We talk this week about putting on the glory and the splendor of God, what that means for our church life and for the garments of the priesthood. How some dress lesser to seem lesser in false humility, and how some are in the rut of familiarity and routine. We talk...
Join is this week for the discussion of the Sunday readings. Due to a technical difficulty we had to restart the stream and jump into the second reading right away. We still talk about part of the first reading about The Lord our Justice. Father Ian talks about how we...