School is out, the weather is getting warmer, and ice cream trucks are once again making the rounds. Summer is here! For many, summertime means a relaxed schedule with no classes (and no homework!), shorter workdays, and vacations. It is a joy-filled season and a...
One of the best ways to enrich your faith-life is to pray with scripture. A great way of doing this is using the "Lectio Divina"; this is a powerful method which we explain here. We hope that it serves you in your personal prayer and that it serves as a resource that...
One of the best ways to enrich your experience at Sunday Mass is to pray the gospel reading personally. A great way of doing this is using the "Lectio Divina"; this is a powerful method which we explain here. The following is the Sunday gospel reading...
A highly creative piece, Andrei Rublev's Troitsa (Russian for Triune or Trinity) hails from the summit of a more-than-thousand-year-old iconographic tradition. As you might have surmised, it is a Trinitarian interpretation of Gen 18:1-16, the episode in which "three...
One of the best ways to enrich your experience at Sunday Mass is to pray the gospel reading personally. A great way of doing this is using the "Lectio Divina"; this is a powerful method which we explain here. The following is the Sunday gospel reading with a...
In college, I had the pleasure of taking a sacraments course with Dr. Scott Hahn, which was equal parts awe-inspiring and overwhelming. For starters, the man is practically a living encyclopedia when it comes to the Catholic faith, so notetaking in his class was...
It may not be the case for everyone, but certainly, in my experience, the Holy Spirit seems to take a bit of a back seat behind Jesus and God the Father. In some Catholic circles (not all!), we “don’t do” the Holy Spirit. Maybe because there has been a lack of...
As I write this, we are approaching the 5th Sunday of Easter, meaning that we will now be breaking into the last weeks of Eastertide before Pentecost Sunday. Every Easter I have the same thought, usually at some point in the Easter Octave, once the drama and intensity...
This article is for you, especially for you, if you have been thinking about going back to Mass this Christmas season. On the part of all of us at Catholic-Link, let me personally invite you back to mass (we even wrote a letter for you!): We want you back! Today's...
If you could bring anyone for dinner, dead or alive, who would it be? This isn’t a quiz, so there is no ultimate correct answer. You don’t need to say Jesus just because you are in a youth group, or a famous historical figure just because you want to sound smart. You...
I want to begin by saying that this is not an easy question. A lot has been written about this subject. I don’t mean to exhaust the richness or complexity of this theological problem that has fascinated a large part of Christian theologians-not without a headache or...
Sandwiched between the stark drama of Good Friday and the glory of the Easter Vigil, Holy Saturday is often in danger of being skipped over. For many of us, it will be a busy day- perhaps a typical Saturday, or perhaps hectic with preparation for the Easter Vigil. It...
Praying the Stations of the Cross is a devotion centered on the main events of the Passion of our Lord. If you have not yet done the Stations during the Fridays of Lent, we encourage you to take the opportunity on Good Friday. In fact, I dare say that we can...
In my post, 9 Things I Would Like To Have Known Before Getting Married, one of the points that raised a lot of questions was number 8: "A good marriage is the union of two people who are good at forgiving." Many people contacted me relating how difficult it was for...
There is so much to think about and reflect on during Holy Week that it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. One meditation I have found helpful in drawing me deeper into contemplating the Passion is the tradition of studying the 7 Last Words of Christ. More...
"It would do us good to ask one question: Who am I? Who am I before my Lord? Where is my heart? Which of these people do I resemble most ? Who am I before Jesus who is suffering?" These are a few of the questions that Pope Francis has asked us to reflect on this...
While we often hear a lot about the popular culture that surrounds St. Patrick's Day, many of us are quite ignorant when it comes to the man himself. To put it simply, we do not call him "Saint" for nothing; the man's faith was truly impressive: “For by decent I was a...
I recently finished reading Mike Pacer’s Mercy and Hope, and it left me feeling... well... completely hopeful! It seems that in our world today, many people become overwhelmed and feel hopeless. Why do so many lose hope in the midst of their temporary circumstances?...
How is your Lent going?! Great, or not so great? Feeling like it is a long way to Holy Week? Has your Lent felt like a complete disaster so far? Are you feeling a bit sick of it all?! If your Lent has stalled- did you start with plans that were too much? Or did you...
It seems that Hollywood is starting to realize the power of the name of Jesus and is responding by creating more movies about the life of Jesus. Well, maybe. At the very least, producers have certainly realized the entertainment value of the story of His Life, Death,...
The Psalms are a wonderful way to pray at any time of year because they truly echo the emotions of the heart and draw us closer to God. Since the seventh century, it has become a common spiritual practice to pray the seven penitential psalms during Lent. These psalms...
“Brethren, let no disagreement remain amongst you seeing that these are the holy days [of Lent]… Maybe you begin to say to yourselves in thought: “I want to make peace but my brother is the one who has offended me… and doesn’t want to come to terms”. What then?… In...
Before we even start talking about fasting or abstinence, let's say something obvious: none of this makes sense outside the logic of faith. There are certainly psychological benefits and ways to explain the cultural or social reasons for fasting and similar practices,...
Life passes quickly. One moment you are twelve years old playing in the street, and today you are an adult, 40 years old. What happened to your youthful aspirations, your dreams, and your ideals? Though you remember them, do you maintain them? Have you gone through...
Father Dave Pivonka and The Wild Goose team have brought together a wonderful series of reflections on the Holy Spirit. These videos, produced by 4pmMedia and the accompanying discussion/reflection questions, are a great resource for both your personal life and for...