It is necessary to confess our sins to those to whom the dispensation of God’s mysteries has been entrusted. Those doing penance of old are found to have done it before the saints. It is written in the Gospel that they confessed their sins to John the Baptist; but in Acts they confessed to the apostles, by whom also all were baptized.
"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger, avoiding all...
"TO REPENT IS NOT TO LOOK DOWNWARDS AT MY OWN SHORTCOMINGS, BUT UPWARDS AT GOD’S LOVE.IT IS NOT TO LOOK BACKWARDS WITH SELF-REPROACH, BUT FORWARD WITH TRUSTFULNESS.IT IS TO SEE NOT WHAT I HAVE FAILED TO BE, BUT WHAT BY THE GRACE OF CHRIST I MIGHT YET BECOME.”St. John...
Do not renounce your ability to think There has long been abundant evidence that algorithms designed to maximize engagement on social media — which is profitable for platforms — reward quick emotions and penalize more time-consuming human responses such as the effort...
“Yes, my heart’s dear one, Jesus, is here with His cross. Since you are one of His favorites, He wants to make you into His likeness; why be afraid that you will not have the strength to carry this cross without a struggle? On the way to Calvary, Jesus did indeed fall...
"Undertake courageously great tasks for God's glory, to the extent that he'll give you power and grace for this purpose. Even though you can do nothing on your own, you can do all things in him. His help will never fail you if you have confidence in his goodness....
God loves us, and He loves us madly, as one of the saints used to say. God’s love appears to be madness. He loves us: “God loved the world so much that He gave us His only son” (Jn 3:16). And He sent Him to die on the cross. And every time that we look at the...
“Never was a whimpering bit of humanityso powerful that, while lying on His bed of straw, He could command the very starsto direct whom He wished to visit Him.Never a child so wise or so rich as this little Infant who was full of grace and incarnate truth.Never anyone...
“Among the solemnities of Holy Church there are three which have been celebrated at all times and which have their original source in that great feat of Passover which was observed in the Old Law. These three feasts are all called Pasch, or Passage, or Passover (Ex....
Dum medium silentium teneret omnia..."– "While earth was rapt in silence and night only half through its course, your almighty Word, O Lord, came down from his royal throne" (Antiphon to the Magnificat, 26 December).On this Holy Night the ancient promise is fulfilled:...
“Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope.”-Pope Benedict XVI...