Summer months allow for seminarians to spend time in parishes and embrace pastoral and apostolic work more readily. Many priests recall lasting, grace-filled lessons, friendships, and memories that began on summer assignments or in home parishes as seminarians.As...
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, mountain-enthusiast, student, fun-lover and passionate Catholic, was born in Italy in 1901 and died when he was only 24. Born to a wealthy family, he used his privileged position to secretly support the poor. For all intents and...
Our world is in chaos, and we are in need of hope. Conversion of heart to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and reception of the Sacraments and living a moral life is the only way forward. What a controversial statement. We believe that Christ is the Way. Christ told...
The Veil Removed, produced by Greg Krajewski and RD Delgado, powerfully shows what happens during each and every Mass that takes place in Catholic Churches across the world. Take 5 minutes out of your day and watch this short video. You will never look at Mass the...
St. Francis of Assisi is arguably one of the most beloved and venerated Catholic saints (after Mary and Joseph, obviously). However, by his own admission, Francis wasn’t always the radical, holy saint we revere. He once said, “I have been all things unholy. If God can...
The world will attempt to give you infinite reasons not to be Catholic, but in reality, there are infinite reasons to be Catholic. Here are only fifty brief reasons for us Catholics to remember when we are tempted to give in to negativity: 1. ...
Non-believers often challenge Catholics by asking them why so much money is spent on Church buildings instead of being given to people who are starving to death throughout the world. What many fail to realize is that throughout history, the Catholic Church has...
When filling out any number of government documents or certain applications, there is usually a box to self-report religion. Inevitably, one of these boxes, in the English speaking world at least, will read “Roman Catholic.” Growing up, I called myself a “Roman...
Picture thousands of college students from all over America and across the globe together in the tropical city of Indianapolis, Indiana for a weeklong conference where they will be praying, listening to talks, and learning about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus...
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...
Monica Potter, well-known actress and entrepreneur, was invited by a Cleveland news station to showcase her favorite locations around the city that she grew up in. Ms. Potter's first stop was Our Lady of Lourdes National Shrine. The former cast member of...
Someone asked me quite seriously the other day, “What do you personally get out of Adoration?” It was a question that gave me pause. How do I explain? If you already accept the belief that the consecrated Host is in fact Jesus Christ, it seems plain to me that you...
3 Marks of an Authentic Disciple https://youtu.be/Ydq1e0cHiw0 3 Marks of an Authentic Disciple 1. Repent Every day, you must practice ongoing conversion, recognizing that you need the Lord. The Desert Fathers would do this through short little prayers like the Jesus...
A little while ago, TIME magazine published an article about a phenomenon that’s becoming more and more common in the United States: the increasing number of millennial seminarians and priests. Millennials are the generation born between the 80s and mid-90s. They are...
Let me tell you about this guy who works at my office. His name is Bryan and he’s definitely one of my favorite Catholics alive today. He’s a convert to the Catholic Faith and for the last 14 years of his life he’s been cataloging every Communion he’s received. As the...
October 12th is the anniversary of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patroness of Brazil. The story is a rather unusual one, and yet it's another beautiful reminder of the love of Our Mother. In 1717, three fishermen prayed to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, that God...
Habits and routines form and shape our experiences and our lives. These habits will help you make going to Mass more than a habit. Going to Mass is the ultimate form of prayer and should be a spiritual encounter with Christ. I invite you to reconsider your Mass...
Did you know that there are three prayers in the Mass that, like the readings, are different for each Mass? It wasn’t until I had a recent conversation with my dad that I realized that I had been letting the words of these prayers wash over me without paying any...
Did you know that on the 13th day of every month from May through October, 2017, Catholics can obtain an Indulgence in honor of the 100-year anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions at Fatima? First, a quick refresher on the Blessed Virgin Mary's messages at Fatima,...
Islam and Christianity. How do we begin to talk about this elephant in the room? On the one hand, Islamist persecution of Christians is a plague in places like Iraq, parts of Africa, Marawi City in the Philippines, and elsewhere. We must pray more ardently than ever...
The Dominican Order was canonically established in the year 1216 by Pope Honorius III. Named after their founder, St. Dominic, they claim the official designation is the Ordo Praedicatorum (O.P.), or, in English, the Order of Preachers. Various mottoes characterize...
Does a beautiful Church building matter to Christians? What about adornments like statues, altar rails, decorative pews and such? Stained glass... Stations of the Cross... the placement and design of the Tabernacle... If God is everywhere, especially in the humble and...
Known and beloved as the "Golden Sequence," the Veni Sancte Spiritus is a beautiful, powerful prayer to the Holy Spirit that dates back to the thirteenth century. It is attributed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton. In 1570, this "sequence"...
Here's a battle I sometimes fight with myself: vacillating between exuberant repetitiveness about my faith, my conversion, how amazing God is, how I wish everyone I love would convert (for their own well-being and happiness!), how I wish every Catholic in the pews on...
What's a sacramental? Even if you're not sure about the word, you are familiar with Sacramentals, and you probably use them regularly! I tend to file Sacramentals into my mental "Theology-of-the-Body Folder," not because they have anything to do with sexuality, but,...