1. Build a Daily Practice of Prayer (even if it means praying in the bathroom) Prayer is simply a conversation with Jesus. Of course, formal times of prayer are spiritually beneficial, however, daily life can sometimes make them impossible. While a simple chat with...
There seems to be a huge stereotype about the way that God speaks to us. Many times, we think back to the conversion of Saul (who became Paul) who heard God’s voice booming through the clouds above him asking “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Other times, we are...
Looking back, I only have one regret from our wedding. The day was filled with joy, family, friends, a beautiful Mass, and plenty of dancing, but every time I go to a wedding I'm reminded of the one thing that we did not do at ours and it breaks my heart. We did not...
The novena is a Catholic practice of prayer that’s done over the course of nine days. Its practice goes back to the time of the apostles. The first novena can be attributed to when they got together to pray, after the Ascension waiting for the coming of the Holy...
Looking for a New Year’s Resolution that could change the world? This idea is simple, effective, and is guaranteed to save souls. The tradition, known as a Living Rosary, began in France during the 1700s, but it was St. John Paul II that made this devotion...
You might not be the type of person who prays every day, but I'm willing to bet that you've called out to God in a few of these situations. 10 Times Even People Who Aren't Religious Start Praying 10 Times Even People Who Aren't Religious Start Praying Some...
In the last few months I’ve really tried to embrace silence more often. To put my headphones down, turn off Netflix, logout of Instagram, and just be still. To pray more often, without distractions. To my surprise, it is not that easy. I don’t think I’m the only one...
People often ask us to pray for them, whether they’re facing challenges personally, at home, at work, or they’re battling a particular illness. The common practice is that we promise to pray for that person, putting it off to some point in the future (that, let’s be...
“Lectio Divina” means divine reading in Latin. It’s an ancient practice that teaches us how to read, meditate on and live the Word of God. History tells us that it was the Blessed Guigo the Carthusian, who wrote the “most important stages” of this way of meditating...
God's plan for the family is to be a model of the love of the Holy Trinity. "The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and education of children it reflects the...
The Magnificat - otherwise known as the Canticle of Mary - is a beautiful, ancient, scriptural "song" of praise spoken by Our Lady. You may have heard the word thanks to the wonderful monthly publication that goes by the same name, but do you know the prayer, itself?...
Prayer is intended to be our way of communicating with God. It is a gift, yet sometimes it becomes a task, a burden, or a mundane part of our daily routine. We may also experience dry spells in our spiritual life and begin to feel disconnected from the God who...
No matter how spiritual we are, we cannot ignore our bodies when we pray. Indeed, we pray with and through them, not only with our voice and thoughts. If we are happy, our face expresses it, and our body does, too; if we're worried, we put our head in our hands. When...
The greatest adventure we have in life is learning to pray. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Ratzinger, said that the entire purpose for Jesus coming into the world was to show us God the Father (Ratzinger Report). What's the Challenge? What if I told...
“If you want to challenge yourself, you have to rethink what you consider impossible.” So begins the opening of this 2015 experiment that involves the Berlin Wall, a group of school children and a storybook about a cat. The challenge that has been set in this video is...
Knowing that we are called to follow the Will of God and being able to discern His Will are two very different things. Do you ever feel like asking God for a neon sign to guide you in your next step in life? Usually, God does not send neon “go here, do that” signs. So...
A terrible tragedy for Christianity has been, and always will be, the separation between rite and symbol; or to be more precise, the tragedy is due to the fact that the believers have forgotten the meaning of the symbols that take place during the various rites. Yes,...
I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a place of pain or distress, my prayer life can go one of two ways. Either I can feel closer to God, and prayer comes more easily, or my prayer life dries up and any kind of communication with God feels impossible. It is in...
As someone that tries to share the faith with others, I often find myself struggling to explain prayer. What difference does it really make? Isn't it enough that I simply help others, that I be a "good person"? Albeit convincing for many – sometimes I myself fall into...
“I don’t have time to pray!” some argue. “That is not true,” I tell them. They give me a thousand excuses and leave. Then time goes by and I observe them. Long hours spent watching TV and YouTube videos, checking Facebook, playing games, listening to music, pursuing a...
How often do we hear the phrase, or even say ourselves: "I should pray more...; I would like to but often I have no time." It's true. Our lives are busy. But maybe instead of taking time away from us, prayer is really the remedy to our obsession with the apparent lack...
Oftentimes today the idea of a "creed" is associated with closed-thinking and mediocrity. Yet the early Christians were willing to die to protect a single iota of the creed! In their days, the authorities of ancient times considered it to be a threat to the...
Everyone who is engaging in their faith will experience this eventually- at a time when difficulties or despair set in, when doubts become overwhelming, and God feels distant. Prayer feels impossible and no long or short the length of the dry spell, there is no...
Have you ever found yourself in a prayer rut? Perhaps you've been saying the same prayers for so long you no longer pay attention to the meaning behind the words. Your prayer routine has become just that, routine. Though it is good to be in the habit of...
“Let your prayer be entirely simple. One word was enough for the publican and for the prodigal son to obtain God’s forgiveness (cf. Lk 15,21)… No pretentiousness in the words of your prayers; how often it is that the simple and unadorned stammerings of children sway...