In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob and Fr. George discuss a Christians relationship to modern day celebrations of Halloween. Halloween originally, and still is, a day of observation of All Saints Day, originally known as All Hallow's Eve. In modern...
The word virtue suggests something strong, but also difficult. Virtue is a good habit that makes you good. It also makes your life easier, because, just like any habit, as you grow in it, you do it more easily, almost unconsciously. Contrary to the modern view,...
In this episode of the Catholic Link podcast. Fr. Rob and Fr. George discuss modesty as a understanding of the median and of time and place. Modesty is a virtue which means that modesty involves finding the median between two extremes. Modesty also encompasses many...
“Hail Mary, full of grace.” We often repeat these words as part of the prayer for many different daily devotionals, such as the Angelus, the Rosary, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. When applied to the Blessed Mother, it is easy to see how she is full of grace, but have...
Jane Austen wrote Emma knowing that most people would not like the main character: "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." Perhaps you have read the striking story Emma or watched the newest cinematic adaptation. Whether it is an...
The day passes you by and the prayer time you wanted to spend with God never happens. Kids, job, spouse and other important demands seem to push out the time you wanted to spend in prayer. You are exhausted from the day and you just want to “veg” out, so you reach for...
Heaven’s Currency, the third book in a trilogy I never expected to write (following Why All People Suffer and Dying without Fear), explains what the church has been taught about the nature of love and how it fits in God’s plan. Learning to love is a search for human...
As a sociologist who has taught college classes on the family, and as one who has written extensively on the subject, it is my considered judgment that strong families are not built on luck or happenstance: it takes work. Moreover, the right prescriptions must be...
There are many problems that an atheistic naturalistic worldview faces, and here I should like to highlight two. One problem is the realm of consciousness, and the other problem is the realm of morality. According to most mainstream versions of naturalism (naturalism...
Some saints are instantly recognizable when you spot them, others remain in hazy anonymity. You know St. Therese when you see her, pristine Carmelite habit surrounding a bouquet of roses, austere and a little saccharine, she stands out in crowd. Peter with his keys,...
Servant of God Fr. Emil Kapaun Fr. Kapaun was named a “Servant of God” in 1993, which is the official beginning of the opening of a cause for canonization, for sainthood in the Catholic Church. Of course, the saints are the blessed in Heaven who dwell with God in...
Dating is easy today, right? Hardly. It’s never been easy; but especially in a social media world—and after the pandemic, nothing can be taken for granted. This is literally uncharted territory. And yet, human nature remains fundamentally the same in so many...
Four years ago, my future seemed clear to me. I thought I’d spend my days living in small-town Minnesota and ministering to country parishes as their priest. I love my home state, and I love the people there very much, but God had other plans. After...
Saint Teresa of Calcutta was known for spending countless hours attending to the dying, the sick, and the poor. This flowed from her rich prayer life: Daily Mass and a daily holy hour. Where did Mother Teresa learn to sacrifice herself for others? Her first teacher in...
Gospel of Luke 14:1, 7-14 On a sabbath Jesus went to dineat the home of one of the leading Pharisees,and the people there were observing him carefully.He told a parable to those who had been invited,noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the...
The Virtue of Thankfulness: Simply Justice or Piety? The act of gratitude or being thankful is something which is seen as important both in the Church and in the broader human family. Gratitude is universally important for human relationships to flourish. Who wants to...
Everyone struggles with something. A root sin, a set of bad habits, some sort of fear, something that causes undue anxiety, etc. Many (most?) of us struggle with many such things. So what does a person do? Drew Taylor and I sat down recently to discuss this topic, and...
We are living in unprecedented times. The tension has become palpable. You can see it on our roads, in stores, even within our churches – people are stressed beyond belief. We live with the media shouting their respective agendas at us 24/7 – pandemic, civil unrest,...
Niceness gets a bad rap these days. In politics, being too nice to one’s opponents is seen as a sign of unseriousness, even betrayal of one’s comrades and principles. In Church affairs, the “Church of Nice” gets dragged for being unwilling to stand up for truth and to...
The Virtue of Justice Before we can begin to understand patriotism as a virtue, we have to first look to the broader virtue of piety. And before we can begin to understand piety, we have to understand the broader cardinal virtue of justice. The word “cardinal” comes...
It has become an annual Christmas ritual that my wife and children sit down and watch the whole extended version of The Lord of the Rings. Hot chocolate, Christmas nibbles, dressing gowns, and slippers – for about three days! I like the films but grew up with the...
God created you as a man. He created you as a son. He desires your heart, soul, and strength. Above all else, He calls you to embrace your identity as a child of the Father, as coheir with the Son and empowered by the Spirit. He calls you to be set apart from the...
Does God make people gay? Due to some comments allegedly made by Pope Francis, this question is on many people's minds. Is our sexual attraction determined even before birth by our Creator or is it something we choose as a result of life's circumstances? Many...
We hear a lot about what it means to be chaste before marriage, but what about when you are married? In this two-part series, we will take a look at the important points of purity within marriage. If you are married or preparing for marriage, we hope this series...
This insightful animation from Moondog Animation Studios is a part of the Willy Grunch series. Willy Grunch "is a carefree philosophizing poet happily stumbling through life… He’s not so different than everybody else, but we get to laugh at our own misery at his...
