Aug
27
St. Monica & St. Augustine
August 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today and tomorrow, we remember the lives of St. Monica and her son, St. Augustine.
There are two amazing things about their story. The first is that St. Monica spent her whole married and maternal life praying for the conversion of her pagan husband and her delinquent, wayward son. She kept the faith and hope needed [...]
Aug
14
St. Max
August 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today is the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe. He is my parish’s patron saint and there is a big stain glass window of him in our church. So I’ve done quite a bit of studying his life and praying to him and, through the years, I’ve grown in devotion to this rather remarkable man.
Most people only know him [...]
Aug
6
Transfiguration
August 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I have often wondered what it was like to be an apostle following Christ. The healings, miracles and profound daily wisdom must have had an incredible jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, did I just see that quality to them.
So what did Peter, James & John think of the Transfiguration? They saw Moses and Elijah. They heard our Father. They saw the [...]
Aug
1
St. Alphonsus de Liguori
August 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today is the feast day for St. Alphonsus, a doctor of the Church who lived in the 18th Century. He was an Italian bishop who founded the Redemptorists. But he is probably best known for two works he wrote - Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation and Uniformity with God’s Will.
It’s the second work that struck a chord [...]
Jul
31
St. Ignatius of Loyola
July 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I think many of us wonder whether we’ve just blown it. Whether God has just given up on us and declared us a lost cause. Yes, he may grant us mercy and redemption, but he has nevertheless decided that we have screwed up his plan for us so badly that he has us just playing out [...]
Jul
29
St. Martha
July 29, 2008 | 1 Comment
Today is the feast day of St. Martha. To me, she is always one of the most confusing stories of the Bible.
Here she is working her butt off and Mary is getting all of the attention. I’d be a little upset too. How many times have I been the one working my butt off and yet someone else gets [...]
Jun
29
The Pauline Jubilee
June 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today begins the Pauline Year - a year-long jubilee dedicated to St. Paul, apostle to the Gentiles; apostle to us.
I’m hoping to get a great deal out of this celebration over the coming year. St. Paul has so much to teach us.
These are some sites to get us started -
Vatican
Catholic Culture
Tarsus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Jun
24
St. John the Baptist
June 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today is the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. The fact that we celebrate this feast as a a solemnity (which is ranked higher than all other feast days) and the fact that we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist (usually a feast day occurs on the anniversary of the [...]
Jun
22
St. Thomas More
June 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In the Common of Holy Men in the Liturgy of the Hours, there are two parts that always get me fired up.
One is a hymn that goes something like -
“Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things, Give heart, and soul, and mind, and strength to serve the King of kings.
Rise up, O men [...]
Jun
21
St. Aloysius Gonzaga
June 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
We have much to learn from St. Aloysius Gonzaga (Italy, 1568-1591). He was a child of one of the most powerful families in Italy. He could have indulged in the luxuries of the time but chose instead to follow Christ.
He joined the Jesuits as a teenager and at times was almost too zealous in his [...]
