They say that it is the saints who choose us, and not the other way. For today’s study, I like to think that it was Catherine of Siena who wanted to share about the Second Station of the Cross. At the second station, Jesus is made to bear his cross. We, too, have crosses to bear. And St. Catherine of Siena is the perfect saint to show us how
Read MoreSurely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed him stricken,
Struck down by God, and afflicted.
Read MoreFour days into Lent. How are you doing?
Read MoreOne of the many wonderful aspects of our rich, Catholic faith is the Church’s celebration of those who have gone before us. It’s one thing knowing we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, it’s quite another to be able to name and identify with a specific member of that cloud.
Read MoreJohn 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Read MoreJust as the Israelites wandered 40 days in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land, and as Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before being tempted by Satan, Catholics today spend 40 days preparing themselves for the celebration of and recommitment to our Baptism in Christ Jesus. The Church calls this penitential season “Lent.”
Read More“When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive.”
Read MoreSo Jonah got a do-over. And he got up and preached to Nineveh. He told them the truth. And the truth set them free. Quite literally.
Read MoreJonah has just been vomited up by a fish, not that the first few verses of chapter 3 would indicate that.
Read MoreI first met Jonathon Edwards and his infamous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” inside an American literature book in eleventh grade. It was startling.
Read MoreToday we join Jonah in the belly of the fish.
Read MoreI think this verse pretty much sums up the entire story of Jonah - or at least the part of the story that everyone knows. I almost skipped over it. Of course Jonah got swallowed by the big fish.
Read MoreThis is such a quiet verse; so small and just before the really big story line begins.
Read MoreThen they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
Read MoreAnd they said to one another,
“Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.”
Read MoreAnd they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
Read MoreI’m a terrible judge of character. Awful. I spend a lot of time in my own head and when I finally remember to look out, I am often catching a glimpse of the thing that jolted me into the real world to begin with.
Read MoreDecember 8, 2015 - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - marked the start of an Extraordinary Year of Mercy, called by Pope Francis that we might “gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives.”
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