Acts of the Apostles is one of the most hopeful books in the Bible. And yet, in the midst of the inspiring stories of the early Church, we have the sobering tale of Ananias and Sapphira, the married couple who lie about their charity and fall dead at the apostles’ feet.
In his final encyclical He Loved Us, Pope Francis devoted particular attention to the reflections of Saint Therese of Lisieux on the sacred heart of Jesus. In her inimitable, childlike love of Christ, Saint Therese embodied the sanctity of this devotion in a special way. Pope Francis wrote: “As we contemplate
If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He loves you. He loves you so much that He was willing to die for you. Read chapter 23 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, humanity was plagued by sin.
If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He is just. Read chapter 16 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is in many ways a reverse image of the parable of the prodigal son and the parable
If you want to know Jesus, you need to know His mercy. Read Chapter 15 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son to illustrate the great mercy of God. The story first illuminates the gravity of our sins. It might be
Everyone should read the Gospel of Luke. Why should everyone read the Gospel of Luke? For starters, a strong case can be made that Jesus is the most significant person who ever lived. (Time magazine ranked him #1 among the most significant people in history, back in 2013. I cite
Q. What is an indulgence? A. “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of
Hence I ask, did they [the Israelites] stumble so as to fall? Of course not! But through their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is enrichment for the world, and if their diminished number is enrichment for the Gentiles, how
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. For the scripture says, “No one
At some stage of your education, you probably encountered Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow depicted human needs as a pyramid, with our basic needs for food, shelter, safety and security as the base of the pyramid, our psychological needs for love, belonging and esteem in the middle, and our self-actualization
Despair could be called the opposite of presumption. It may be more precise to call it the opposite of hope. In broad terms despair means no exit; our problems have no solution; our life has no meaning. In specific Christian terms, it is the belief that what we have done
In a fallen world there can be no communion without suffering. (1) God will not give us more suffering than we can handle. All that we need to do is accept His grace. Our suffering, united to the Lord’s Passion, will bring us into communion with Him. He suffered for
If the child is wanted, the parents share ultrasound pictures of the baby with their family and friends. “Here is his arm.” “Here are her legs.” “Look at his face.” “Look at her little nose!” The parents (often times) will tell if you if they’re having a boy or a
“My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of
Our parish priest shared a powerful story about God’s forgiveness recently that I had to share. The story concerns Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom Jesus revealed the devotion to his Sacred Heart. When Saint Margaret Mary shared Jesus’ message with her confessor, Saint Claude do la Colombiere, he was
In France in the year 1664, a seventeen year-old girl was enjoying herself dancing at a ball, when she saw Jesus as He looked during His Passion. Jesus asked her if she had forgotten about Him. That girl entered a convent, and added the name Mary to her given name,
“Say the word, Lord. I am ready to strike. Say the word, and I will destroy all those who kill you.” “Put away your sword, Michael. It is for their sake that my blood is being spilled.” (1275) “But you desire justice, Lord. It isn’t just for you to suffer.
So how do we have a personal encounter with Jesus? We talk to Him. I’ve written elsewhere about the value of praying the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Those are exceptional, efficacious prayers that lead to the salvation of souls. They are prayers that Jesus and Mary have expressly
Suffering has no meaning – unless Jesus rose from the dead. The Son of God became man so that He could share in our humanity and raise us up to His divinity. In becoming man, while He did not sin, He accepted the wages of sin – suffering and death.
“What are you proud of?” It was a question on one of my son’s school assignments, but it’s also a question that’s pervasive in our society. Children and adults alike are encouraged to take pride in themselves and their accomplishments. And that’s a good thing, right? Isn’t that how we