Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled
Looking for Trouble? “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (Jn 14:1). What do you have to do to let your heart be troubled? Nothing. Just do nothing and your heart will gravitate downward toward trouble—not upward to joy, but to trouble: the next obstacle, trial, or conflict. The Lord wants us to work against…
St. Rita of Cascia: One of the Incorruptibles
She has become one of my favorite saints, and yet I usually don’t think of her until her feast day, which every year is May 22. In fact, you would be reading this article earlier, ahead of her feast day, if I had thought ahead. Her feast day also happens to be the day when…
Proper Dispositions of the Reception of Holy Communion
As is the case with each of the Sacraments, the fruitful reception of Holy Communion brings about in the recipient an increase of Sanctifying Grace, the Infused Virtues, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. But the degree of growth in each of the recipients will be proportional to one’s disposition. The minimum required disposition…
Penance and Mortification
Penance and Mortification The modern world has made a mockery of penance and mortification. One of the direct results of the Protestant Reformation was the implicit rejection of an incarnational faith, with notions of “faith alone,” and the explicit rejection of indulgences. The skeptic, or the overly spiritualized Protestant, cannot fathom earthly actions, in the…
True Peace Found in God Alone
“Peace, because we have hoped in Thee.” -Isaias 26:3 He that seeks peace in creatures will never find it, because no creatures are fitted for giving satisfaction to the heart. God has created man for Himself, who is the Infinite Good; wherefore, God alone can content him. Hence it comes that many persons, though loaded…
Making Good Use of God’s Graces
The true reason for which God bestows so many graces upon the humble is this, that the humble are faithful to these graces and make good use of them. They receive them from God and use them in a manner pleasing to God, giving all the glory to Him, without reserving any for themselves. This…
Pregnancy and Fulfilling the Homeschool Mission
Homeschooling while bringing eight infants into this world, suffering through a few miscarriages and recovering from the death of two babies, I think I finally am getting in the swing of things… at least maybe… a little. Inspiring words of comfort from Pope John Paul II highlight the unique experience of motherhood, with its joys…
Metanoia and the Spiritual Experience of Pilgrimage: Part II
The Role of Beauty Beauty and the sacred are connected in human emotions and both have their origin in the experience of God. This is news for many people. So many await this revelation and do not know that they are missing out because no one has announced to them these blessed realities, things they…
