There is a Longing

     Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday and mark the conclusion of the Octave of Easter. It is fitting that we hear of the institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for Christ’s Resurrection is a call to repentance and newness of life. Indeed, the entirety of our Christian life is a continual conversion, a turning back to God and delving deeper into His love.      Made in the image and likeness of God, we are made for greatness. Not the greatness of the world, but the greatness of knowing our Creator and living in union with Him. But we are also frail, broken creatures, caught in a cycle of falling and struggling to get up again. Our Lord knows this, and in His mercy forgives our failings. His hand is always outstretched to help us stand and He provides the grace to avoid stumbling blocks. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, He makes these graces of healing available to us and we can strengthen our confidence in Him.      Now ...

(Photo Credit: Columbus Catholic Women's Conference, Facebook) This past February, along with over 3000 other women, we attended the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference. The talks by Fr. John Riccardo, Carrie Daunt, Sr. Mercedes Torres, Sarah Swafford, & Mary Guilfoyle were uplifting & inspiring. In addition, there were various vendors sharing their ministries & religious materials, an Adoration chapel for private prayer, & relics of St. Padre Pio available for veneration. Fr. John Riccardo also led an hour of Adoration. We prayed & adored Our Lord as Father walked around the conference seating area with the Blessed Sacrament. In his talk later that afternoon, he spoke of how powerful it was for him to process with Our Lord around the room. He said that each time he turned the monstrance toward someone or a section of those in attendance, it was not of his own choosing, but Our Lord leading him.  The procession touched me in a way I'd never experienced ...

  Birth and death are the two major experiences every person throughout all of history has shared in common. Birth is an experience (hopefully) filled with joy, potential, and excitement; whereas Death is usually accompanied with grief, sorrow, and sometimes regret. Our Good Lord, in becoming man, didn’t cut corners. He shared in our experiences, from birth to death, raising them to a new dignity, revealed especially in the light of His Resurrection. Yes, He gives us the promise of a new experience, one we can share with Him: life after death. A second, permanent birth, into eternity. Easter is a celebration of this. A celebration of victory over death and grief, a victory over sin and the enemy; won for us, that we who were unworthy, might be made worthy through Christ Jesus; worthy of a share in this victory, in this new dignity, and in the Resurrection.  As Christians, we also share in a universal call. The call to relationship with God. The call to holiness. Rela...

This is my body, which will be given up for you; do this in memory of me…This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.  On the eve of His death, Jesus institutes the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist, which will become the summit of our Catholic faith, a profound source of grace, and the pathway to Eternal Life.  He also leaves us the instruction to imitate His own example:  Let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant.  He reminds us to have confidence in God, Who knows the extent of our poverty and pain:  Were you in need of anything?  No, nothing, they replied. Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.  Burdened by the tremendous sacrifice before Him and by the weight of our sin, Jesus teaches us to take refuge in prayer and submission to God’s Holy Will.  Yet we, like the Apostles, are often blinded to the sorrows of His Sacred He...

Numbers 21:4-9 was the first reading from the daily Mass yesterday (4/8/2025). The passage details what happened to the Israelites who grumbled against Moses & the Lord, questioning why they were led to the desert, only to die. God punished them by sending saraph serpents which bit & killed many of them. They went to Moses, imploring him to intercede & ask God to take the serpents away. God, in turn, had Moses make a serpent & attach it to a bronze pole. Anyone bitten was to look upon it & they would live. The translation used for the Mass reading does not say the people would be “healed” , only that they would “live” . Curious about how the passage had been translated in other Bibles, I went to the Bible Gateway website . I looked up at least 25 Bible translations, most of which used the word “live”. Two used “recovered” , & three said “healed” (Douay Rheims 1899, The Voice, & Wycliffe). That got me thinking…why would God want the Israelites to live, but ...

  When we were younger, my siblings and I excelled in the art of tattletaling.  One instance (which I will never live down) was when I attempted to slap my older brother.  He was being annoying, so naturally I wanted to hit him.  Foreseeing my action, he raised his hand and turned my strike into a high-five.  I ran to Mom in order to “tell on” him, but realized too late how pathetic my case looked.  “Mom, I tried to hit Sam, but he just gave me a high-five!”   Guess who got the scolding?  I’ll give you a hint.  It wasn’t my brother. You could say that the scribes and Pharisees were playing their own game of tattletale, only with a more devious motive.  They weren’t really interested in the adulterous woman.  They were more occupied with catching Jesus.  One statement contradicting the law was all they needed in order to silence Him.  Presenting Him with the adulterous woman was the perfect opportunity.   It...

  Joan Carroll Cruz is a favorite Catholic author of ours, so don't be surprised if you see more of her books in future posts! If I remember correctly, I believe Eucharistic Miracles and Eucharistic Phenomena in the Lives of the Saints was the first of hers which I read. Published in 1987, this is a collection of 36 miracles throughout history (as early as the 8th century & as recent as the 20th) which show proof of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The author det ails these miracles, including investigations made into them & even telling where some can still be witnessed today. In the 2nd part of the book, she explains Eucharistic phenomena of saints who lived on the Eucharistic alone, experienced levitations, visions, raptures, & other extraordinary experiences surrounding the Real Presence.  Throughout the book, there are photos of some of the miracles, artistic renderings of the miracles & people who experienced them, & photos of the locati...