What do you think of when you think about meditation? You’re probably imagining yourself sitting cross-legged on the floor in an uncomfortable position with your eyes closed. Or maybe when you think about prayer you’re visualizing yourself in a pew in your parish church, not sure exactly what to focus on.There’s another technique for prayer and meditation that’s so amazingly simple, little children do it all the time! It’s coloring. Finding a subject to co...

In 1984 I was in my mid-20s and had the great fortune to live and work in the heart of Philadelphia as a door-to-door evangelizer, carrying the Word of God to men and women in their homes, schools, and businesses all over Pennsylvania and in the areas of New Jersey closest to us. Not only was Philadelphia a growing, thriving area, but in addition the Daughters of Saint Paul community in that city had a “no fear” attitude toward evangelization. With the encouragement of our superior, ...

Have you been blessed to know someone who's stood by your side, rain or shine? Someone you can trust to tell you the truth when that’s what you need to hear, and offer you a listening heart when all you need is to know that there is someone who still cares…?Such friends have entered my life from my earliest reading years until today, shedding light and opening umbrellas on dark and stormy days, and taking my hand and showing me the way when I was confused or needed ass...

Today we’re pleased to bring you an article written by Father Greg Cleveland, who we’ve been introducing to you over the past few weeks.People often ask how they can incorporate Ignatian spirituality into their lives, thinking it more fitting for the lifestyle of priests or religious. Actually, Ignatian spirituality is tailor-made for the active individual, with its goal of finding God in all things, whether in prayer, apostolic activity, or our ordinary daily routines! Prayer and wo...

A lot of people think of Confirmation as some sort of graduation ceremony, during which a person moves on from one part of their life in Christ to another. And to some limited extent, that’s true, as every sacrament brings us deeper into relationship with God.But something very specific is happening at Confirmation. When a person is confirmed, they are anointed with the oil of Chrism, and an anointing is a whole lot better than a graduation.What is chrism? Holy chrism is a mixture of olive...

One of my silliest memories from childhood is the time when I was seven years old and decided I would play a trick on my six-year-old brother, Gordy. It was nighttime, and my mom had probably run a short errand to the neighborhood store. Everyone else was gone, so we were alone in the house.As we were playing, a bright idea came to me: I could scare Gordy by turning out the light and screaming at the top of my lungs. So I stood by the light switch near the door, turned off the light, and commenc...

Not many people automatically associate Ignatian spirituality with children’s Bible reading, but in fact it’s an easy fit. Children love stories and are experiential by nature, and the Ignatian method for meditation on Scripture offers just that.We start the meditation by asking God for his grace, just the way that Ignatius teaches us. Then we use our imaginations to enter into a Gospel story, sensing and feeling what’s happening in the scene.This method we’re describing ...

You’ve probably heard the expression, “knock on wood.”  But what you may not know is that this popular saying refers to one of our own Catholic traditions – that of the recitation of the Rosary. The Rosary was a physical representation of one’s inner faith, and it was natural to finger or touch it when one was in distress or pain. “Knocking” the rosary beads together, people said, was sure to make one’s wish come true!The word itself comes fro...

Look around, at the state of the world, at the multiple crises erupting every day in every corner of the globe, and it’s easy to say, “How could it get worse?”Those were probably the same words used by people exactly one hundred years ago. In 1917, the western world was still engulfed in what would hopefully—and erroneously—be called the “war to end all wars,” warfare on a scale that no one had known before, a war that refined the use of poison, that cla...

Repetition. It’s often seen by those outside the faith as a real stumbling-block to understanding some key components of Catholicism—prayer, liturgy, even the calendar. “You say the same things over and over,” an acquaintance of mine complained one day, shaking his head. “I don’t get it. Do you really think that God didn’t hear you the first time?”Au contraire, mon ami: I am very sure indeed that God heard me the first time. I’ll even go a st...