Anyone who tries to read the Hebrew Scriptures, what Christians call the Old Testament, discovers from page one that conflict, greed, jealousy, and violence begin to spill like an ugly ink that flows from the human heart into the larger societies in which we live. At the same time individuals are lifted up that make us say: “Wow!” They live in the midst of the same world as we, but, as Jesus said, without being of the world.In the 8th century BC, comes the story we read in the book o...

Blessed Lord, whose love knows no national boundaryWe pray to you today for our nation:Help us to celebrate what is good and strong and justHelp us to reject what is divisive and unfair.Give us the understanding that everything about America—Its land, its people, its history, its futureAre all treasures to be loved,Not belongings to be hoarded.Blessed Lord, whose love transcends time and spaceWe pray to you today for our nation:For our cities that teem with movement and lifeFor our fields ...

Blessed Lord, whose love knows no national boundaryWe pray to you today for our nation:Help us to celebrate what is good and strong and justHelp us to reject what is divisive and unfair.Give us the understanding that everything about America—Its land, its people, its history, its futureAre all treasures to be loved,Not belongings to be hoarded.Blessed Lord, whose love transcends time and spaceWe pray to you today for our nation:For our cities that teem with movement and lifeFor our fields ...

The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. And yet to many people, the devotion seems odd. We worship Christ who was resurrected from the dead, and yet we have a special devotion to his… heart?Humanity has always associated the heart with love. It is the life-force of the body; when the heart stops beating, life ends. So it’s not surprising that as devotion to the Incarnated Christ increased in the Church, people experienced his love for them through his heart.General devot...

How often have you had the experience of stepping back from your busy life and finding yourself alone—on a beach, in the woods, even in a quiet moment in a park—and suddenly felt the nearness of God? It’s probably happened to us all: realizing in one moment of closeness how deeply we love our Creator—and how deeply we’re loved by him. We forget, sometimes, the incarnational aspect of our religion. We are the children of a God who revealed himself fully by comin...

A few years ago, as a single woman, I sat across from a young engaged couple at a Theology of the Body retreat during lunchtime. Curious about their love story, I listened for 45 minutes on how God wove everything together for them—how it took years of prayers and novenas that eventually were answered in the most crazy ways. I mean, it took 45 minutes to tell their story. By the end I was thinking, “Oh my gosh. This is the most amazing love story I’ve ever heard. There’s ...

 Do you think Church history is dull? It's okay to admit it! But here are a few facts that might liven it up a little: Feeling pent up in the Vatican, Pope John Paul II used to sneak out to ski and hike in the Italian Alps. He did it over a hundred times before being discovered by a 10-year-old boy who pointed at him and shouted, "The pope! The pope!" The only Christian church in existence for the first 1,000 years of Christian history was the Roman Catholic Church. Most ...

Note: We’ve been talking recently about Ignatian spirituality, and today we’re bringing you the first in a series by Fr. Greg Cleveland, OMV, the director of the Lanteri Center for Ignatian Spirituality in Denver, Colorado.The charism of my congregation and our founder, Venerable Bruno Lanteri, is to proclaim the mercy of God, especially through parish missions and retreats. We are graced with the mysticism of St. Ignatius and his Spiritual Exercises, which lead people thro...

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, ...