There's something about New Year's that inspires hope in me. Every year, during those first seven of the Twelve Days of Christmas, I find myself actively and enthusastically contemplating the start of a new year. No matter how tattered (or forgotten) last year's resolutions are, I am confident that this year will be different. Maybe it's the glow from the Christmas lights, but snarky and cynical shadows of how well last year's resolutions went don't have a chance. It's a New Year, and in some wa...

Today while being prepped for a long dental procedure, my dentist began talking about preparing for Christmas. Having grown up in an Asian country, he told me that even though a non-Christian he had often visited various Catholic churches at Christmastime, attracted by the lights and decorations. As I settled into the dentist chair I listened to this kind, conscientious man. He talked about life and how he was trying to achieve a sort of perfection, a release from the hold that anger, envy, disa...

The question of what makes a movie ideal for Christmas, the day we commemorate and celebrate Jesus’ birth, is subjective. It often depends completely on the audience—among my Facebook friends, for instance, the 1988 thriller Die Hard came out as an unlikely favorite when I recently posted this question. But come to think of it, John McTiernan’s action movie starring Bruce Willis has all the right elements: It starts at a Christmas party and includes danger, a pregnant woman, bad guys, reconci...

The Christmas season is filled with anticipation for some, loneliness for others, and for still others, stress generated by impossible deadlines on their "To Do” and “To Buy” lists. For all of us, however, the four weeks of Advent can help us reflect on our relationship with the sacred reality of TIME.As we wait for the celebration of Christmas, the Advent Liturgy and hymns often remind us: “The Lord does not delay his promise as some regard ‘delay,’ but he is patient with you, not wishing...

Advent holds a very special place in my heart. In the Advent liturgy we are able to experience with all our senses the haunting beauty of this time of ardent longing and waiting. The smells of pine wreaths and burning wax, the plaintive melodies of Advent hymns, the promise-filled prophecies and Old Testament readings, the great Advent figures – they all urge us to focus on what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. In four short weeks we learn to wait, to hope, to be quiet, to prepare. How appr...

A sister in my community and I recently went to a special dinner hosted by the Archdiocese of San Antonio for young women considering consecrated life. I am often reminded at functions like this of the vital importance of Saint Peter's encouragement, "always be ready to offer a reason for your hope." I take it to mean, "be ready to use simple language to tell people why you are so happy." When conversing at any length with people (even "practicing Catholics") about religious life, we are almost ...

I have always loved the readings of the Liturgy in the last couple weeks of November and the end of the liturgical year, particularly the book of Revelation. Just yesterday we began proclaiming the prophetic messages to the seven Churches. Those who are victorious I will feed from the tree of life!  We too want to stand one day robed in white, singing the song of the Lamb. In today's Strength for the Week, Pope Francis offers us some personal spiritual guidance on our journey. In the digital ma...

Way back in 1959, St. Paul Editions, as our publishing house was then called, compiled and printed a marvelous book: the Queen of Apostles Manual of Prayer. It wasn’t just another prayer book—at that time there were hundreds of those on the market—but literally a manual, a how-to, of conversation with God, learned by…praying. It was reprinted and revised more than once. By the time it received a new title, Queen of Apostles Prayer Book, it contained over 400 prayers and novenas. At least tha...

November 15, 2013 (Boston) — Pauline Books & Media is proud to announce the release of Contraception and Catholicism: What the Church Teaches and Why, by Angela Franks, PhD.In this new publication, Franks tackles perhaps the most widely misunderstood Catholic Church teaching of all: contraception. Franks knows firsthand the confusions and objections that arise in response to this controversial subject matter, since as a young Catholic she also questioned the Church’s stance on contraceptio...

September 1, 2013 (Boston) — Pauline Books & Media is pleased to announce the release of Meeting Jesus Christ: Meditations on the Word by Reverend Monsignor J. Brian Bransfield, author of the best-selling The Human Person: According to John Paul II (Pauline Books & Media, 2010) and Living the Beatitudes: A Journey to Life in Christ (Pauline Books & Media, 2011).Monsignor J. Brian Bransfield is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who serves as the Associate General Secretary ...