Advent and Lent are both seasons of penance and preparation. Yet they are meant to be celebrated in unique ways. How? And what specifically might we do so that Advent isn’t merely a time-marking season leading up to Christmas?
There are many points to meditate on in John’s account of the wedding at Cana. Jesus’ command to the servers has especially attracted my notice.
“Fill the jars with water.”
What a simple order. Anyone can do this. What this means is that…
Do minuscule sacrifices like passing on adding a bit of extra cream to your coffee matter? Are they of any worth? How?
Many people have had their life touched by the issue of suicide. I, personally, have grappled with suicidal thoughts and witnessed the consequences of someone committing suicide. Amidst all the sorrow caused by this evil, we might ask:
What does the Catholic Church teach about suicide? Why? And what can you and I do?
Something that frequently gets omitted in conversations about the Eucharist is not the what or the how, but the why. Why would God bother giving us the Eucharist in the first place? What’s the point of transforming bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ?
In the midst of all of the solemnities the Church celebrates around the month of June, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart gets overlooked. Why does the Church ascribe so much importance to an internal organ of Our Lord? Isn’t that kind of strange?
Sloth can be a difficult sin to identify. The other capital sins are “active” sins: we consciously choose to do something evil. Sloth is a sin of omission: we fail to do something good. It is easy to dismiss because we’re not actively doing any harm—or so we think.
Right like clockwork, every year on December 26th stores begin sweeping away their Christmas stock to put up Valentine’s Day gear. Candy, bouquets, cards, and other forms of goodies and romantic gifts can be found lining the shelves. As Catholics, we have a unique opportunity this time of year to teach others about the proper meaning of love. That’s what Valentine’s Day is supposed to be all about. But does our society recognize what love actually is?
Instead of expecting marriages to last, our culture has grown in the past century to tolerate and even expect divorce. Since all of us are sinful and imperfect, how can we confidently make a lifetime commitment to another flawed person in marriage?