Vir Christi writes on Purgatory, the mudroom attached to Heaven, and the Poor Souls residing there who stand in need of our help.
Hearts Open to the Holy Souls in Purgatory
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love
Loving Your Enemy (Even When You’d Rather Not)
Jesus commands to us to love our enemies. Why? How it sane and just to love someone who has hurt you gravely? What does loving such a person entail? How can we love them? Vir Christi answers these difficult questions and more.
A Love without Limits: Imitating Jesus Crucified in Daily Life
A crucifix is a reminder of God’s radical, limitless love. It also confronts us with a daunting challenge as we recall God’s command for us to love as He does. How is this possible for a mere human being crippled by sin? Serafina reflects on all this in her meditation upon Jesus Crucified.
Aliens and the Eucharist—Reclaiming Our Sense of Wonder
Modern man is sunk in boredom and indifference. But what if there are aliens? How would that affect the way we see ourselves, our place in the universe, and God’s unique Presence among us? Would we finally wake up and reclaim our sense of wonder?
Easter: When Desperate Hope Meets Joyful Love
Every one of us has a tomb in our hearts. We have something sitting in our hearts, locked tightly behind a wall of stone. But that tomb, like Christ’s, has no power over us if we let Him into it. Will we?
Prepare the Way! A Guide to a Holy Advent
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?
Filling Our Jars with Water
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 Tiny Sacrifices Matter?
Do minuscule sacrifices like passing on adding a bit of extra cream to your coffee matter? Are they of any worth? How?
Suicide: Why and How the Church Opposes This Evil
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?
Why Did Jesus Institute the Eucharist?
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?
Jesus, Make Our Hearts Like Unto Thine
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: A Shrinking from Love
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.
Beyond Romance: Finding Love in a Loveless Society
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?
“Nothing is Impossible with God”: Answering the Call to Marital Fidelity
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?