Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I love Springtime, because it is a time for new beginnings. Blossoms pop up out of the ground, and leaves pop out on the trees, evidencing new life. This should give us all hope for better days ahead. Springtime is a season that comes around every year, but it is also a season of our lives. Hope in My Students My fondness for Springtime centers around my students; those graduating with undergraduate degrees. As an Adjunct Professor of Theology, it always gives me joy to see students graduate, filled with boundless energy to change the world with their newly earned degrees. As each student begins one of my classes, I meet with each of them, one-on-one. I want to know what it is that they want to do with their undergraduate Theology degree. If you could hear what I hear from them, you. too, would be filled with hope. Some students want to be priests or enter religious life. Others want to teach the faith in their parish. And still others want to take the route I took; to be an au...

Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, with the Gospel reading from Mark 1:7-11. This occasion introduces Jesus to the world as the Son of God – pretty dramatic entrance to the world stage, wouldn’t you say? This passage catches your attention. The Baptism of the Lord is a really big day for three reasons. It marks the end of: The Christmas season, and the beginning of Ordinary Time. Jesus’ private life and the beginning of His ministry. Our separation from God and the beginning of an open line of communication between heaven and earth. 1 We see the physical manifestation of that claim with multiple people hearing the voice of God the Father, when He states, “ You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased ” (Mark 1:11). Baptism Marks an Ending and a Beginning Endings and beginnings remind us of our own baptisms where we died with Christ and became adopted sons and daughters of the Father. Our baptisms... Read more...