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He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." Why. Why did He desire it, and for how long? He is God, how long can God desire one Passover? I'll tell you how long, since the fall of Adam and Eve. Before there was a Passover, God desired this one. Why this one? Because it is a sacrifice offered that would NEVER be rejected by God... TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

Some folks, like the magi and shepherds, were happy about our Lord's birth. King Herod, not so much. Today's Gospel reading, Matthew 2:1 - 12 , talks about this mixed reaction. Two millennia later, I'm on the same page as the shepherds and wise men. I think our Lord's birth is cause for rejoicing. ( Matthew 2:10 ;  Luke 2:20 ) "Only the Beginning of a Great Procession" " For the Church which believes and prays, the Wise Men from the East who, guided by the star, made their way to the manger of Bethlehem, are only the beginning of a great procession which winds throughout history.... " (" Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Homily of Benedict XVI ," (January 6, 2013)) Today is Epiphany Sunday, when the wise men arrive at the nativity scene in our living room, and we remember Matthew's account of the magi. As usual, there's quite a bit going on.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Today's the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. It's one of those holy days of obligation, when Catholics go to church, and it's not Sunday. (" Directory on popular piety and the liturgy. Principles and guidelines ," The Liturgical Year and Popular Piety , 115-117) "Mother of God?" I'm a Christian, so I think my Lord is God: God the Son, second member of the Trinity, and that's another topic. Topics. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 232 - 260 , 456 - 478 , 2673 - 2679 ) Mary is my Lord's mother, so it's like St. John Paul said: " ...In her the eternal Son of the Father took our very flesh and through Her became "son of David and son of Abraham" (Mt 1,1). Thus Mary is his true Mother: the Theotokos, Mother of God! " If Jesus is Life, Mary is the Mother of Life. " If Jesus is Hope, Mary is the Mother of Hope. " If Jesus is Peace, Mary is the Mother of Peace, Mother of the Prince

Children are hungry for affirmation. Children are desperate for love, for family, for an understanding of their place in the world. Children who lack these things grow up hating themselves and wanting to disappear, or forcing others to pay attention to their outrageous displays of addiction or terror. The truth about Christmas provides all the affirmation we need: the only reason we exist is because our God created us out of love; and when we forgot this, God proved his love by becoming one of us. Relentless headlines tell us about school shootings, suicides, rampant drug use, epidemic STDs, teenagers joining terrorist groups. . . . This is not God's plan for us or for our children. And we don't begin to address the crisis by telling children how great they are. We free our children by showing them how great God is. Read more at Praying with Grace .

I do not know how I would cope with my life if I were not Catholic. I can easily tell you that I would not cope well. Years of living beforehand would bear that out. Here are some differences in how I get through tough times today vs. during my "heretical" years.  (1) My emotions do not control my decisions as much Free will has to do with making decisions without being driven by emotions. I am making more solid, logical and clear choices now than I ever have before. During my "heretical years," I believed that free will had to do with extricating myself from the oppression of moral obligations in order to be free to follow my feelings. How did that work out for me? Hmm.. I'm writing this... so... (2) I take care to have selfless motives.  When I pursue being of the greatest service to God above the motives for comfort, public opinion or material things, each decision I make has meaning. When I work to make my life a gift to God rather than a gif

Time:  1970's  Location: Midwest farm...the Kitchen. A young boy of the age of 12 with brown hair sat at a kitchen table, writing something on a paper, possibly a homework assignment.  Into the kitchen comes a woman with brown hair, tied in a bun in a blue dress with a baby on the hip.  There are two small children trailing behind her, and she is carrying a bag of groceries.  "Jesus..." She didn't even have to finish His name, the young boy at the table had turned when she came in the room and was already rising from his chair, taking the grocery bag from her and digging into the bag to put the food away.  TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

Today's Gospel reading starts on the second verse of this excerpt: " 'But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. " Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. " It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. " Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. " May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. " What I say to you, I say to all: "Watch!" ' " ( Mark 13:32 - 37 ) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From John Martin, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Detail from John Martin's "The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah." (1852)) By some standards, this isn't a particularly "Christian" blog. I don't rant about the unending fires of Hell, or dwell on cheerful thoughts like this: " ...The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you.... " ( Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God ," Jonathan Edwards (1741)) That's because it's not 1741 any more, and I'm Catholic. I've talked about the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards, and Mark Twain, before. ( December 1, 2013 ) As a Christian, I agree with Simon Peter.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Alone at St. Stephen the Martyr.  In the dark, in front of the tabernacle, just me and Him. This is where I am happiest, with Him. The door opens and a woman comes in in nurses scrubs, and sits down.  She is crying.   She is crying so loud it tears at my heart.  I go to her. With tears in her eyes she looks up at me.  She sees perhaps the compassion in my eyes and that I want to be with her and moves over so I can sit down. "I'm here if you need to talk, if you need anything." TO CONTINUE READING - CLICK HERE

When a scholar of the law asked Jesus for the greatest Commandment, my Lord gave two.... ...The Samaritan: An Unexpected 'Good Guy' After two millennia, the shock of a Samaritan being the 'good guy' in this sort of story has worn off. Jews and Samaritans did not get along: at all. These days, it'd be like telling a story in a redneck bar: where a coal miner, poor farmer, and truck driver wouldn't help the accident victim: but an east Asian immigrant did.... ...Okay: I've had a cup of coffee, walked around a bit, and calmed down. Let's see, where was I? The greatest Commandment, the good Samaritan. Right. The rules are simple, but not easy.... ...I'd like to end world hunger, establish a lasting peace, and cure the common cold. That's not gonna happen. For starters, I don't have the connections or power to get any of that done. Besides, things take time.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

One day a new demon was asking questions of his demonic mentor, the elder demon assigned to show him the ropes so to speak.  "Why does the illustrious evil one hate humans so?"  asked the new demon. "You don't know?"   TO HEAR THE REST OF THE CONVERSATION...CLICK HERE!

"Mom, why do you go to Mass everyday?" "Because I love Him."   "Who?" "Our Lord." "Oh." "You don't understand do you." "Not really."   TO READ MORE CLICK HERE!  

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2014: Isaiah 25:6 - 10a Philippians 4:12 - 14 , 19 - 20 Matthew 22:1 - 14 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2014 By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas October 12, 2014 This is a story of an older couple to be married. Both had lost their spouses to death and had grown children. The combined children sent out this wedding invitation to their friends on behalf of their mother and father, Philip, Richard, Karen and Allison, John, Matt and Steve, we request your presence at the marriage of our mother and father. Because they are combining two households, they already have at least two of everything, so please! no presents! Reception and garage sale immediately following the ceremony.... (A guest post) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Tribal Textiles   License : CC Fanny Schertzer Who’s your "tribe"? Who supports your mission as a family? Historically (and pre-historically), humans congregated in tribes. Tribal living made us safer, distributed our work, and connected us with strong bonds. Many people, especially women, probably didn’t have much choice about the tribe they belonged to or their place in it. Our modern, mobile society has improved things in this respect: if I don’t get along with my family or I hate the weather, I can always pack up and move. Yet this mobility has weakened our bonds. Read on at Praying with Grace !

Several years ago, as I was on my way into St. Patrick’s Church, a man approached me. His eyes looked straight into mine, searching for something. Perhaps directions to some place in the neighborhood? Then he inquired, “Let me ask you something. Why do you go to church?” Spontaneously, I answered, ”Because I love Jesus.” My answer surprised me. It sounded like a slogan from Vacation Bible School. Sometimes the Holy Spirit catches me with my barriers down and blurts out the truth. The man smiled, and then leaned toward me intently. ”But why do you go to this church? He pointed to the church building in front of us. I shrugged, "This is where I live, and Jesus is here. If I lived in a different neighborhood, I’d go to a church there.” He nodded and slowly walked away. That encounter came to mind as I thought about the many opportunities the Lord puts right in front of me to tell about my faith in God. My natural shyness prevents many of these occasions from making any im

My father reminded me of this good advice when I was in my teens: "...whatever is true, ... whatever is lovely, ... think about these things." My response was something like '...because they won't last.' I wasn't happy about saying that at the time. Decades later, I still regret the statement. I can't, of course, undo what was done: and the time for telling my father "I'm sorry" has long since passed. In any case, I said "I'm sorry" too often, and that's almost another topic. That quote is from today's second reading, Philippians 4:6 - 9 . I'll get back to that. Today, thanks to very powerful antidepressants and a few other psychoactive prescriptions, I no longer have to fight the controls to make my brain work. I even have moments when I feel good about who I am and what I do. That's a nice change of pace.... Joy, Zest, and Mud As it is, I had an opportunity to reason my way out of suicide : and dev

It's time. This is what I saw.  The words underneath the vision of the Eucharist is what I heard.  A man's voice, gentle, but with authority to it that you did not question.  Now the history.... TO READ MORE CLICK HERE.

Samuel Clemens may have taken God seriously: but not his era's version of Christianity. His "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" include Huck's reactions to well-intentioned religious instruction by the Widow Douglas — and "pretty ornery preaching." " It was pretty ornery preaching—all about brotherly love, and such-like tiresomeness; but everybody said it was a good sermon, and they all talked it over going home, and had such a powerful lot to say about faith and good works and free grace and preforeordestination, and I don't know what all, that it did seem to me to be one of the roughest Sundays I had run across yet. " ("Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Chapter XVIII , Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens (1885)) Called by God If I thought predestination meant that God had decided ahead of time whether I was heading for Heaven or Hell, I might feel hopeless or self-righteous. Robert Burns' Holy Willie dramatizes what can happen when

NOTE: To understand this posting, you have to read Fearless (Part 1) which you can read.. .HERE Sometime after my first experience as written about in Fearless (Part 1), I was again praying the Stations of the Cross.  I get to the fourth Station, the Station where Jesus meets His Mother and I the Lord reminded me of the day when the pews made all that noise and St. Michael and my Guardian Angel showed up.   Then He said to me,  "I want to show you what was coming after you that day."  To read more... CLICK HERE!

Earlier this year, someone asked me if I realized that Catholics are cannibals. I responded with something like 'yes, but it wasn't our idea.' I'm pretty sure that the person wasn't trying to be offensive. I run into odd notions about Catholic beliefs fairly often. I suspect they're often rooted in America's endemic anti-catholicism. ( January 6, 2013 ; February 29, 2012 ) Besides: the person was quite right in this case. Here's part of today's Gospel reading: " Whoever eats 19 my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. " For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. " ( John 6:54 - 55 ) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .