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  Es mayo Señor, y la Iglesia que tu fundaste, le ha dedicado este mes a María.   Vengo ante ti, la Capilla está vacía y en este silencio y soledad encuentro el momento propicio para hablar un rato contigo... podemos hablar de muchas cosas.... y traigo en el alma tantas penas, tantas preocupaciones, tantos desvelos, todos encerrados en mi "pequeño mundo" pero no. Hoy no te voy a hablar de mi, tu me conoces, tu lo sabes todo, Señor... Hoy voy a hablar contigo de Ella, de tu Madre, de mi Madre, porque tu me la diste, me la entregaste desde la Cruz donde ya estabas a punto de morir. ver mas....  

Charity is known as the queen of all virtues. Therefore, it stands that the grace of Charity, bestowed upon us by God, is the fuel that propels us to do good, the glue that holds family and relationships together and the impetus for embracing all other virtue. We can do nothing truly good, without charity in our heart as the basis for action. Take for example this passage from Luke 21:1-4. When he looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.’ Where the wealthy give from their surplus, most likely to receive esteem from their peers, the poor widow gives everything she has, for the love of God. Her act was a true act of charity; whereas, the wealthy’s intentions make their act one that has

In doing research for my next book, I came across this fantastic site in France: the cathedral of Notre Dame in Amiens. Capable of encompassing 10,000 people, it is the largest cathedral in the country. The facade has numerous statues and sculptures, and the interior boasts of a labyrinth and thousands of wood carvings and paintings. The church has been called "the Bible of Amiens." Inside, 126 sky-high pillars support this immense structure built in the Middle Ages. Allegedly the skull of St. John the Baptist is kept there. It was discovered that at one time the statues that adorn the exterior were painted. Now in the evenings a polychrome light show illuminating these statues is presented. That is what you see in the video here. This is a far cry from the home churches where the Christians celebrated the Eucharist during the first three hundred years!   Click to continue

Today’s Gospel:  John 15:9-17  – 6th Sunday of Easter The Gospel for today is a concise description of our new, glorious life in Christ. The Christian life is an incredible life, mind-boggling if we really stop for a moment and allow the truth about it to sink in. Jesus loves us, mere mortals, with the same depth and intensity as the Father loved Him. continue

The grace of Hope that God bestows upon us, is not a hope for things of this world, but a hope in everlasting life. It is with the grace of Hope that we can place our trust in Christ and His promises. With Hope, we do not rely upon ourselves, but rather on the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Hope gives us aspirations, rather than desperations. With the grace of Hope, we aspire to be happy, even in times of trial. Especially during times of trial, we can find joy and hope, because of Christ and His promises of salvation. Hope gives us encouragement, rather than discouragement. With the Grace of Hope: We know that Christ is always with us, and He will never abandon us. Hope is a... Read more...

Some events and some experiences are so awesome that we find it difficult to capture them in words. The first Christians, for instance, found the Resurrection so utterly amazing that words failed them. Only the sun in all its splendour seemed an appropriate symbol to express the inexpressible world-shaking event that took place on the first Easter Day. That is why they called their holy day, the day of the sun or Sunday as a weekly reminder of this stupendous event. The sun not only reminded them of the love of God that filled Christ at  the moment of his Resurrection, but of that same infinite love,  as it was released to fill them on the first Pentecost day and on every subsequent day if they were open to receive it.  Read on.....

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Christ Blessing the Children , Nicolaes Maes  [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 15:9-17 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition) Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have c

image-  Nancy Noel, The Butterfly. When I first started to mother, I was determined to raise committed Catholic Christians and so I tried too hard. I had the mistaken notion that my kids were blank slates and I personally had to teach them everything. I assumed the role of the teacher, the resident expert. However, God had to shake me out of this arrogant stance by humbling me in the face of my children’s unique, innate spirituality.  Kids have a pure, open relationship with the heavenly Father and Mother Mary. continue

Fr PJ McGlinchey (6 June 1928 - 24 April 2018) Patrick James McGlinchey was born in the village of Raphoe, which gives its name to the Diocese of Raphoe, on 6 June 1928. He was always known as 'PJ'. In Korea he was known  by the Korean name of Yim Pi-jae, a derived from the first letter of each of his English names: Yim for the 'M' in McGlinchey, pi for the 'P' in Patrick and jae for the 'J' in James. (This information is from a fine article published in Korea in 2014:  Sixty years on Jejudo: Irish priest shares his memories ) . He died in a hospice he had built on the island of Jeju - 'Jejudo' is the Korean for 'Jeju Island' - where he had lived for most of his life and was buried there on. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.  May his noble soul be at the right hand of God. Fr PJ McGlinchey with President Mary McAleese of Ireland and her husband Dr Martin McAleese Jeju, March 2005 Below is a post I published on 16 Octobe

Faith is the bedrock of Christian living. Without a strong faith, we would easily lose our way. But, the grace of Faith guides us, and aides us in getting to know God intimately. It is through the grace of faith that we come to know God, our Father, Creator of all that is good. Faith is a gift from God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. ‘Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.’ 1 The Grace of Faith leads us to God Faith, combined with the use of reason, leads us to determine what is true. So, rather than believing in “alternative facts,” we apply our faith, and use our reason, to determine objective truth. With the knowledge of objective truth, we choose to follow God’s way. We know this is the right thing to do because... Read more...

Revived pig brains, memory backups and ethical questions have been in the news. It sounds like a B movie scenario, but the research is quite real. So are the questions. I'll be talking about research, technology, and I'm glad that folks at MIT decided that brain backups were a dubious goal. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This week I've been visiting religious goods stores and offering my latest book, "Heart to Heart with Mary: A Yearly Devotional," in which Mary speaks to us personally each day. This book is perfect now for several reasons. It makes a nice gift for Mother's Day. We are in the month of May, which is dedicated to Mary, our heavenly Mother. Moreover, we have a newly proclaimed "Mary Mother of the Church" memorial to observe on Mondays after Pentecost (for the first time on May 21 this year). The book is available as a softcover book and an e-book. When it was published, Sister Margaret Kerry, FSP, wrote the following review for it, which appeared on the Catholic Mom website and is reprinted here:  click to continue

Fr  Seán J. McGrath (15 June 1930 - 27 April 2018) Seán Joseph McGrath was born on 15 June 1930 at Killen, Coalisland, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Educated at Aughamullan Public Elementary School and St Patrick's College, Armagh, he entered St Columban's, Dalgan Park, County Meath, Ireland, in September 1948. He was ordained priest on 21 December 1954. Main Street, Killen  [ Wikipedia ] Continue here .

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Let me take you back in time, to the early 1860’s, when the American Civil War was raging. There, we meet Brigid McGinnis, in Amanda Lauer’s  A Life Such as Heaven Intended .  Brigid is 17, and coming of age, as a typical southern belle. However, rather than marrying, Brigid sees herself giving her life to God as a nun. That is, until one day, when Brigid finds a very handsome stranger, lying injured in her backyard. Charitable young thing that she is, Brigid tends to the injured soldier, who seems to have lost his memory because of a head injury. Together, she and the injured soldier try to make sense of what might have happened to him. As he recovers under Brigid’s care, love blossoms between the two. From the onset, Lauer takes us on a romantic journey of chaste love, valuing the virtue of chastity. In this second book in a series, we see the virtues of charity, compassion, honesty and love on full display. There are fascinating sub-plots addressing the horror of slavery, and

En nuestra vida tenemos muy bien programadas nuestras horas, nuestras semanas. Tiempo para trabajar, tiempo para el ejercicio, tiempo para tomar alimentos, de preferencia los que más nos gustan, tiempo para descansar o divertirnos, pero...   ¿y el tiempo para Dios?.    No encontramos tiempo para Dios, para orar. teniendo comunicación con El que es quién precisamente nos da ese tiempo que repartimos en nuestro muy personal plan de vida. Y llega el domingo... Si estamos en un lugar de descanso, de monte o de playa, ¡qué difícil es programarnos para ir a misa!. Si nos hemos quedado en la ciudad, ¡con qué mezquindad le damos a Dios la media hora de misa de los domingos! ver más...  

Whether or not I believe in ghosts depends on what's meant by "believe in" and "ghosts." And how I see myself, for that matter. I'll be talking about ghosts and why I think seances are a bad idea. Also, briefly, superstition and metaphysics. I don't fear that an ancestral banshee might come to the new world and find me. Or think spirit photographers were selling pictures of ghosts. If that's 'believing in ghosts,' then I don't. On the other hand, I'm not a materialist. I think part of me won't die, no matter what happens to my body.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

FATHER IGNATIUS FACES FAILURE CLICK HERE

Some folks act as if they think physical reality is bad and having a body is icky. The notion's 'Biblical,' sort of. Galatians 5:19 through 21 call bad ideas like licentiousness, hatreds and idolatry "works of the flesh." With a little paraphrasing, I could claim that 1 Corinthians 3:3 says jealousy and rivalry are "of the flesh." Romans 8:3 mentions "sinful flesh." Taking those verses, ignoring Genesis 1:31 , Psalms 84:3 , Ecclesiastes 2:24 - 25 and two millennia of Catholic teaching, and I might see loathing physical reality as an option. But not, I think, a reasonable one.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .