The word “serenity” is only found once in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: in the section describing the effects of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, quoting the Council of Trent when it declared that a good confession “is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience.” (CCC 1468) This may give the impression that serenity…
Hello Families, The mission of the Church is to continue the work of Jesus. The family, the domestic church, participates in this mission too. Talk about how your family participates in the mission of the Church. Discuss ways in which you seek to reach out to your neighbors and people in need through acts of…
GROW AS A DISCIPLE As I prepared to become a teacher, a professor reminded me that the most effective way to command the attention of a room full of boisterous students is to lower my voice. Matching their volume only adds to the chaos. But approaching with a low, calm voice demands attention due to…
A holy hour is the practice of spending one hour’s time in Sacrament, praying and meditating on the agony of Jesus Christ. More broadly, a holy hour can also refer to any 60 minutes set aside in prayer and reflection, whether in church or elsewhere. The holy hour devotion dates to the late 17th century,…
Hello Families, In our family life we can sometimes hear echoes of the disciples’ excuses: “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Sometimes this echo is heard from children squabbling about the last piece of cake. Sometimes it is heard in our concern about the limits of the family’s income or possessions.…
GROW AS A DISCIPLE In one of the best homilies, I ever heard on today’s Gospel, the homilist pointed out that the Lord had seemingly “over multiplied” the loaves and fish. The crowds had eaten to the point of satisfaction, and yet there were twelve baskets of leftovers remaining. “Why so many leftovers? Did the…
The daily examen is a spiritual practice derived from the writings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. A Basque nobleman, Ignatius underwent a series of religious conversions as a young man following a wound sustained in the Battle of Pamplona in 1521. His Spiritual Exercises were first published in…