I’ve been thinking. This is always a dangerous start for me, but here we go. It seems to me that I tend to think of my life in two very different modes; namely my life as I know it now, and how my life will be in eternity. This can lead to an unhealthy relationship with God. I find myself thinking about gaining admittance into heaven, and death is the end of that mode. Then I enter another mode. In my own mind, and perhaps yours too, the two modes are barely related. I need to remind myself that my life, before and after passing into eternity, is one continuum.
School is just around the corner. Sorry to break that to you, but I thought you should know. In some ways things are easier once school starts. We all get into routines. We basically don’t worry about what we are going to do with the kids all day. For many of our students it is also a time of fresh beginnings; they aren’t missing any assignments and they are not yet drowning trying to figure out a difficult concept.
There is an area near the equator that is known for being difficult for sailors due to the lack of wind. This phenomenon is known as doldrums. As you can imagine, it would be very difficult to get any movement on a sailboat if you found yourself in the midst of the doldrums.
As we approach the Fourth of July, I would like to reflect a bit on the notion of freedom. It seems to me that there are some very faulty understandings of what freedom is, what the source of freedom is, and why we were given freedom by our creator.
In the last two editions I have written about mothers and families. This time, I want to write about fathers and their important role. And, by the way, happy Father's Day to all dads out there. I hope you have a fun and relaxing day with your family. Fun with our families is very important, and often neglected.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson established Mother's Day as an official holiday in the United States, to be celebrated on the second Sunday of May annually. Then, in 1945 Pope Pius XII solidified May as Mary’s month by establishing the Feast of the Queenship of Mary on May 31.
People often note that they get very busy and rather overwhelmed around the holidays. Less noticed is the sense of being overwhelmed as the end of an academic year approaches. What can we do in the face of this feeling? I am not a psychologist, but I would like to offer some advice.
Happy Easter! Yes, we celebrate eight days of Easter as if each day was Easter itself. Then we continue to celebrate the Easter Season for a total of 50 days.
The day this paper goes out is Good Friday, but I am not sure when you will see your copy. I hope you get it on Good Friday. It is an amazing thing that we celebrate.
La Semana Santa está a la vuelta de la esquina. Temáticamente, es la semana más importante del año para los cristianos. Además de la importancia temática, las Liturgias de Semana Santa comunican la importancia y la belleza de nuestra salvación.
Holy Week is just around the corner. Thematically, it is the most important week of the year for Christians. In addition to the thematic importance, the Liturgies of Holy Week communicate the importance and beauty of our salvation.
We are now getting into the teeth of Lent. How are you doing? This is a good time for us to revisit our Lenten promises. Maybe we have already fallen off the horse. Maybe we realize that our promises were a bit too easy and we feel called to go a bit deeper.
I am pondering God’s creation and God’s relationship to it. In the Book of Genesis God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” From the beginning of human existence, the point has been made repeatedly that we are not created to be separated and alone.
Never face adversity by yourself, if at all avoidable. We are conditioned by our culture to be independent and that is fine and good in its own time and way. But, we are not made to be in isolation, and we are not created to face temptation alone. We are not sentenced to trying to grow spiritually alone.
Have you ever taken a picture? I am sure virtually all of us have. Every camera has a lens. Every picture taken is taken through the lens. The lens has an impact on what we see. If the lens is dirty, our pictures will be cloudy. If there is a crack in the lens that will impair our view.
This is the last issue of The Catholic Week before Christmas. I hope and pray that you and your family have a blessed Christmas. You know, it is really stunning when we stop to realize what we are celebrating. We had become alienated from God because of our sin. While we were still sinners, the God of the universe stormed into human history so that He could reconcile us to the Father.
