The Family: A School for the Cardinal Virtues

As a parent you are responsible for shaping the hearts and habits of your children. The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. Failure to build up virtue and correct vice in the life of your children hinders their ultimate goal of being more like God, which can set them up for a life of self-absorption, impulsiveness, imprudence, and cowardice. The ardent desire to have virtuous children must be equally matched with an unshakable resolve to invest the time and energy necessary for the formation of virtue.

A Lenten Walk with Saint Joseph

This Lenten season, before we take up the usual practices of not eating dark chocolate and drinking fine Bordeaux wine (which are certainly severe enough abstentions that one could have faithfully completed these as Lenten penances), perhaps we could use Lent as an opportunity to increase in learning and turn away from evil. In suggesting this and in keeping with the year of St. Joseph, we can turn to the man whom God called just and saw fit to be the guardian and protector of Christ and his mother. St. Joseph, the man to whom no words are attributed in Scripture, has much he can teach us about growing spiritually.

Parish Serves Poor in a Time of Great Need

“It’s the community,” he said. “We’re all brothers and sisters here. It’s getting to know the other volunteers. We call each other and check in on each other.” Not only are the volunteers of the SMM Food Pantry being witnesses of Christ’s love for the poor in their community, they are also serving each other.

Book Review: A Church in Crisis

Review by Dr. Luke Arredondo
We need to center our lives around the Eucharist, nourish our minds and hearts by reading and reverencing the Scriptures, and beg upon and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. Rather than give in to sorrow about the current crises facing the Church, Martin exhorts all of us to cling more steadfastly to the Lord. As Bishop Strickland is fond of saying, we need to be first century Christians in a twenty first century world.

Searching for the Feminine

By Ann H. Burns
Being womanly is so good and necessary. Being gentle is beautiful. When we are gentle, a powerful strength surges forth, heals, rejuvenates, and gives life. When we are gentle we are strong. When we are loving, and ready to give of ourselves, spring conquers the coldness of winter.

Lenten Practices for Youth

In the Gospels, whenever Jesus traveled alone it was usually to find a place to pray. Jesus prays in order to teach us how to pray. In the sixth chapter of Matthew, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and it is on this occasion that Jesus gives us the “Our Father.”

Responding to God’s Search for Us

From the very beginning of the Catechism, the Church proclaims to its reader the good news of salvation. God, who is completely perfect in himself, chose to create man to share his eternal life. This is God’s will for man – that man share in his blessed life for all eternity.

“Turn Back O Children of Men!”

The tragedy of the story is that humans used their intellectual and physical powers to stop babies from happening so much so that their bodies followed suit. When Julian conceives against the stark backdrop of a childless landscape, there is no doubt that there is a human child’s life at stake, and her companions risk everything to protect mother and baby.

Peter is Here

While it is impossible to know with medical certainty the identity of the bones discovered in the first-century tomb, they were found next to a scratched inscription from the third century that proclaims, Petros Eni- Peter is here.