Clik here to view.
Ten Steps to Holiness (reprise)
One year ago I started a series on Ten Steps to Holiness. I never got past step 7. Interestingly, no one every commented. Either people were content to be seven-tenths of the way to holiness, or it’s...
View ArticleStep 1 – Cease any Serious Sin
Sin. We hate it, but we are fascinated by it. Some people think that the Church’s rules about sin are arbitrary; they believe that we could vote and have 9 commandments instead of 10. Other people...
View ArticleStep 2 – Renew the Habit of Reconciliation
Confession. Penance. Reconciliation. No matter what we call it, the idea of confessing our sins makes us very uncomfortable. This is the sacrament we love to hate. But the Church believes that all...
View ArticleStep 3 – Pray More
Prayer is nothing else but union with God. When one has a heart that is pure and united with God, he is given a kind of serenity and sweetness that makes him ecstatic, a light that surrounds him with...
View ArticleStep 4 – Dive Deeply into the Eucharist
At the Last Supper, Christ gathered his disciples around him. He wanted to leave them something to remember Him by, something that would allow Him to remain with them, the best gift He could think of....
View ArticleStep 5 – Nourish Good Christian Friendships
Msgr. Stephen Rossetti reveals an interesting statistic about priesthood. He looked at all kinds of statistical data about priests with the question of what data would predict a good relationship with...
View ArticleStep 6 – Love the Church
Christianity teaches an amazing truth: God chooses to speak individually and personally with each soul. Individual friendship with the Divine – who could ask for a greater gift! As we begin to listen...
View ArticleStep 7 – Practice Gratitude
“This difficulty in attaining joy seems to us particularly acute today. This is the reason for our message. Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has...
View ArticleStep 8 – Embrace Your Crosses
We all have crosses. Sometimes it seems like we can carry them with joy and ease, and sometimes we feel crushed by them. We try as hard as we can to eliminate our crosses, but they always seem to pop...
View ArticleStep 9 – Relax and Trust
As a priest, I am constantly bombarded with requests. I sit down in the office to catch up on paperwork and someone stops by, “Father, can I talk to you…” Nothing ever seems to get done! I pray and...
View ArticleStep 10 – Abandon Yourself to God
The last and most important step on the road to holiness is the total abandonment of ourselves to God. What does God want from us? Everything. We instinctively fear that we will have nothing left. This...
View ArticleTen Steps to Holiness – Epilogue
Yes, holiness is really this simple: just 10 steps. It isn’t very complicated at all. The first 7 steps set up the entire process. When we Cease any Serious Sin and Renew the Habit of Reconciliation,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Catholic saints costumes
These children dressed up as saints for Halloween. The older girl is Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, her younger sister is the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the baby is Mother Teresa. When I come across...
View Article+312+ Catholics bring glad tidings to the Poor (3rd Sunday)
Ordinary Time, 3rd Sunday. The Israelites return to Jerusalem after their captivity in Babylon. The first thing they do is rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then they listen to the Law read aloud. They...
View Article+322+ God wants You to be Holy (Lent 5)
Lent, 5th Sunday. The election of Pope Francis shows us that the Church is still alive and full of surprises! Perhaps the biggest surprise is this: the Church seriously believes that you can be holy....
View Article+353+ The secret to being a Saint (All Saints)
The Solemnity of All Saints celebrates the dead who are in Heaven with God. We were made for God and we only find our true purpose when we become like God. The saints are praying and rooting for us to...
View ArticleFrBenjamin – The garden of the soul (15th Sunday)
Jesus tells the parable about the seed planted in the field. We have all heard the Gospel, we have all had the seed of the Word planted in our hearts, but we need to cooperate with God in helping that...
View ArticleJesus’ Personal Conduct Policy (#440, 23rd Sunday)
Ordinary Time, 23rd Sunday. The NFL punished Jim Irsay under its “Personal Conduct Policy.” The same policy applies to owners, coaches, players and officials. They expect good behavior on and off the...
View ArticleHow To Respond When God Calls Your Name (#509, 2nd Sunday)
Ordinary Time, 2nd Sunday. We love this cute story and we would all love to hear God call our name. The context of this story is very enlightening and very appropriate for our day. Samuel is a gift to...
View ArticleIf You Want Your Family To Be Happy, Give Your Children Away (#606, Holy Family)
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (Year C) Today we take a step back from the Christ Child in order to meditate on the Holy Family. The family is a gift that comes from the heart of our...
View Article
