UPDATE 4.16.17: As I write this update Easter Sunday is winding down. I must share this with you. Our youngest girls Annie and Maggie asked to attend every Mass and service during the Triduum. Holy Thursday, Good Friday AND the longer Easter Vigil Mass. Why is this something to write about? Well Laura and I directly attribute this to the Mass Box. The crafts and interactive questions discussed below made them interested in the week’s activities. In fact they both... Read more
Human nature is no barrier to living an angelic life, says St. John Chrysostom. The evil angels were expelled from Heaven, but virtuous humans have been taken into Heaven. But why do I stop at angel? A human being can become God, and a child of God—for we have read, “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you’” (Ps. 82:6). And what’s more, the power to become both God and angel and child of God is put... Read more
St. John Chrysostom says that love makes an angel out of the one who loves. Real love delivers us from all the evil thoughts that keep us from the serenity we should be enjoying. Look at love—see how it spreads everywhere and manages everything (1 Cor. 13:5-6). But do not be weary until you have got to know this golden chain completely. For having said that “love does not insist on its own way,” he goes on to tell us the... Read more
God won’t hear your prayer if you ask him to curse someone you hate, says St. Cyril of Alexandria. You should be asking for the spiritual gifts that will make you part of the company of the angels. When you ask for anyone to die or be exposed to inevitable tortures, be- cause they have annoyed or molested you in any way, God will not grant it. For he wills us to be long-suffering in mind, and not to pay anyone back... Read more
In the Our Father, we ask that God’s will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. What does that mean? We’re asking, St. Cyril of Alexandria explains, for the power to live lives like the angels in Heaven, who always do God’s will. “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Let us examine this part of the prayer, for it will be very profitable for the salvation of our souls. Why did he command the... Read more
This week one lucky winner will receive a complete set of 20 Answers booklets from Catholic Answers (you can read my review of the booklet Miracles here). I use Rafflecopter to run my giveaways which makes it simple for you and me. The contest begins now and ends next Thursday 4/13 with a winner chosen later that day, enter below! a Rafflecopter giveaway Read more
Do you know your own nature? St. John Chrysostom wonders whether you do. If you did, he says, you’d know that you could be an angel—or a beast. Who, you will say, is ignorant of his own nature? Many are—perhaps all but a few. If you like, I will show you the proof of it. Tell me, what is man? If you were asked, could you answer these questions right away: In what part is he different from the animals? In... Read more
How do we treat our own servants? St. Cyril of Alexandria points out that God has a right to be at least as severe on us as we are on the people who serve us. The angels constantly serve God in everything they do: should God expect any less from us? Come, let us see what blame we incur by our disobedience by looking at what happens among ourselves. We ourselves usually demand obedience mingled with fear from our servants. When... Read more
What are miracles and why does God make them happen? Do they hold any importance for us today? How can we tell if something is a legitimate miracle or not? Did God put that image of Jesus in your pancake at breakfast this morning or was that just your imagination working overtime? All these questions and more are answered in the book Miracles (20 Answers Series from Catholic Answers Book 18) by Karlo Broussard. The booklet is part of a... Read more
Animals don’t sin, because they follow the laws of nature laid down for them. Angels in Heaven don’t sin, because their wills are perfectly in tune with God’s. But we, says St. Augustine, are halfway between. If we subdue the part of us that’s like the animals, we can rise to the level of the angels. It is a great question whether there is any rational creature for which there is no pleasure in what is unlawful. If there is such a... Read more
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