Welcome to Day 3 of the St. Joseph Novena Study! Today’s reading, reflection, and lists are based off of this novena reflection from EWTN: DAY 3: MAN CHOSEN BY THE BLESSED TRINITY Day 3 St. Joseph List Representative of God the Father Sanctity Imitation of Jesus Consecrated to Jesus Holiest Head of the holy family Educate and guide youth of Jesus Cooperate as the instrument of the Holy Spirit Obeyed Carried out work of Holy Spirit Full of the spirit... Read more
Welcome to Day 2 of the St. Joseph Novena Study! We’re going to look at Joseph’s traits and his role as spouse. If you missed Day 1 and would like to catch up, there’s time! Here is Day 1. For those praying along or those curious, today’s list and reflections will be based on this reading: DAY 2: VIRGINAL HUSBAND OF MARY Day 2 St. Joseph List Husband of Mary Protector and witness of Mary’s virginity Calm Humble Deep virtue... Read more
Today we begin Day 1 of the St. Joseph Novena. If you missed it, here is my explainer of this series. For nine days we will be looking at the titles, virtues, and characteristics of St. Joseph. In short, I am following the EWTN St. Joseph Novena and pulling out words that describe who St. Joseph is. This could be adjectives, roles, or otherwise. Each day, I’ll make a list, then reflect on what we can learn from it about... Read more
Welcome to March! This month I am going to try something new here at Formed by a Flame. I am going to do a novena series leading up to the feast of St. Joseph on March 19th. I will not be writing a new novena to pray here because there are better sources for that. Instead, I will be following along with an existing St. Joseph Novena. Each day I hope to observe this holy Saint’s qualities and virtues as... Read more
Storms are often used to present ominous or negative events, but both of the St. Scholastica and the Shipwreck of St. Paul show us that a storm can be a gift. - February 10 Read more
Genre of Faith Last week, I shared songs from two very different sounding genres (Metal and Country) that I find inspiring, prayerful, or worth reflecting on. Interestingly, I find any of these songs to have more in common with each other than many songs within their own genres. What is the commonality between them? They are within the genre of faith. On Genre “Genre is more than just the sound of the music. It’s also, at the bottom, the culture... Read more
On the Genre of Country MusicCountry music is a special genre for it’s storytelling, simple form, and for its history. Almost every artist will shout out another who has gone before them and inspired them in the genre. Following that thread leads you back through eras of red dirt, western music, western swing, and more. Throughout the varying sub-genres that country music has, there seems to be a tradition that recognizes and recreates hymns and gospel music using the simpler... Read more
I wasn’t originally planning a post for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Yet, the thought of it keeps surfacing in my mind, and one of the ways I think God speaks to me is through repetition. Saul of Tarsus – St. Paul When researching for my last post, 4 Metal Songs Anyone Can Pray With, I went back and listened to an album by For Today that dedicates each song to the story of a biblical character.... Read more
On the Genre of Metal or Punk Due to its high energy and often aggressive sounding vocal style, metal/punk/screamo music gives off an immediate impression of angst. If we looks to the Psalms as an example, we can see that it is okay and even good to be honest with God regardless of how we feel. The Psalmist regularly cries out to God in anguish. The psalms express all kinds of lows: sorrow for one’s own sin, frustration with the... Read more
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man. The Brothers Karamazov, book iii, ch. iii – Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Battle of Virtue Virtue can feel like a battle. Battle takes planning. Especially when the world around us is increasingly tempting us with comforts that point to selfish consumption rather than giving of ourselves. As the quote above says, God is constantly... Read more
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