Fr. Robert Barron’s Lenten meditation for today talks about how the ego gets in the way of becoming holier. If you ever encounter a person who has this “I’m holier than thou!” vibe, they’re doing it wrong! A wonderful example of someone who lived a wonderful holy, humble life is St. Joseph whose feast day is today. My friends Rachel and Kateri made this wonderful video about St. Joseph that goes beyond the images we usually associate with the foster... Read more
Although Fr. Robert’s meditation for today has nothing to do with my post, I’m gonna share it anyway. While surfing the internet, I found a series of videos from the Preaching Friars YouTube that looks at Harry Potter through a Catholic perspective. You have no idea how awesome it is when things in culture can be seen through the eyes of faith. In my college days, I had 2 sets of friends: one group of friends were Catholic, strong in their faith.... Read more
At the end of the retreat I staffed yesterday, there was a talk about how to take what you’ve learned from the retreat and carry it with you. It seems like after a retreat, there are five stages that retreaters go through. Adding everyone you met at the retreat onto social media accounts, whether you really bonded with them or not Having a spiritual high, feeling totally motivated to go out into the world and spread the good news. Getting... Read more
If any of y’all are wondering why I didn’t blog for the past three days, it was because I was away on retreat. However, I wasn’t a participant, but a staff member. Due to confidentiality, I can’t talk about what I did this weekend in detail, but I can divulge everything I felt that weekend. I should tell you that before this retreat, I have never been a staff member. Heck, I was never a staff member for anything in high... Read more
One of my favorite Old Testament books is the book of Esther. The Jewish holiday of Purim begins Saturday night. Today’s First Reading features Esther in a time of prayer. Sometimes, things happen that inspire us to change our perspectives, which Fr. Robert Barron talks about in his Lent Reflection. For Esther, she realized that it was no coincidence that she was chosen to become queen at a time when her people needed someone to save them from Haman’s genocide.... Read more
The first week of Lent for some people can be a period of denial. “I only have to fast once a week. I can wait for the Penitential Service to go to Confession. I just have to give a little more at the collection plate, right?” Sorry, buddy, but during this time of Lent, we are at the deep end of the swimming pool of life and it’s sink or swim. Now I know there’s that quote that goes: “If... Read more
Fr. Robert Barron’s Lent Reflection for today advised the subscribers to try and reduce distractions so that there would be time to focus on more important things. Too bad I got that e-mail late into the afternoon, during which I was drowning myself in distractions. Time for some honesty: I like being distracted. I like planning, but procrastinating is just as fun. This is especially true on days when there’s nothing immediate around the corner. The problem is that this... Read more
Fr. Robert Barron’s Lenten reflection today gives some prayer suggestions to use for Lent as part of the tradition of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. But here’s a question: Why do we pray? Most Christians believe that God knows everything. Also, he’s not a genie so it’s not like if we pray, that prayer will be answered right away or even in the way we want it to happen. Prayer is more for the person praying. It’s the best way to develop... Read more
Fr. Robert Barron’s Lent Reflection today talks about what the finish line for Lent is: eventually celebrating Christ’s Resurrection. But that’s the finish line and we are only at the start of Lent and it seems like Easter will take forever. It helps to view Lent not as a race to get to the “happy ending,” but a marathon. My friends Kateri and Rachel compared Lent to spiritual training. The end goal of Lent is that by the time we get... Read more
Monique Ocampo Writes
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