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Sandra works with youth while pursuing pastoral leadership degree.

Prayer, Penance, and Practices of Charity

Oración, Penitencia y Prácticas de Caridad

40 Ideas for Your Lenten Journey

“I’ll really miss my talks with your dad. He was so wise." Thank you so much. Wait, what?

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. (Mt 4:1-2)

It’s easy to forget that God and Mary often choose the poor, the ignorant and the downtrodden to spread the message of the Kingdom. So many times, saint stories get glamorized in Hollywood soft-focus and backlighting and gilt-edged holy card pictures.

How Father Dan Hyman finally followed the stirrings of his soul to the priesthood

“Dijo Jesús a sus discípulos: ‘Si alguno quiere venir en pos de mí, niéguese a sí mismo, tome su cruz y sígame’”.— Mateo 16,24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”— Matthew 16:24

These little gems are not only a great way to teach younger kids about the Resurrection, they are a quick and delicious sweet roll to make for any Easter gathering.

Question: My non-Catholic friends don’t feel comfortable coming to Mass because they say they feel “excluded” during Holy Communion. What do I say to them?

“Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.” — Venerable Fulton Sheen

“As odd as it sounds, cancer was a gift for me.” “Gift” isn’t the typical word used by many cancer survivors, but for pediatrician John Spitzer, a three-time cancer survivor, his illness was just the kick in the pants he needed to go searching for God. And it’s his decades-long journey of spending time with God that became the content for his recently published book, “Finding God, Again and Again.” John hopes his honest look at his own faith struggles, which he details in his spiritual memoir, serve as an inspiration for others. According to John, adding “author” to his list of accomplishments is just another way he can be God’s instrument.

I reached into Bishop Bradley’s basket of handmade doves — each one imprinted with a different gift or fruit of the Holy Spirit and a corresponding suggested activity. I carefully averted my eyes as I rifled through the stack so as to let the Holy Spirit guide my choice. And there it was: wisdom. Drat!

You’re probably familiar with the proverb, “God gave us one mouth, but two ears”; that is, it’s more important for us to listen than to speak. These four weeks of the Advent season are a good time to ask ourselves whether we are paying attention to others. How well do we listen? Do we let our emotions cause us to react rashly? Do we take time to listen before speaking?

Probablemente esté familiarizado con el proverbio, “Dios nos dio una boca, pero dos oídos”; es decir, para nosotros es más importante escuchar que hablar. Estas cuatro semanas del tiempo de Adviento son un buen momento para preguntarnos si estamos prestando atención a los demás; qué tan bien escuchamos; ¿Dejamos que nuestras emociones nos hagan reaccionar precipitadamente? ¿Nos tomamos el tiempo para escuchar antes de hablar?

Some family traditions (or customs) are easy to identify because they are different from our day-to-day routine. For example, the way my family always opens one Christmas present on Christmas Eve right before preparing to go to Mass at midnight, or the way our family goes out to celebrate the birth of Jesus with an early morning breakfast on Christmas Day, or the way families always get together for the Thanksgiving dinner celebrations, or the way we celebrate birthdays.

Q: I am finding it hard to accept some of the direction of Pope Francis and other Church leaders and their way of teaching; am I wrong to do so?

St. Stephen, the First Martyr - Feast Day: December 26th