+JMJ+ I can’t believe it’s already here but it is. Holy Week, and Monday almost gone as I write this. I want to go back, I want to do a better job of preparing. But the days of the calendar keep pressing forward and so I must, too. Here are some things that I think will help me—and you—enter more fully into this Holy Week, and even beyond into the rest of the year.
Continue reading “Praying Through Holy Week”
+JMJ+ Holy Week will soon be here but there is still time to prepare. Even if you are not being received into Holy Church at this time, you can still take part in the vigil and you can make it even more meaningful this time around by taking time to meditate and reflect on what our brothers and sisters experienced in the Early Church and down through the centuries. One way to do that is to listen to Mike Aquilina’s podcast, Way of the Fathers, the episode The Mother of All Vigils. YouTube link below.
Continue reading “Getting Ready for the Mother of All Vigils “
+JMJ+ A blessed feast day of Saint Joseph to you! And happy first day of Spring. Here we in the fourth week of Lent. Hasn’t this Lent flown by? My sister sent me a gift card for Christmas and I’m just now using it. What did I get? One book, so far: The Silent Knight: A History of St. Joseph as Depicted in Art, by my favorite art historian and one of my all-time favorite speakers, period, Dr. Elizabeth Lev. I only bought the book today and I haven’t begun to read it yet, so how can I recommend it to you? Well, first, did I mention it’s by Liz Lev? And I’ve watched some interesting interviews about it (see below), so I am looking forward to digging into it. In keeping with the art of Saint Joseph theme I’m going to include a few of my favorite paintings of him.
Continue reading “Happy feast day of Saint Joseph”
+JMJ+ I’ve mentioned before that my favorite daily meditations, after the Mass readings and the breviary, come from the series In Conversations with God by Francis Fernandez Carvajal. I was reading in it tonight and this passage jumped out at me.
Continue reading “We are not our own best advisers”
+JMJ+ And the winner is… Marcia Geraghty! I’ll send out an announcement via email and social media posts, too. Just email me your shipping address, Marcia, and I’ll get your copy of In Conversation with God, Volume 2, sent to you ASAP!
Continue reading “Announcing the winner of the Giveaway Lent 2023”
+JMJ+ During His forty days in the desert Jesus undid the temptations of the fall: pleasures, possessions and pride* and He did so by resisting the temptation to eat, to rule all the kingdoms of the world (I did giggle when the Devil offered that to Christ the King of the Universe), and to exalt Himself (as if He could exalt Himself anymore than He already was exalted, what with being God and all). Lent gives us a chance to join Him in overcoming our ancient enemy and his tactics, his temptations, and overcoming our weakness. And do we ever come face to face with our own weakness during Lent!
Continue reading “What will I give up for Lent”
+JMJ+ Yesterday I shared a couple of things about Ash Wednesday and Lent in the Church against the charge that they have pagan roots. Today I want to add more to that, some videos that I think are interesting and helpful. First, a video from Dr. Brant Pitre, then two by Fr. Mike Schmitz, and one by Fr. Chris Alar, three of my favorite Catholic teachers and speakers.
Continue reading “Ash Wednesday is almost here”
+JMJ+ How is it possible? I say I’m going to prepare early for Lent every year and every year Lent begins with me scrambling around at the last minute. We’ve still got a couple of days. Here are some things I’ve found tonight. First up, something that will come in handy for most of us who have non-Catholic friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors: “No, Ash Wednesday/Lent is not pagan,” a post and an audio file. Then some helpful things to help us make this Lent a blessed and spiritual occasion. (Note: I added sort of a part two of this post containing four videos I found helpful.)
Continue reading “Ack! Ash Wednesday is, well, Wednesday! “+JMJ+ With Lent fast approaching I ask a question: Is mortification still a thing for Catholics? I know it’s still a practice recommended by the Church, and I don’t see how anyone can make any spiritual progress without it, but do people include mortification in their spiritual practice anymore? Do they even have a spiritual practice? I’m asking because whenever I see mortification mentioned, it’s always in a negative sense, as in, “I want to focus on the positive this Lent, not focus on the negative.” I don’t even know what that gobbledygook means, but I do know that it can have serious consequences for a spiritual life.
Continue reading “Lent is coming, rambling thoughts on mortification “+JMJ+ Seems like we’ve been in a spiritual wasteland for a couple of years now but here it is again, Ash Wednesday. Time to head into the desert once more. Yet even in the midst of all the trouble and trials we’ve been going through, we can make this a fruitful Lent and a time to grow deeper in our love of God, even if we haven’t been feeling the love for a while.
Continue reading “Ash Wednesday: Into the desert again”
+JMJ+ Lent begins on Wednesday. That’s just two days away! At least I don’t have to flail about like I do most years, wondering what to do, what to give up, etc. This year I’m going to do some spiritual exercises from the Sermon on the Mount to make this my best Catholic Lent ever! Join me and make this your best Catholic Lent ever, too. I’ll give a brief overview of these spiritual exercises in this post, but you can read more about them and what they are meant to remedy in the ongoing Catholic Book of the Month series, currently featuring Brant Pitre’s Introduction to the Spiritual Life (scroll down that page for the book’s posts).
Continue reading “Your Best Catolic Lent Yet”
+JMJ+ Inspired by the Bible In A Year podcast, and memories of past Bible studies, I was exploring to see what I could find about something about a certain serpent. The serpent in Genesis is not called a snake, no matter how many times non-Christians try to mock it in that way. It’s more like a monster or dragon like Leviathan. We’ve already covered the serpent’s appearance to Eve and it will come up again later in Job. (See the links at the end of this post.)
Continue reading “Exploring Genesis, Preparing for Lent”
Catholic Heart and Mind 