[ad_1] “Remember that you are dust and into dust you shall return.” – Eccl. 1:20 “I’ve had this premonition,” my dad began musing as my family gathered together to share a holiday meal, “that when I die, it will be sudden, like in a car accident or heart attack.” My father has always been introspective and a deep thinker, but this caught everyone off guard. He isn’t the type to… Read More »Why Does Lent Call Us to Remember Death?
[ad_1] [*] “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” (detail) by Carl Bloch [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons The following story is true. It happened to me. I will never, ever forget it. I had been a Carmelite Sister for many years when this story occurred. It changed my life forever, and I came away from the experience with an explosion of faith bursting within my soul. To cut… Read More »Before the Miracle, I Believed—But Now I Know. — Integrated Catholic Life™
[ad_1] We are called to be saints. And if we walk down that road, we will be called to live heroic virtue. Heroic virtue will not always be understood by others. In fact, in the opinion of worldly wisdom, heroic and holy virtue is foolishness. But we must not allow the opinions of worldly “wisdom” to confuse us, tempt us or distract us from the road of true virtue (See… Read More »Reflection 49: Being Misunderstood – Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
[ad_1] February 15, 2020 Daily Reading from the USCCB: Mark 8:1-10 https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SW_021310_II.mp3 In today’s reading we see Jesus feeding the crowds–some four thousand people. This action was a repetition of God’s feeding His people with manna in the desert. It was also a sign of the Eucharist that was still to come, and of the final banquet in the kingdom of heaven. It is filled with meaning. Basically however,… Read More »Sharing the Word for February 15, 2020
[ad_1] February 15, 2020 Claude de la Colombiere was beatified in 1929 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1992. Claude was born of noble parents in 1641 in Saint-Symphoriend’Ozon, which is between Lyons and Vienne in France. In 1659, he entered the Society of Jesus. After living the religious life for 15 years, Claude decided to make a vow to live as perfectly as he possibly could, observing… Read More »St. Claude de la Colombiere
[ad_1] Photo by Laura Allen on Unsplash “Sometimes the gifts God has in store for me are not the gifts I would have chosen for myself.” “He doesn’t do the things he used to do, like buy her flowers.” A coworker was telling me about a friend of hers, who, after several years of marriage, was lamenting the changes in their relationship. Their lives were now full of kids and… Read More »What does his love look like? — Integrated Catholic Life™
[ad_1] Sometimes we do not feel like going to Mass or may be deeply distracted as we approach the Blessed Sacrament. Perhaps one of the best things to do in this case is to live in holy obedience. Jesus wants you to receive Holy Communion every Sunday and every holy day because He knows you need it. He knows that this Food from Heaven is necessary for you to obtain… Read More »Reflection 45: Holy Communion – Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
[ad_1] VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Like so many of Pope Francis’ teachings and major documents, his apostolic exhortation on the Amazon is built on a call for conversion: a new way of seeing, thinking and doing. “We need to feel outrage,” he wrote, underlining his concern that the world has become too indifferent, too numb or too much in denial about what is happening to the environment, the world and… Read More »In Amazon document, pope calls for action rooted in conversion of heart
[ad_1] Do you ever feel like your mood changes faster than the stock market? One day you’re in a very content, happy place, and a day later you’re feeling lonely, depressed or sad? Or better yet, do you feel wonderful in the morning and by the afternoon it’s like the tide has flipped your mood on its axis and you have no idea why? That’s how it’s been for me… Read More »You Can Find Interior Honesty With God
[ad_1] Photography © by Randy Hain Dr. Scott Hahn reflects on the Mass readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A).. Isaiah 58:7–10Psalm 112:4–91 Corinthians 2:1–5Matthew 5:13–16 Jesus came among us as light to scatter the darkness of a fallen world. As His disciples, we too are called to be “the light of the world,” He tells us in the Gospel this Sunday (see John 1:4–4, 9; 8:12; 9:5). All three images… Read More »Light Breaking Forth — Integrated Catholic Life™