Why spend an hour a day in meditation? Because we are living on the surface of our souls, knowing little either of God or our inner self. Our knowledge is mostly about things, not about destiny. Most of our dif­ficulties and disappointments in life are due to mistakes in our life plans. Having forgotten the purpose of living, we have doubted even the value of living. A broken bone gives… Read More »Ten Reasons to Make a Holy Hour According to Fulton J. Sheen

Dr. Scott Hahn reflects on the Mass readings for the Second Sunday of Lent (Year A).. Readings:Genesis 12:1-4Psalm 33:4-5,18-20, 222 Timothy 1:8-10Matthew 17:1-9 Today’s Gospel portrays Jesus as a new and greater Moses. Moses also took three companions up a mountain and on the seventh day was overshadowed by the shining cloud of God’s presence. He too spoke with God and his face and clothing were made radiant in the encounter… Read More »Listen to Him — Integrated Catholic Life™

We all encounter struggles in life.  The question is: “What do you do with them?”  Too often, when struggles come our way we are tempted to doubt the presence of God and to doubt His merciful help.  In fact, the opposite is true.  God is the answer to every struggle.  He alone is the source of all we need in life.  He is the One who can bring peace and… Read More »Reflection 69: Struggles Tempt Us to Doubt

March 7, 2020 Daily Reading from the USCCB: Matthew 5:43-48 https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SW_022710_II.mp3   Here’s further direction about Lenten conversion. Jesus tells us today that we are called to treat others as God does–with evenhanded and universal benevolence. That’s a big order. The final sentence of the reading tells us just how big it is. It means being as embracing and generous as God is. That’s an absurd demand for the Lord… Read More »Sharing the Word for March 7, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a chapter in Maggie Green’s book, The Saint Monica Club, a book for parents whose children have left the faith. We also recommend the article “I Still Have Hope That Christ Will Bring My Kids Back to the Faith” here on CE. Saint Monica’s faith converted both her husband and her son, and it is this steadfastness of faith we seek to imitate.… Read More »Be Willing to Cry Out to God, “Lord, the One We Love Is Lost!”

Photography © by Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles “What did you go out to the wilderness to see?” (Matthew 11:7) These were Jesus’ words to the crowd. John took to the desert to draw people out into solitude to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Messiah. For many years the desert had become a place of encounter. In 1 Kings 19:1-8 a long… Read More »The Desert in Carmelite Spirituality — Integrated Catholic Life™

Are you comfortable calling Jesus your Master?  Some may prefer to call Him “friend” or “shepherd.”  And these titles are true.  But what about Master?  Ideally, we will all come to give ourselves to our Lord as the Master of our lives.  We must not only become servants, we must become slaves.  Slaves of Christ.  If that doesn’t sit well then ponder simply what sort of Master our Lord would… Read More »Reflection 65: Jesus My Master

DETROIT (CNS) — It took just 319 years, but the Vatican has recognized the special dignity of Detroit’s oldest parish, Ste. Anne Parish, with the designation of its church as a minor basilica. Msgr. Charles Kosanke, pastor of Ste. Anne and nearby Holy Trinity Parish, announced the news March 1 during weekend Masses. Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron will mark the historic occasion during a Sunday, April 26, Mass when… Read More »Ste. Anne Church named basilica, cementing its importance to Detroit

We’ve all the heard one about the three-lobed shamrock and the Trinity. But it turns out that God’s triune nature is imprinted on all creatures, according to two of the greatest doctors of the Church in the 1200s—St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure. In the Summa Theologica, Aquinas says that all creatures with an intellect and a will reflect the Trinity: For the Son proceeds as the word of the… Read More »The Trinity Is Reflected in the Nature of All Creatures

“Into the Wild” © by Jef Murray—(Click sketch for artist’s gallery.) Lent has begun, so I thought we should revisit self-denial. Fasting and other forms of self-denial, as spiritual practices of materially subduing and controlling the physical appetites of the body, help us, by God’s grace, to enable the soul to more perfectly and freely pray.  This leads to a deeper union with God and thus we become better stewards of the… Read More »What Does the Bible Teach About Fasting? — Integrated Catholic Life™