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How Can I Know I’m Forgiven? “I know I have been forgiven because I’ve been to confession, but I don’t feel forgiven! How can I find peace and know that I’m forgiven? ” This is one of the most frequent questions I get as a priest. A similar question comes up with the problem of [...]
My grandmother used to bake one pecan pie a year. Using her own pecans. From her own tree. Which she guarded with her very own rifle. She said she shot any crow that messed with her precious pecans and threatened that pie. Somebody might steal a scarecrow, so she figured she could do the job [...]
Happy New Year to all of our readers – I sincerely hope that your holiday celebrations were filled with peace and joy. These first few days of 2012 find me returning to my desk and computer after a nice long break over the Christmas holiday to savor time with family and friends. The excitement and [...]
Pope Benedict XVI is giving us a great opportunity in this New Year to make a big difference. In October he announced the “Year of Faith” which according to Vatican statements is designed to help Catholics around the world deepen their relationship with God, better appreciate the gift of our Catholic faith, and strengthen our [...]
I am the only one in my family without a drop of Native American blood in my veins. My husband’s 1/8 heritage and kids’ 1/16 inspired my son Tyler to once jokingly announce that I could not attend the family council meeting since I was not “one” of them. Still, I’m claiming the heritage through [...]
The exalted nature of forgiveness is attested to by the fact that it presupposes a number of other virtues. Consider three virtues in particular: justice, clemency, and mercy. Justice has the nature of an equation: Borrowing 10 dollars requires returning 10 dollars. When justice is violated, punishment or restitution of some kind is required. Herein [...]
We are coming to that time when we’ll make that big New Year’s resolution. Often times we don’t think through the price or the consequences of resolutions said in haste. The result is that we usually are disappointed with ourselves and feel further behind than we had prior to starting out. There’s nothing wrong with [...]
You know what I think is one of the biggest cop outs we hear in the Catholic Church? “Preach the Gospel always. Use words when necessary.” There are many variations on this adage, almost always wrongly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, and it’s a nice sentiment: The idea that we need to live in [...]
Our nephew Noah, 7, has a real thing about Santa. Last year he was thrilled when he and his mom had breakfast with the jolly bearded fellow at the zoo in their hometown. The photos tell the tale. The first shows Noah with a look of ecstasy on his face as he perches on Santa’s [...]
During the beginning of Advent, I always hope to come up with something more meaningful, amazing and inspiring than the previous year. This is silly. While we’ve done, as a family, some wonderful Advent readings, made some pretty nice Advent calendars, and spent fruitful time lighting Advent candles and trying to integrate spiritual reading with [...]
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