Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day, dads. You have a big job.

It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.
– Pope St. John XXIII

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How New Media Can Enhance Our Lives

When I shared the terrible things social media are doing to our lives, I started by quoting Plato’s fears that writing would hurt our memories. He was right — it did. But of course writing did much more than that: It put  an order and discipline to our thinking that not only made us better…

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Think big Act small

Think Big, Act Small: How You Can Change the World

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” – St. Augustine of Hippo The world…

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Plugging teens into the faith: A how-to guide

The iGeneration is living in a culture of excess. But what they lack is what they need the most: Christ and his Church Emily Stimpson OSV Newsweekly Some call them the iGeneration. Others prefer Generation Z, Pluralists or post-Millennials. Sociologists and marketing experts have yet to reach a consensus on what to call the children of Generation…

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Dress Up for Mass!

Society is growing more and more casual. I have seen people shopping for groceries in their pajama pants and fuzzy slippers. I’ve been to world-class classical concerts where people are dressed in Hawaiian shirts and jeans.  In fact, it’s hard to think of anything people will dress up for anymore. Even weddings and funerals are getting more…

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Your Teens Could Have Been the Apostles

When you think of the apostles, do you picture old, gray-haired men? People very different from your teens? It’s time to change that opinion. The Apostles as Teens Consider this: the apostles, except for Peter, all very well may have been in their teens. Recall the incident of the temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27). Men, aged…

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Pope Francis: Be courageous, go to confession

Vatican City, Feb 19, 2014 / 04:57 am (CNA).- During his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims filling St. Peter’s Square to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. “Everyone say to himself: ‘When was the last time I went to confession?’ And if it has been a long time, don’t lose another day! Go, the priest…

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God’s Ocean of Mercy

Chris Stefanick has a timely reminder that no matter how big our sins are, the ocean of God’s mercy is infinitely bigger. This Lent, how can you remember and seek out God’s mercy?
 

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Fickle Fasting or Fruitful Fasting?

How is your loyalty to, interest in, or affection for fasting  coming along? When I was a kid in grade school, I gave up desserts during Lent because… well because you’re supposed to give something up for Lent, right?  As I grew and my understanding didn’t, my Lenten penance was definitely fickle—not much loyalty, interest…

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Good Sense for a Strong and Healthy Marriage: Part II

In Part One of Good Sense for a Strong and Healthy Marriage, I spoke of the importance of making sacrifices for your spouse. In Part Two, I will address the importance of making acts of service for one another. Again, I think it is very natural when we first fall in love to serve one… Details