Posts Tagged ‘faith’
How To Go To Confession
It’s Lent, when many Catholics receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in order to prepare for Easter. Has it been a while since you’ve gone to confession? Here are six simple tips that will make it easier to return to the sacrament.
Why Do Catholics Give Things Up for Lent?
For many Catholics, Lent means giving up a favorite food or recreation. These small sacrifices are in keeping with the penitential nature of the season. But there’s a right way and a wrong way of giving something up for Lent, says Paulist Father Larry Rice.
What Do Catholics Believe About Lent?
For Catholics, Lent is a special time marked by repentance, prayer, fasting and works of charity. Read a brief introduction to this holy season.
The Church’s Best Kept Secret
The Church’s social teaching is always relevant, but many seem to discover it only during election years. Here’s a brief introduction to its main principles.
Excommunication
What does it mean to say that someone has been excommunicated from the Catholic Church? This penalty is incurred for specific public acts that the Church finds singularly offensive. But no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace and mercy.
Ordinary Time
There’s nothing “ordinary” about Ordinary Time, says Fr. Rice. This liturgical season, which began January 10, offers the opportunity to grow in our faith through our everyday experiences.
A Spiritual End-of-the-Year List
It’s the end of the year–a time to evaluate and to make lists: best movies, biggest news stories, best dressed, and so on. In the Catholic spiritual tradition, we have a method of self-evaluation that might be a valuable spiritual exercise at this time of year. It’s called an “examination of conscience.”
What Christmas Is Really About
What’s left of Christmas when we strip away the gift-giving, parties and decorations? It’s the reality that God has taken on human flesh, been born as one of us, like us in all things except sin. Fr. Larry Rice explains.
A Little Advent Music
While the Church is celebrating Advent, society is bombarding us with Christmas songs. Is there any Advent music to draw us into the spirit of the present season?
The Lord Is Near
At Mass this Sunday you’ll probably see the priest wearing rose-colored vestments. Learn about the significance as we mark the midway point of Advent.
The Immaculate Conception
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, a feast celebrated on December 8, is the national patroness of the United States. Yet the term “Immaculate Conception” is often misunderstood. What does it mean?
How to Pray With Your Spouse: Four Simple Steps
Many couples would like to pray together, but don’t know how to begin. Here are four simple steps to get started, based on the structure of the Mass.
How To Take Young Children to Mass
Can parents with small children really bring them to Sunday Mass with good results? Yes, say Josh and Stacey Noem, parents of three. They offer some practical advice for parents who want the experience to be positive for them, their children, and their fellow worshippers.
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual Direction is one of the Church’s great resources. Could you benefit from having a spiritual director? One wise director observes that spiritual direction is “always useful and sometimes necessary.”
Surviving the First Year of Parenthood
Sarah, a former For Your Marriage blogger, and Daniel welcomed their first child 16 months ago. We asked Sarah how she and Daniel pay attention to their marriage while coping with the demands of a baby. Sarah shares some down-to-earth advice.
What is the Catholic Worker Movement?
Catholicism can be lived out in many ways. Members of the Catholic Worker Movement, founded by Dorothy Day ini 1933, commit themselves to voluntary poverty, prayer and non-violence. Their houses of hospitality provide food and shelter to thousands of people each year.
Why Do Catholics Pray the Rosary?
The Rosary is one of the most well-known and beloved of Catholic devotions. What is this prayer and how did it get started?
What Do We Know About Angels?
Angels seem to be everywhere in our culture–from popular books to greeting cards to movies. But what do we really know about these mysterious beings?
Why Does a Catholic Wedding Have to Take Place in a Church?
Website visitors sometimes ask how they can find a Catholic priest or deacon to officiate at their wedding that will not be held in a Catholic church. Have you wondered why Catholics are normally expected to marry in a Catholic church? Here’s the explanation.
What Rights Do Catholics Have in the Church?
Many Catholic laypersons don’t realize that they have certain rights in the Church, and those rights are protected by church law. Fr. Larry Rice identifies the major rights of the Catholic faithful.
What is the Kingdom of God?
Every time we recite the Our Father we pray “Thy Kingdom come.” The coming of God’s Kingdom was the central message in Jesus’ preaching, but it’s a complex idea. Fr. Rice sheds some light on the term.
Sharing the Faith With Your Child: From Birth to Age Four
“Becoming Parents” and “Being a Family”–two sections in this helpful, easy-to-read book–are not exactly the same. The authors offer good advice for both processes, as well as for the subjects of the other two sections, “Being a Catholic Family” and “Raising Children in Today’s World.”
Precepts of the Church
We’ve all heard of the Ten Commandments, but do you know the Five Precepts of the Catholic Church? These “positive laws” set forth five obligations for Catholics. See what they are.
Why Do Catholics Make The Sign of the Cross?
A distinguishing mark of Catholics is their use of The Sign of the Cross. This ancient gestural prayer is used to begin and end prayers, and at other times as well.
What is World Youth Day?
This week thousands of Catholic teens and young adults will gather in Madrid to celebrate World Youth Day. What is this life-changing event and how can you participate from your own home?
