In the Lord’s Prayer we pray “thy will be done.” We say it but do we mean it? Are we willing to completely set aside our own will to completely abandon ourselves to God’s Will? I would like to use Charles de Foucauld’s “Prayer of Abandonment” to reflect on our willingness to abandon ourselves to …
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After we confessing our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receiving a penance, we say an Act of Contrition. This expresses our sorrow for our sins. We say the Act of Contrition as part of the ritual of the Sacrament. Do you just say the words or do you truly pray them, reflecting on …
When I pray, there are two images I like to use. They are images of the same thing. The first image is: and the second image is: One might look at these images and say, “Father, they are not images of the same thing. One is a Crucifix and the other is the Eucharist. They …
In our Catholic faith, we have two formal creeds, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. However, having two creeds does not mean we profess two different faiths. The two creeds are very similar in their content (you can see them side by side at https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/50/). The Apostles’ Creed is the older of the two …
We are called to pray. Jesus spent time in prayer. If Jesus prayed, then all the more we need to. When you read the word “prayer”, what comes to mind? Is the Rosary the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe the Divine Mercy Chaplet or some other devotional prayer that is your favorite? For …
In October I wrote two separate blog articles reflecting on The Serenity Prayer and the Prayer of St. Francis. Two years ago, I shared a homily from a holy hour reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer. Today I would like to reflect on the Prayer to St. Michael but I would like to take a little …
In the past, the understanding by many was that Catholics were supposed to “pray, pay, and obey” to be good Catholics. (A search on the Internet shows the order of the first two, pray and pay, are sometimes switched). The saying articulated that Catholics are supposed to pray (centering on coming to Mass and devotions …
Last week I posted an article, “Do People Understand What Jesus Does for Us?” In that article, I discussed Jesus’ action to save us from our sins. My inspiration for that article came from Clear and Simple: How to Have Conversations That Lead to Conversion by Andre Regnier (Ottawa, Canada: Catholic Christian Outreach. 2018). Now, I …
Dear Lord, It has been a challenging year and we still have two months to go. The challenges have come in various ways. Perhaps the one most obvious to all is the Coronavirus Pandemic. Our greatest concern is for those who have actually gotten sick. We pray for them. We pray for those who have …
In the 1930’s, Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971) developed the Serenity Prayer. The first four lines have become well-known. God grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. It seems harder and harder to me to find “serenity” in the world today. There is …
