Sacraments
Catholic Prayer: How Sacramentals Tie your Prayer to the Sacraments
Sacraments are the fonts of grace that Jesus gave us to draw us into the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. But from that font springs other outpourings of grace from our loving Lord. The sacramentals are one of those smaller fonts of grace. These are ceremonies, rites, or blessed objects instituted by the Church for private…
Read MoreAuthor Book Reading: Bread of Heaven in Jesus Christ: An Imaginative Venture
It’s time for another book reading! Mike Aquilina is one of my favorite modern Catholic scholars. He has done a lot to introduce us to the Early Church fathers. He is reading the chapter, “Bread of Heaven in Jesus Christ: An Imaginative Venture” from his book The Mass of the Early Christians.…
Read MoreCatholic Prayer: Activating the Power of Your Confirmation
The sacraments are the fountain of grace that Jesus gave us to connect to Him and to His Body, the Church. So it makes sense for us to turn to the sacraments when we want to deepen our Catholic prayer life. The Sacrament of Confirmation is an untapped power for most Catholics. It has taken…
Read MoreThree Ways To Inspire Awe in Your Parish
The architecture of a church building is meant to elevate our hearts and minds to Heaven. That’s why traditionally Catholic architecture has been so grand and ornate. the same is true for the interior of a church. Before the modernist iconoclastic movement after Vatican II, the interior of any parish church was designed to help…
Read MoreLiving the Sacrament of Confirmation
We’re in the Chapel this month, exploring how we can live out the Seven Sacraments in our daily spiritual lives. In this spot check we’ll take a closer look at the Sacrament of Confirmation. But before we launch into that, remember that the Sacraments are always first and foremost actions of the Holy Trinity to…
Read MoreLiving the Sacraments
The seven Sacraments form the backdrop of Catholic life. Most Catholics can name all seven Sacraments. Most have basic knowledge of what the Sacraments are. But as with other parts of our faith, the Sacraments are an unfathomable mystery. That means that there is always more to understand. It also means there is always more…
Read MoreSeeking Divine Intimacy with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist
Divine Intimacy is the core of Christian spirituality. The Holy Eucharist is the greatest intimacy with God that we have available to us. So it makes sense that deepening our participation in the Holy Mass and becoming more open to Jesus’ presence in the Holy Eucharist would deepen our prayer life – and that a…
Read MoreHow the Sacrament of Confession Deepens Catholic Prayer
Most Catholics don’t see the intimate unity between the Sacraments and their daily Catholic prayer life. Here are three connections to encourage you to use the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a regular part of your Catholic spirituality. Reconciliation is physical prayer One of the keys to learning how to pray is to engage your whole…
Read MoreLiving the Sacrament of Baptism
We’re in the Chapel this month, exploring how we can live out the Seven Sacraments in our daily lives. Our spiritual project in the Chapel is to explore how we can respond to the grace each Sacrament gives us through the Sacramental signs, and how we can respond to God’s call to deepen our relationship…
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