Corinthians 6:19-20 may be one of the hardest passages in the to live by and to teach to our children.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.”

This passage is one of the hardest to live by, for the old and young, for a few reasons….

Kids across the country are out of school, and now we’re at the beginning of hot days, summer vacations, and of course, the proverbial summer reading lists. Here is a list of Catholic books it would be worthwhile looking into for youths and young adults in your life.

Sacred Heart of Jesus. Growing up I did not know much about this feast, but over the years it has become one of my favorite feasts for many reasons.

First, Jesus promised in visions to St. Margaret Mary many blessings to those who practice devotion to His Sacred Heart including, but not limited to:

Tepid Souls shall become fervent.
- I will give peace in their families.
- I will give them all the graces necessary of their state of life.
- I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
- I will console them in all their troubles

May 31 is the feast day of the second Joyful mystery of the Holy Rosary, the Visitation.  When I reflect on the Visitation, I cannot help but move immediately to the Magnificat of Mary, Mary’s first recorded words after Elizabeth’s greeting.

Every time I read/sing this prayer something different sticks out to me. Recently, what has struck me the most is the way God works in the world…

I recently posted a blog called 30 Sayings for Fathers to Live By.  In that post I quoted John Wooden as saying:

“The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

This quote is especially appropriate as we approach Mother’s Day….

St. Joseph is not only the patron saint of the Universal Church and of fathers, but he is also the patron saint of workers. May 1^st is the Feast Day of St. Joseph the Worker. The feast day “proper” of St. Joseph is March 19th. But in 1955 Pope Pius XII instituted a second feast day to honor St. Joseph under his role as Worker.

Recently I read one of my favorite parables from the Catholic Bible, the parable of the Prodigal Son (or the Parable of the Lost Son, depending on who you ask) found in the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32.  Many times when I read this famous parable I ask myself, “Who am I in this parable?  The repentant younger son, or the resentful older son?”

April 16th is the feast day of one of the most popular saints, St. Bernadette Soubirous. Saint Bernadette is mainly remembered for her experience of meeting the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France, when she was only a girl, and her many subsequent visions of Our Lady thereafter. What is not as often remembered is that St. Bernadette struggled with sickness and illness throughout her life. Just as Our Lady of Lourdes said to Saint Bernadette, “I do not promise to make you happy in this life, but in the next.” In light of that, I would like to take the opportunity of St. Bernadette’s feast day to focus on how to talk to our children about sickness and suffering.

Easter everyone! We no longer have to concern ourselves with regular fasting and other preparations of our soul leading up to Easter.  Easter is here! We can just go right back to living our lives the way we did prior to Lent, right?

Let the good times roll!

Not so fast….

There is no greater spiritual truth and spiritual experience in this life than encountering Christ in the Eucharist. If we don’t intentionally take a step back when we notice ourselves treating Holy Communion as commonplace, then we are in danger of becoming spiritually dense . . . losing our sensibility to the wonder and the awe of this most amazing of all Sacraments.