Corpus Christi Blog

Last week, we discussed the hallmarks of God’s influence on our intellects that help us distinguish the Good Shepherd's voice from all the distracting and competing voices in our minds. Drawing on the wisdom from Fr. Cliff Ermatinger's book, Who's Speaking: Discerning the Good Shepherd's Voice from that of the Stranger, we will now examine the hallmarks of demonic influence on the intellect, enabling us to more easily identify the thoughts that aim to divert us from our spiritual journey.

Now, more than ever before, the world is filled with a lot of noise. When making decisions, we are bombarded with information, opinions, and advice from various conflicting sources. It can be difficult to distinguish Jesus’ voice in the midst of all of clamor. Sometimes, even our own internal voice, colored by our desires and emotions, can drown out the voice we need to hear most.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a 12^th-century monk who founded the Cistercian order because of his dissatisfaction with the growing opulence within the Benedictine order at the time. In 1830, he was declared one of the 37 Doctors of the Church by Pope Pius VIII, due to the extensive contributions to theological and spiritual thought he left behind in his writings. Today, we’ll look at one of these contributions — The Four Degrees of Love.

We have spent the last two weeks discussing specific ways we can participate in Jesus Christ’s priestly and prophetic offices. This week, we will conclude our three-part series by examining our role in the kingship of Christ. First, we’ll explore what the Church teaches about what it means for us to be kings. Then we’ll discuss how to put that advice into practice in our everyday lives, based on the guidance provided by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR, in his book, Habits for Holiness: Small Steps for Making Big Spiritual Progress.

We are continuing our three-part series in which we discuss ways to practically live out our baptismal obligations of sharing in the threefold office of Jesus Christ as priest, prophet, and king. Last week, we covered how we serve as priests by offering sacrifice and prayer in our daily lives. This week, we will take a closer look at how we can live a prophetic life. First, we’ll examine what the Church teaches about the laity’s role as a prophet. Then we’ll explore the practical wisdom and advice offered by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR, in his book, Habits for Holiness: Small Steps for Making Big Spiritual Progress.

This week, we will begin a three-part series on our participation in the threefold office of Christ as priest, prophet, and king, which comes with our baptismal obligations.

Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, lives in a friary in the Bronx. He has written a book, Habits for Holiness: Small Steps for Making Big Spiritual Progress. The premise of the book is that we all know what it means to be holy in an abstract sense, but it can be a challenge to figure out how to take small, manageable steps in order to grow in holiness. To that end, Fr. Ames offers practical wisdom and advice with real-world suggestions to incorporate into our daily lives.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6)

In a broader conversation with his apostles about heaven and his true identity, Jesus makes this very succinct but meaningful statement. Understanding these words is critical to the success of our spiritual journey. To achieve our goal of obtaining eternal salvation, we need to be transformed and configured to Christ. To help us along in this process, it would be helpful to have a deeper understanding of how Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life so we can more closely unite ourselves to him.

Later this week, the Church will celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. I have previously written about the four Marian dogmas, of which the Assumption is one, and the fifth Marian doctrine. I invite you to visit my website and read those to refresh your memory about what the Church teaches regarding Mary and how those teachings reveal truths about Jesus. So, rather than focusing on the Assumption specifically this week, I’d like to discuss Mary and her relationship to Catholic liturgy.

Later this week, the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. Since it is not a holy day of obligation nor a feast designated for a set Sunday, this is an often overlooked and undervalued feast day, one that we don’t spend much focused time reflecting on its significance. The reality is that the Transfiguration event reveals a great deal to us about Jesus and his divinity. Let’s direct our attention to the Transfiguration to inspire a more fruitful encounter with the feast.

We live in a time of deep division. Whether we are discussing religion, morality, politics, workplace events, or even how we run a ministry, the language we use can be divisive and harmful if we are not careful. It can be argued that there have been many moments in history and cultures where this has been the case; however, the difference now is that we have the internet, social media, texting, and recording capabilities that cause our words to echo further and linger longer than ever before. We know that gossip damages relationships and reputations, but today, I would like to discuss some more nuanced forms of gossip that are formally identified in the Catechism of the Catholic Church so that we can be careful to avoid them in emotionally charged situations.

The Catholic Church is very blessed to contain many religious orders, spiritualities, and expressions of faith. As members of the Church, we can draw on these expressions and incorporate them into our personal spiritual lives as we grow on our faith journey. I was recently inspired to explore the Carmelite order and its spirituality, as I had little experience with it outside of my knowledge of a few individual saints, such as Teresa of Ávila, John of the Cross, and Thérèse of Lisieux. I would like to share a brief history of the order, outline the key components of its spirituality, and discuss how we can incorporate Carmelite spirituality into our daily lives.

We talk quite a bit about our souls when discussing our faith. We talk about the salvation of souls, whether they go to heaven or hell, their purification in purgatory, and the effect sin has on them. The very reason for the existence of our Church is for the care of our souls. But what exactly is a soul? If we deepen our understanding of what our soul is, it can help us to take better care of it.

The Catholic Church has three sources of authority: Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium.

Scripture is the inspired Word of God written down by men throughout salvation history. After the Book of Revelation, there will be no new revelation to be added to Scripture until the Second Coming of Jesus brings everything to fulfillment. Tradition is the passing on of the Church’s practices, customs, and teachings orally and through the written word from the Apostles onward, forming the Deposit of Faith.