When I was in my twenties, I bought a car from Enterprise rental car sales. My brother advised me against it saying, “don’t you know what people do to rental cars?” I imagined this average Dodge sedan going four-wheeling in the desert with the driver and passengers hootin’ and hollerin’ while holding on for dear life! I’ve also lived in several different apartments in my life.
READ MOREThe Spiritual Works of Mercy, compared to the Corporal Works of Mercy, can seem more vague, difficult to identify or understand. The corporal works might seem easier because they involve physically doing things and supporting others in very tangible ways. The key to the spiritual works of mercy is charity – love – agape love, which is an honest-to-goodness, heartfelt concern with the spiritual well-being of another.
READ MOREWhat are works of mercy? Why do we have them? How do we do them? It’s a good idea to ask ourselves questions like this from time to time. We can get wrapped up in the busyness of our lives and routines, forgetting that we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need. The works of mercy – corporal (bodily, worldly, tangible) and spiritual – are identified by the Church for our benefit. As the Catechism says, “The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities” (#2447).
READ MOREThank you. Two very powerful words that can convey the state of a person’s heart. Surely any of us can recall a time when our mother reminded us to say “thank you” for gifts, for help, and even for a piece of candy. Learning to acknowledge someone’s kindness is part of our basic formation as children. As adults, even though it is mostly second nature, we may forget from time to time to say thank you.
READ MOREThis week, we examine the Catholic Church’s teachings on how we are saved, or how we obtain eternal salvation with God in heaven. I’m going to begin with a somewhat perplexing scripture verse. St. Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, states, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Col 1:24).
READ MORESpiritual warfare tends to be a topic that people are either very comfortable or very uncomfortable discussing. I personally know people that do not want to even talk about the existence of any sort of evil entities for all kinds of reasons. However, sticking our heads in the sand and pretending certain realities don’t exist, simply to remain comfortable, is not really doing us any favors as we try to grow in our spiritual lives. Let’s consider then a little bit about what is going on in the spiritual realm all around us.
READ MOREBefore I get into this week’s reflection, I want to provide a little background. As a catechetical writer, I always have ideas floating around in my head, and I do a lot of reading and research to prepare for whatever it is I write about for the week. For the most part, I am led by the Holy Spirit and do my best to communicate the truths of the Faith in a way that would be pleasing to God.
READ MORELast week, we examined the various postures we use during worship in the context of the Mass, how they enable us to worship with our whole being, and what they each signify with regard to our relationship with God. Perhaps you now are wondering where all of these postures came from. Did early Catholics just make these actions up out of some vain display of piety? No, everything we do in the Mass is taken right out of Scripture. So, this week, we’ll dive a little deeper to understand how our postures and gestures have been appropriate before God throughout all of salvation history.
READ MOREHave you ever heard the term, “Catholic calisthenics”? It’s a funny term used to describe all of the actions and postures we Catholics perform in the context of the Catholic Mass. Non-Catholics who join us at Mass can be confused (sometimes overwhelmed!) by all of our activity without knowing its purpose and, as Catholics, we can run into the problem of performing these actions in a robotic sort of way without giving much thought to what we are doing. In the first part of this two-part series, we’ll look at each of these actions and postures to get a deeper understanding of why we do them.
READ MOREThe Church has three essential functions: worship God, evangelize, and serve the poor (Bishop Robert Barron, 2020). These three essential functions are what the staff of a Catholic parish focuses on when setting up ministries. Children’s Faith Formation (CFF) first focuses on evangelization.
READ MOREWe are always surprised when we hear people say they are not aware of adult learning opportunities at Corpus Christi. Hopefully, this information will help you consider joining one of many options this fall.
READ MOREAs Catholics, there is one prayer that most of us pray more than any other prayer – the Hail Mary. In saying just one Rosary, the Hail Mary is recited 53 times. Our practice of praying this prayer causes some consternation for people who do not understand it. We are often accused of practicing “vain repetition,” which we are warned against in Matthew 6:7: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.”
READ MOREFive years ago, I asked Fr. Chad if I could work for the parish full-time. For a decade prior, I was both the Music Director here and a high school teacher in the area. Working both jobs was fine for a while, but unsustainable in the long run. I needed to choose one. I prayed.
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