Catholic Light

Today, we read CCC, 1122 - 1152 and discuss how going to the sacraments can make our lives better; if we don't go to the sacraments, we miss out on grace that can help us to navigate the pains and sufferings of life more easily and to live the joys of life more fully. Who doesn't want that?!

Today, we read CCC, 1091 - 1121 and discuss how OT types prefigure NT revelations of Jesus Christ. Not only was God preparing the way for His Son... He was preparing the way for you!

Today, we read CCC, 1066 - 1090 and begin Part II of the Catechism which discusses the sacraments. We talk about the Paschal Mystery, or the PDRA (the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ), and how, through it, the Second Person of the Trinity - God Himself - merited for us an infinite abundance of grace. It's there for the taking, and we have 7 ways - the 7 sacraments - of...

Today, we read CCC, 1042 - 1065 and discuss the "God of Truth"... the "God of Amen"... and the "trustworthiness of his teaching." The Catholic Faith is rational, and the God who entrusts it to us is trustworthy... loving us, providing for us, and walking with us every step of the way.

Today, we read CCC, 1020 - 1041 and discuss the Church's teaching on Purgatory. Like other articles of the Catholic Faith, belief in Purgatory comes to us through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition - interpreted and handed on faithfully by the Magisterium - and it squares with rational thought. A place for those who have chosen God but still need some purification before entering Heaven...? It...

Today, we read CCC, 988 - 1019 and discuss the line "I believe in the resurrection of the body" from the Apostles' Creed. We talk about the difference between our particular judgments and the Final Judgment, and we chat about the concept of faith... Rather than closing our eyes, sticking our hands out in front of us, and nervously walking into the unknown, faith is "a human act" where we use our i...

Today, we read CCC, 963 - 987 and discuss one of the last lines of the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the forgiveness of sins." Confession, while not always glamorous or exciting, is a great way to unload the burdens we carry, to be forgiven and cleansed, and to proceed through life, strengthened to live more happily. Why not take advantage of this free and unlimited opportunity?!

Today, we read CCC, 934 - 962 and discuss the line from the Apostles' Creed - "the communion of saints." This term simply refers to the Church and includes those on Earth, those in Purgatory, and those in Heaven. Sometimes referred to as the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Triumphant, we work together so that we may all - by the grace of God - be victorious in Heaven one day!

Today, we read CCC, 901 - 933 and discuss how we ALL have ALL of the ingredients to become great saints. By embracing the everyday, mundane moments of life, we can patiently bear "the hardships of life" and reign over ourselves as kings and queens. It's not easy, but it's also not complicated!

Today, we read CCC, 871 - 900 and discuss the importance of the laity's role in proclaiming the Gospel and in helping to distribute God's grace. All Christians are invited to share the Good News and to be channels of God's grace in the world, but we can't give what we don't have. This week, let's be filled up by receiving the Eucharist, by going to confession, and by connecting to God through at l...

Lucy Regina Dougherty arrived three weeks early! As we adjust to life with our new little light, I'm going to take a 4-week maternity leave and then resume our journey through the Catechism with Episode 30 on Monday, 10/24. Please pray for me and my family, I'll be praying for you, and, in the meantime, God bless you!

Today, we read CCC, 857 - 870 and finish discussing the four marks of the Church. In addition to being one, holy, and catholic, the Church is apostolic. Founded on the 12 apostles and continued by their successors, the bishops, Christ sets up a means of handing on his Truth. But how do we reconcile the imperfection of the leadership of the Church and the handing on of the perfect Truth entrusted t...

Today, we read CCC, 830 - 856 and discuss the third mark of the Church, its catholicity. The Church is catholic, or "universal", and - just like the God who established it and continues to work through it - it is missionary as it goes out to the ends of the earth proclaiming the Good News. As we share this Good News which has been shared with us, we are blessed in sharing it as others are blessed...

Today, we read CCC, 811 - 829 and discuss the first two (out of four) marks, or essential characteristics, of the Catholic Church. The Nicene Creed invites us to proclaim that she is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. One and Holy?! That doesn't seem right... But, as always, the Church is One because God is One, and the Church is Holy because God is Holy. Let's thank God for that!

Today, we read CCC, 781 - 810 and discuss how, try as we may to change our circumstances or our dispositions or other dimensions of our lives, we are "dealt" a certain "hand." Rather than rail against the circumstances, the dispositions, the other dimensions, in the words of Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., "play the hand you're dealt." God wants to work in and through all of these, and he can bring about...

Today, we read CCC, 748 - 780 and discuss how the Church depends entirely on Christ... "The Church is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun." While the Church, as moon, reflects the light of Christ, as sun, in many ways, its primary job is to bring the Eucharist - "the source and summit of the Christian life" - to the People of God. Is the Eucharist the source (beginning) and summit...

Today, we read CCC, 702 - 747 and discuss how trials, sufferings, times of purification... are part of God's "mysterious fidelity" to us. Rather than vindictive punishments or haphazard forgetfulness, God is actually loving us by cutting away the junk in us and in our lives, shaping us into the people He created us to be so that we can enjoy the fullness of the blessed life he has in store for eac...

Today, we read CCC, 683 - 701 and discuss the Third Person of the Holy Trinity: the Holy Spirit. It is often easy to picture the First Person of the Holy Trinity as an old man with a white beard looking down upon us from Heaven, and we can certainly picture the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, as the Middle Eastern man who walked the earth 2,000 years ago... But how do we envision...

Today, we read CCC, 659 - 682 which discusses some wild things - the "end times", the "Anti-Christ", "the "final coming" of the "glorious Messiah"... As we've discussed before, life with Christ IS wild and dramatic, but it is ALSO simple and mundane. There will be a decisive moment after which there are no more moments of choosing; however, the decisive moments come to us one at a time, day by day...

Today, we read CCC, 624 - 658 and discuss the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Going from being dead to being alive again is a bold claim, but bold claims are what Christianity are all about!

Today, we read CCC, 595 - 623 and discuss another one of those "both/and" concepts... God, who is outside of time and space, can see everything that is going to happen, and, yet, human beings have free will - we are perfectly free to choose our actions. How does that work?!

Today, we read CCC, 561 - 594 and discuss some of the reasons why the Pharisees took issue with Jesus and his teachings. Jesus makes bold statements and does some outlandish things... What do you think? Was Jesus who he said he was - the Lord? Or was he a lunatic (someone who believed he was the Lord) or an incredible liar (someone who has deceived billions of people for centuries)? According to C...

Today, we read CCC, 535 - 560 and discuss the virtue of humility. St. Bernard of Clairvaux says that the three most important virtues are "humility, humility, and humility." From Christ's conquering of the temptations in the desert to the conquering of sin and temptation and vice in our own lives, humility is a winning virtue.

Today, we read CCC, 502 - 534 and discuss how only about 10% of Jesus's life - 3 out of 33 years - was spent in public ministry. Most of his life - 30 out of 33 years - was spent growing in "wisdom and age and favor" during a quiet, hidden, humble life in Nazareth. This great portion of his life is instructive for us: We can be made saints by being faithful to and by persevering in the quiet, hidd...

Today, we read CCC, 470 - 501 and discuss icons, or the images that we often have around our homes and in our wallets. Some people love the Philadelphia Flyers and wear their jerseys, others adore the show "The Office" and hang posters referencing it on their walls, still others are passionate about their Catholic faith and display paintings and statues and holy cards of Jesus, the Blessed Mother,...