The Catholic Cafe

My kids have left the Church. Or my friends, or my family. This seems to be a constant refrain from concerned Catholics today. As a continuation of our show last week, we delve a little further into what to do and what not to do when the ones we care about stop caring about God.

When you look at all the events that are occurring around us, you realize that our modern world has slipped into a pagan existence not unlike the times of early Christianity. But, we are not left without hope, The Church is truly a light in the darkness for our families.

The Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was started by a lesser-known Carmelite nun from the middle of the nineteenth century. It is Church-approved and based on her private revelations. With a focus on the evils of Communism and atheism, it is especially relevant even in our world today.

When all the Easter candy and decorations are cleared out of stores, many think Easter is over. But, that is not true for the Church. In much the same way we prepare for Easter through the season of Lent, it is appropriate that we realize and take the time to celebrate the entire season of Easter afforded us by the Church.

By recounting the scriptural accounts of the morning of the Resurrection, the state of mind of those involved, and the evidence of the events that occurred, we can rest assured that the Christian faith in a Risen Christ is not only feasible and reasonable, but most assuredly true.

For some folks, this Holy Week is just one of many, many Holy Weeks in a lifetime of Church life. The week may have lost its luster. Perhaps there is a way to reinvest and reinvigorate this, our last week of Lent 2024.

With the recent release of the movie Cabrini by Angel Studios, there has been a very divisive reaction from various sectors and especially among Catholics. Perhaps a review of this film about the life of the first American saint, Frances Xavier Cabrini, will help bridge the divide.

The Fourth Sunday in Lent carries with it a special character even within the desert of the lenten journey. It is a time to start to realize that we are loved by Jesus, and though we move through this season in a spirit of profound repentance, we must have hope.

When we read about Jesus cleansing the Temple of moneychangers we can see how the Lord desires the Church to be first a house of worship. But we also read in Scripture that our bodies are temples as well, temples of the Holy Spirit. So we need to periodically cleanse our own temples to properly prepare ourselves for worship of the Lord.

Some wonder what role temptation plays in the story of salvation and why the First Sunday of Lent focuses us on the Temptation of Jesus in the Desert. We must understand why God allows us to be tempted, and how temptation and spiritual warfare are related so that we can grow closer to God through Jesus during Lent.

Some have declared that how we worship is not so very important, and that apparent extravagance is a misplaced distraction from the truth of the Gospel message. Perhaps, though, there is value in the manner in which our Church gathers to worship and that the Sacred Scriptures can help us see this.

Time flies and it is already time to be thinking about the season of Lent and how we can best prepare ourselves for the Easter Mysteries. Making our Lent matter more will enhance our Easter experience. So, prepping for Lent is the key to a Happy Easter.

For some, there is an apparent contradiction between the Catholic concepts of dying to self and self esteem. Many think it impossible that both can be true goals at once. When you consider the self to be a soul, however, and pursue soul esteem, then dying to self becomes more apparent as a beneficial path of the spiritual life.

Many people feel that God has not spoken to them or called them in any way. They see God as silent in their lives. Perhaps it is possible they have not put themselves in the right place or the right frame of mind to hear God calling them to their vocation. Take the examples of Samuel and Saint Peter.

So many folks have fallen into the throws of addiction. The worldly doctors tell us sobriety is the answer, when in reality the true cure for addition to anything is total faith, submission and intimacy with God, who fulfills all desires.

Brother Dylan Perry, FSC, is a De La Salle Christian Brother who serves as school principal of the De La Salle Blackfeet School. This is the third episode of a three-part series and concludes with his experiences as principal of a small but effective school located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana..

Brother Dylan Perry, FSC, is a De La Salle Christian Brother who serves as a school principal on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana. This is the second episode of a three-part series about his experiences and continues with Brother Dylan and his vocational call and discusses the charism and history of the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

Brother Dylan Perry, FSC, is a De La Salle Christian Brother who serves as a school principal on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Northwest Montana. This is the first episode of a three-part series about his experiences and focuses on Brother Dylan and his vocational call.

The Catholic notion of making reparations to God for sin, especially blasphemy, is an ancient and constant teaching of our faith. As we prepare our spiritual houses for Christmas this Advent season, we need to start making amends for our poor and sinful choices.

Many of us have places or rooms within our hearts where no one, not even our Lord, is welcome. Perhaps as we enter the season of Advent, we should learn to forgive and forget so that we can best prepare for the Coming of the Lord at Christmas.

As we prepare for the season of Christmas, a season which for many in the modern culture has become very materialistic, perhaps we should take this time of Advent to look into what the Catholic Church teaches us about the universal destination of goods.

Thanksgiving is usually a grand feast and, for many, ushers in a month of feasting and celebrating until Christmas arrives. Perhaps we should take this opportunity to view the Thanksgiving holiday a bit more like Mardis Gras before Lent so that we may properly see Advent for the spiritual time of preparation that it should be.

Spending time in Adoration before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is a wonderful time to ponder His might, and to realize you are sitting before a person, the Second Divine Person of the Trinity. That is Who He is. So, this is also the perfect time to listen to the Lord and hear who He thinks that we are.

With the innovations which modern technology have afforded us, there is a superabundance of information available to everyone about virtually everything. While this transparency and opportunity can be very good for society, it is also can a create an unnecessary distraction which can actually challenge us in our faith life.

When speaking to the Jews in the synagogue about the Pharisees and the Scribes, Jesus says that they have taken their seat on the Chair of Moses, which is a curious phrase that speaks of the authority the Pharisees have been given by God. One should wonder since Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, then there must be a fulfillment of the Chair of Moses.