Saints Basil and Gregory: the Joy of Friendship
By Lyn Wilson … In a world of disposable friendships, these two great men leave an example of Godly friendship and its enduring legacy.
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It’s a Wonderful Gift
By Amanda Pizzolatto … It’s that time of year again. The time of year for wonder, traditions, family, friends, precious moments, heartache for the ones who have passed on, joy, tears, laughter, and quite possibly some of the worst takes this side of the galaxy has ever seen… thanks to these bad takes, I have successfully rewatched It’s a Wonderful Life and debunked every one of them…
Read MoreRest and Restlessness
By Stephen Steiniger … Our hearts are restless until they rest in the Lord. Jesus is our peace. He is our teacher and master. Jesus wants to share with us his Sabbath rest. The fullness of rest will enable us to be good citizens of Heaven and earth.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Stephen Nguyen Van Vinh
By T.K. Wilson … Today (December 19th), the church commemorates Stephen Nguyen Van Vinh and his companions, who were martyred for their faith on this date in 1839.
Read MoreAnd This the Happy Morn
By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall …
No one has yet messed up Advent (aka “The Christmas Season,” which it is not), and so we are spared Advent sales and Advent gifts and Advent movies and news stories babbling about The True Meaning of Advent. Advent is a season that points to the Nativity, not to itself.
Faithful Friday: St. John of the Cross
By Ian Wilson … The celebrated mystic, St. John of the Cross, was born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez on June 24, 1542, in Fontiveros, Spain. Even as a child, John knew he wanted to live the ascetic life. After the untimely death of his father and older brother when John was only three years old, John was sent to a boarding school for poor orphaned children. There, he received a religious education, and served as an acolyte at an Augustinian monastery.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: St. Justinian
By Lyn Wilson … Saint Justinian (or Stinan) of Ramsey was a 6th Century Monk from Breton who moved to Ramsey Island in Pembrokeshire in modern day Wales.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Catherine Laboure
By Sarah Losardo … It was in Paris that she discovered the identity of the priest in her vision – St. Vincent De Paul, the founder of the Sisters of Charity. In January 1830, Zoe finally joined the Sisters of Charity in Paris, taking the name Catherine. The same year, first in July and again in November, Sister Catherine was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who entrusted to her a medallion to be given to the world.
Read MoreHaving a Mature Relationship with Jesus in the Spiritual Life
By Stephen Steiniger … Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. As such, he is due special attention and praise. He is alone among human beings. As true God and man, Jesus exists as one of us, but something more. He is the source and summit of our life. He is our beginning and end.
Read MoreNo, Halloween Is Not Satanic
By Ian Wilson … If you read the title of this article, you already know the conclusion I’m coming to. Halloween has been celebrated in Western Christianity, particularly in Britain, for hundreds of years.
Read MoreThe Rich Man, Lazarus, and Me
By Sarah Levesque Losardo … In the Bible, the rich man seemingly ignored the poor, destitute, starving man at his door. Perhaps he thought himself generous for letting Lazarus even stay there. Or perhaps that is where Lazarus collapsed of hunger. In any case, I find four points of this story particularly interesting.
Read MoreAugust is Unusually Hot – Someone Must be Punished for It
By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Having only graduated from high school (I think the quarter-credit for driver’s education put me over the top) I am certainly no climatologist, meteorologist, or vulgar Swedish child, but I am not persuaded of the concept of man-made climate change.
Read MoreDoorstopper
By Jeremy Abrahamson … Why am I writing a two thousand page historical romance in a the tiktok generation? Because that is the exact generation that needs it.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: St. Giulia Salzano
By Sarah Levesque … Giulia Salzano was born on October 13, 1846, in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, Italy. Her father, Diego Salzano, died when Giulia was only four years old, and she was taken in by the Sisters of Charity, with whom she stayed until she was fifteen years old.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: James the Lesser
By T.K. Wilson … James, the son of Alpheus, was one of the original Twelve Apostles called by Christ at the start of his ministry. According to tradition, he is one of Jesus’s cousins or half-brothers and brother of St. Jude. He is called “the Lesser ” or “The Just ” to avoid confusion with James son of Zebedee – though even this is disputed!
Read MoreIn View of Eternity: The Penitence of Moll Flanders and Nala Ray
By Ruth Anne Amsden … Nala Ray, a former Only Fans star, has made a very public confession of her conversion to Christianity and of her forsaking of her past life. Christians of all denominations are calling her conversion into question and arguing over whether or not it is possible for anyone to be forgiven and restored to relationship with God after living such a lifestyle.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Pope Cletus
By Lyn Wilson … Pope Cletus, sometimes known as Anacletus, was the third Bishop of Rome after St. Peter and Linus. We know very little about this man’s life and yet his name is remembered through history.
Read MoreFinal Gifts
By Samantha Terrell … The last communion I ever took with my dad was grape juice from a prefilled plastic cup – the type that’s filled with creamer at the diner. We had a lot of losses in that era (at the moment, I can’t stomach counting them all), but Dad is the only one I got to commune with – behind a curtain pulled for privacy in the ICU.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: St Aelfheah
By Ian Wilson … Born in 954 in Somerset, England, Aelfheah had everything – a noble family, wealth, food, drink, servants – yet none of those things had affected him so much as knowing and drawing nearer to God. Much to his family’s dismay, Aelfheah entered the monastery, where he was respected for his austerity and extreme piety.
Read MoreWhen the Lilies Attempt to Toil
By Cordelia Fitzgerald … Lilies of the Field is a modest film with a comparatively small cast, simple plot, and a light load of English dialogue. Homer Smith, a traveling handyman, finds himself employed by some German nuns with a dubious revenue stream and consequently becomes invested in their (or rather, the Mother Superior’s) dream, which turns out to be the basis of the story. Again, it is a simple film – but it is a battle of wills.
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