Scraps From A Spiritual Diary

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM, Cap, preacher of the Papal Household was a guest at one of the programs of EWTN. I caught the last part of the program beginning with the interventions of Scott Hahn and another lay professor at Franciscan University. Scott Hahn the convert from the Presbyterians said... Sign in to see full entry.

The immorality of the people of Israel, their kings and their prophets was at issue again tonight. It is as if some do read the stories from Salvation History as if these exclusively taught something about good morals or discerning the wrong from the right. And so when one reads the story about, for... Sign in to see full entry.

VocationsPlacement is an organization that helps people find out where they can "place" themselves within the Church to exercise the gifts they received in Confirmation whether as religious, priests or as ministers of the family household (in marriage, that is). They have their website at... Sign in to see full entry.

Lo the Day is coming, blazing like an oven when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble and the day that is coming will set them on fire leaving them neighter root nor branch, says the Lord of hosts. But for you who fear my name there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays. Mal.... Sign in to see full entry.

Christian vocations are nurtured within the family, the domestic church, whether that "vocation" is a vocation to the priesthood, the religious life, or even to marriage*. The following is an excerpt from an address of the Pope on Vocation Day 1994. Here he underlines the role of the family with... Sign in to see full entry.

It seems that the word "vocation" has become for English speaking Catholics, the technical term for the God's personal invitation to men to life with him through the Douay-Rheims version. Below are New Testament passages from this translation about "vocation." 1 Corinthians 1:26 For see your... Sign in to see full entry.

You probably have read Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life." From a Catholic point of view, what he did in and with that book is not new. The Catholic equivalent of his "Purpose-Driven Life" seminars is called "Vocation Discernment" which is the process by which one tries to discover, get a hold... Sign in to see full entry.

AMDG suggested to me a topic that is close to my heart. It is about "vocation." I have written a short blog about the meaning of the word, and one can find it here. In that blog, I make three observations about the meaning of "vocation:" 1. that its original meaning is theological, i.e. it cannot be... Sign in to see full entry.

Those who are sent in missions have at least the assurance that the Lord identifies with them. "Whoever receives you, receives me. Whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me. " Ergo "Whoever rejects you rejects me, and the one who sent me." These statements echo another less well known text:... Sign in to see full entry.

Immediately following the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. John Paul II in his encyclical "Redemptoris Mater" (The Mother of the Redeemer) writes that it was under the cross that Our Lady shows herself to be "mother" even for the follower of Christ.... Sign in to see full entry.