The Gift of Divine Mercy
My dear friends, Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. This special feast was inaugurated by St. John Paul II in October of 2000, who, on the same day, canonized Sr. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun through whom the Lord had chosen to spread His message of mercy. In her prayer, Jesus [...]
Signs of Resurrection
My dear friends, With all my heart, I wish you and your families a blessed Easter day, filled with joyful “Alleluias,” as we celebrate, once again, the Gift of salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ. It’s wonderful how our celebration of the Resurrection in the Easter Season coincides with the [...]
Guilt For Past Sins
My dear friends, When we visited the topic of guilt a few weeks ago, I was not able to address a question that often comes up, which runs something like this: “Father, when I remember my past sins, sometimes I feel guilty again, even though I’ve already confessed them. This [...]
Two Faced Shame
Thus far in Lent, we have been exploring the human experience of sin. Deacon Tim and I have set forth some thoughts on guilt and conscience. Fr. Steven, in last Sunday’s homily, addressed forgiveness in ways that more adequately reflect the overwhelming love of God and the centrality of relationship [...]
I Believe in Love
My dear friends, A very important part of this Jubilee Year is allowing God to form our minds and hearts with the right understanding of His mercy, so that we will approach His mercy with greater confidence and trust. This is precisely what Jesus is doing through the parables of [...]
Thank God for Guilt
As we continue in this Lenten season and reflect on our faith in this Year of Mercy, I would like to offer this article about guilt. What is guilt? What role does it play in our lives? What is the difference between shame and guilt? Let’s take a simple scenario. [...]
Transfiguration
In the great literary stories, there is always a turning point. Likewise, we experience such moments in our own lives. There are for each of us, times when we are faced with choices, with decisions for ourselves and for others, that hold the potential to be forever life-altering. Today, in [...]
Guilt and Conscience
This past week we began the season of Lent with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. This is a season that certainly generates no shortage of reactions. The more stereotypical reactions would be akin to groaning and, perhaps, a panicked search for something to “give up.” We instead ought to hope [...]
Acting on Mercy
My dear friends, The Bible reveals that God is a God of mercy, that mercy is part of God’s very nature. This being true, it is not surprising that the Lord calls us to be merciful, we who are made in God’s own image. During this special Jubilee year, we [...]
Meet Deacon Tim, Part IV
In this last article I would like to talk about the role of the deacon in our Catholic Church. What is a deacon? What do deacons do and not do? Why does our parish have a deacon? The deacon is at the first level of ordained ministry. Every priest, bishop, [...]
Click here to read more about our parish school, Faithful Shepherd Catholic School.