Catholic Fire

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. – Matthew 5:9 How do we cope with the violence, chaos, and conflicts that we face in our world today?  How can we find peace and also serve as true peacemakers in our twenty-first century culture? St. Bernard of Clairvaux , a Doctor of the Church, a contemplative, theologian, and mystic of the twelfth century is an excellent example for us to follow. He found peace in God through a devout prayer life as a contemplative. However, he also led a very active life, performing works of peace and love in the secular world.  He traveled throughout Europe, which was plagued by various schisms, restoring peace and unity. Not only did he resolve divisions in the Church, but he also mediated in secular disputes and was sought out as an adviser and an arbitrator by the ruling powers of his era. What was his secret for restoring peace and unity to a troubled world? He was merely a modest monk with no worldly pow...

April 29th is the feast of my Confirmation saint, St. Catherine of Siena, Caterina di Giacomo di Benicasa (1347 - 1380). As a mystic, activist, reformer, contemplative, and Doctor of the Church, she is one of the most prominent figures in Christian history. Catherine, the youngest of twenty-six children, was born in Siena on March 25, 1347. During her youth she had to contend with great difficulties on the part of her parents. They were planning marriage for their favorite daughter; but Catherine, who at the age of seven had already taken a vow of virginity, refused. To break her resistance, her beautiful golden brown tresses were shorn to the very skin and she was forced to do the most menial tasks. Undone by her patience, her mother and father finally relented and their child entered the Third Order of St. Dominic -- a lay order. Catherine managed a large household of followers, all of whom called her "Mama". She served as spiritual director to royalty and religiou...

Today is the feast of St. Teresa of Avila , the first woman doctor of the Church. Here are her top twenty quotes: 1. “Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, all things are passing: God never changes.     Patience obtains all things. He who possesses God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”  2. “It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering into ourselves.”  3. “It is love alone that gives worth to all things” 4. “Thank God for the things that I do not own.”  5. “You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.”  6. “From sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us!”  7. “Love turns work into rest.”  8. “Be gentle to all, and stern with yourself.”  9. “God calls to us in countless little ways all the time. Through illnesses and suffering and through sorrow he calls to us. Through a truth glimpsed fleetingly in a state of prayer he calls to us. ...