Catholic Fire

August 27 is the feast of St. Monica , patron saint of mothers and married women. She is a saint I admire so much for her tenacity, patience, and perseverance in prayer for the conversion of her son, St. Augustine. A persistent prayer warrior, Monica never gave up on her son, Augustine, a great sinner, who later became so strongly drawn to the faith that he was eventually canonized, as one of the Church's greatest teachers and philosophers, and was designated a Doctor of the Church. St. Monica is a wonderful model for us to follow today. How many of us have family members who have left the Church? I would guess that most of us have at least one or more relatives who are no longer practicing their faith. A Pew Research Study reports that 10% of all Americans are ex-Catholics. How can we encourage these fallen-away Catholics to return to the faith of their childhood? The most effective ways to positively influence our family members to return to their faith are to pray for th...

As I relive the events of Christ’s Passion and death during this holiest of weeks, I am reminded of my journey back home to the Church after a fifteen year absence. The journey began when I was visiting my parents (who lived out of state) during my Easter vacation. They invited me to join them for the liturgical services on Good Friday 1987. I had alienated myself from my faith for many years and my focus was on my career and other worldly matters. I had completely forgotten about the cross – about the deep love that Our Lord has for each one of us and about the promise of new life that He offers us. It’s hard to imagine my life back then – but the only way that I can describe it now is that there was an emptiness, a deep void which needed to be filled. There was a hunger and thirst for the spiritual. I didn’t realize any of this until that week. When we entered my parent’s parish church on Good Friday, their deacon greeted us at the door and expressed so much care and concern for them...