Tag: gospel

On
Fr. Donald Lange

Mary’s Assumption inspires us to imitate her discipleship

Seeing with Jesus' Eyes, by Fr. Don Lange

Fr. Mark Link shared an inspiring story of a Catholic teenager who felt that her mother rejected her. She transferred her anger for her mother to Mary.

The girl reluctantly went on a required Confirmation retreat. The director talked about Mary. As the girl listened, angry feelings towards her mother surfaced. She rejected everything good the speaker shared about Mary. After the talk, she went outside to walk off her anger. She wanted to cry but her tears froze. She felt bitter loneliness and rejection.

She wandered aimlessly until her curiosity attracted her to a small grotto-like building. She looked inside and discovered a large statue of Mary from whom she was trying to escape. She wanted to run, but she was drawn to the kneeler at Mary’s feet. She fell on her knees, weeping in the folds of Mary’s robes. When she stopped crying, she felt cleansed and renewed. Touched by Mary, she began to accept her as her spiritual mother.

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Tony Magliano

The challenge of Lent continues beyond Easter

Making a Difference column logo

As the Lend ends, let us never forget its commanding start: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”

We could spend most of our lives reflecting and acting on this single powerful sentence. And indeed we should.

For in turning away from all that hurts our relationship with God — sin — and being faithful to the essential foundation which nurtures that relationship — the Gospel — we discover ever more fully the beauty, peace, joy, and meaning of this life, and prepare well for the incomprehensible wonders of eternal life!

Turning away from sin

This is the ideal time for the nation as a whole to turn away from sin.

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On
Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer

Making a world of difference

Propagation of Faith by Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer

Mukuru, a slum in the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi, is home to some 10,000 people living in wood and corrugated metal shacks, crowded together, with no running water, electricity, or sewage systems.

Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Mukuru is packed. At the Offertory procession, with the gifts of bread and wine are baskets of vegetables, flour, rice, bread, and other necessities for the less fortunate members of the parish.

Spreading the Good News

Then, at the end of Mass, the new words of dismissal — “go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” — come to life immediately as the missionary priest and others navigate narrow dirt paths, spreading the Good News of God’s love to the sick and those suffering in any way.

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Sr. Margie Lavonis

Where are the vocations?

Cutting Edge by Sr. Margie Lavonis

The shortage of priests and religious men and women in the Church, particularly in Europe and North America, is common these days. Many international congregations like my own, the Sisters of the Holy Cross, are still getting new members, but in countries other than the United States. Many consider it a crisis.

Too often when we speak of vocations we limit that term to mean the call to ordained ministry and the consecrated life. When we pray for vocations, we usually ask God to inspire young people to answer a call to be Sisters, Brothers, and priests. Once in a while we might include the call to lay ministry in the Church, but that is the exception.

God calls each of us

We do not have to look far to find vocations. The truth is that each baptized person has a vocation, not just religious and clergy. By our Baptism each of us is called to share the mission of Jesus. As disciples of Jesus, every Christian is called to reveal God’s unconditional love and to spread that love to others. The next time you are at a Baptism liturgy listen closely to the prayers.

 

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Fr. Donald Lange

Be thankful for every day

On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig enjoyed an early Thanksgiving Day. On Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, the Hall of Fame first baseman told 61,808 baseball fans that he was the luckiest man on earth.

At age 36, he was dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis); yet, he was thankful because God gifted him with great athletic ability, wonderful fans, teammates, and a good family.

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

Lent calls us to grow in our Easter faith

When Matt Hasselbeck, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback, was a Boston College junior, he volunteered to spend eight days in the missions of Jamaica during spring break.

The people’s poverty shocked him. But their faith, especially the faith of George McVee, a leper, inspired him.

George, a horribly disfigured leper, had no money, no nose, no feet or hands. Yet he daily thanked God for his blessings.

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Sr. Margie Lavonis

Who has a vocation?

Cutting Edge by Sr. Margie Lavonis

During January, most dioceses in the United States celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week.

This is a good time to think about vocations and who has one. Who do you think has a vocation? If you answered that everyone has a vocation, you get an A.

Receiving our vocation

So often we hear people limiting the term “vocation” to the priesthood and religious life. I hear many people, especially parents with children in Catholic schools, complain that we just don’t have enough vocations, but in truth we each received a vocation when we were baptized.

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