Posts Tagged

Catholic Thoughts

Sunburst in Newport Ohio, Rural Farm Mass 2017 (CT Photo/Greg Hartman)
What can we do?” Over and over, people come to me with that question. We want to have a plan, a way to overcome the darkness in our world. Oh, how I wish I had the answer. But, as in all things spiritual, the answer abides within each of us …

The river Gave de Pau river flows by Lourdes France. The river begins in the Pyrenees Mountains and runs approximately 114 miles. (CT Photo/Greg Hartman)
One of my favorite sayings is from St Francis de Sales: “Be who you are and be that well. So that you may bring honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are.” It is good enough to just be yourself. In fact, God doesn’t want us to try to …

Virtue = Strength (CT Photo/Greg Hartman)
Do you ever mentally skip over the statement: “.. for what I have done and for what I have failed to do” in the Confiteor? We figure that reconciliation is all about those time we did something wrong like lying, cheating, losing our temper etc. What is missing is the …

The New Year is here, and it is time to make some decisions about changes in our lives. We do this every year and it seems as if nothing changes. By Dec. 31, we are no closer to God, no happier and no more the good soul we would like …

Are you ready for the Christmas Crazy? We are down to the wire. Christmas is rushing into our lives sooner then we want. It seems like yesterday when we were eating turkey and believing we had all the time in the world to make Christmas. But not so! We are …

It’s Thanksgiving dinner. You look around the table and see, once again, your beloved, dysfunctional family. While you would like to imagine that you and your family are the perfect, loving family, around this turkey is a spicy mix of selfishness, negativism, pride, and a pinch of bitterness. I offer …

Have you decided on your New Year’s resolution yet? Every year, thousands of us decide to lose 10 pounds and join the gym, stop playing so much golf and spend more time with the kids, or if you really mean business, go to Mass more than one day a week. …

By Jeanne Hunt One of my favorite passages in Scripture is the time Mrs. Zebedee tries to get Jesus to give her sons first-row seats at the heavenly banquet (see Matthew 20:20–28). I can really identify with her motivation. The mother’s handbook requires us to look out for our boys. …

Running through the airport, you realize you’re late for your flight. You forgot your watch, so you ask a well-dressed young business traveler for the time. He pulls out his cell phone to give you the time. You think to yourself, “Hmmm… he forgot his watch too.” It’s time for …

Summer has arrived and our hearts are ready to play, relax, and enjoy some time off. As the crowning jewel of all this summer fun is vacation time, it will either be a wonderful memory or a little trip to hell (or at least purgatory). I have experienced both. Last …