Learning to be Quick to Listen

On the surface, the Catholic practice of " closed communion "—restricting the Eucharist to Catholics in good standing—can appear scandalous, especially when many Protestant communities practice "open communion." Critics often ask: if Jesus freely received tax collectors and sinners at His dinner table (Luke 15:1-2), why do we refuse them the Lord’s Supper? The fundamental difference lies in understanding what the Eucharist is. Unlike a casual, hospitable meal, the Last Supper was an intimate, covenantal affair reserved for Jesus's chosen twelve, serving as the fulfillment of the Jewish Passover. The Passover was a decidedly "closed" event, requiring entrance into the covenant community (Exod. 12:48). Therefore, the Church doesn't treat the Eucharist as an act of generic hospitality, open to all, but rather as an act of marital intimacy—a profound union reserved for those in full covenantal relationship with the Church, the Bride of Christ. This exc...

The release of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s note, Mater Populi Fidelis , on November 4, 2025, sparked immediate and widespread confusion, driven largely by sensationalist headlines. In response to requests, particularly surrounding a potential Fifth Marian Dogma of Spiritual Maternity , the DDF addressed the usage of titles like Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix. Unfortunately, this has led to a large contingent online and in the media prematurely claiming that the Church has "tossed out" centuries of doctrine, with some outside the Church even proclaiming a victory over Catholic teaching. It is essential to understand that this doctrinal note is fundamentally about titles and clarity, not doctrine and change. The true teachings regarding Mary's unique role in salvation remain inviolable and unchanged; the document seeks merely to address how certain terms are used so that the Church’s doctrine may be correctly and harmoniously understood by the faithful world...

I've been reflecting deeply on Pope Leo XIV's Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te (“I have loved you”), and how I truly apply its principles—the preferential choice for the poor—to my daily life. The core challenge is overcoming my own self-centeredness and moving past pity. The Pope insists that love for the Lord is one with love for the poor (Rev 3:9), demanding that I treat charity not as an optional good work, but as the essential expression of my relationship with Christ. This calls me to start my day with a "Morning Prayer Check," asking the Holy Spirit to reveal one person or situation of need I might otherwise overlook, thereby keeping my faith from becoming a private comfort. The most profound shift required is seeing the poor not as objects of my compassion, but as "teachers of the Gospel"—a sacramental presence of the Lord. This means the focus of my action must be on encounter and listening, not just "giving and going." If I volunteer, I n...

All Souls' Day, officially known as The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (November 2nd), holds a profound place in the heart of Catholic tradition. It is a day dedicated to praying for the souls of those who, having died in God's grace and friendship, are still undergoing purification before entering the perfect joy of heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this final cleansing, calling it Purgatory , which is "entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1030-1031). It is a necessary mercy for those "still imperfectly purified" to achieve the holiness required to gaze upon God, as nothing unclean can enter Heaven. This purification is not a punishment in the sense of condemnation, but a loving act of God to remove every remaining attachment to sin, preparing the soul for eternal beatitude. The reason Catholics pray for these souls—often called the "Church Suffering"—is rooted in the fundamental belief in the ...

It’s a popular notion today that all religions are essentially the same, their worth measured solely by their contribution to " social justice ." The belief is that as long as a faith provides peace, strength, and inspires attention to others' needs, its specific doctrines don't truly matter. There is a measure of truth to this emphasis, as a true religion must affirm, promote, and defend the dignity of the human person. However, reducing religion to mere social utility misses a foundational point articulated by figures like Cardinal Gerhard Müller : the question of God is inevitably linked to the question of self. As Müller argues, a proper doctrine about God has enormous consequences for our very existence. In the Catholic view, we don't need to justify our existence to ourselves or others; rather, "God justifies that I am and that I am who I am." This recognition of a transcendent Creator is the ultimate defense of human worth. When the transcendent n...

Have you ever been approached by someone who asks if you believe in the afterlife, or about your faith in general? How do you respond? Many of us are familiar with the common saying that it's better to believe and be wrong than not to believe at all, but as Catholics, our assurance is founded on the very person of Jesus Christ. The Bible speaks profoundly about faith, and Jesus confronted the issue of belief head-on in the post-resurrection account with Thomas. When Thomas, having been absent, declared he wouldn't believe unless he saw and touched Christ's wounds, Jesus appeared and invited him to do just that, before stating, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed" ( John 20:29 ). This incident speaks directly to the necessity of maintaining our faith even amidst our doubts. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) reminds us that "Faith is a personal adherence of man to God; at the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the who...

Pope Francis offered a poignant reminder in his homilies that the Christian journey is one rooted not in self-righteousness, but in a repentant heart that accepts God’s boundless love for sinners . Citing the Lord's desire for "mercy, not sacrifice," the Holy Father cautions that a lack of repentance risks turning our faith into a superficial performance. The Church, he stressed, is not an exclusive club for the "perfect," but a fellowship of disciples who recognize their need for Christ's forgiveness. Jesus’ ministry—vividly illustrated in his call of Matthew, the despised tax collector—is a powerful testament to this truth. He didn't dwell on Matthew’s past but embraced him, offering a new future, embodying the beautiful reality that "there is no saint without a past and there is not sinner without a future." This radical inclusion is the very essence of the Gospel: God’s healing power is limitless, and no sinner is beyond the reach of his l...

The cacophony of modern life is, perhaps, the most persistent challenge to our spiritual well-being. From endless media notifications to the constant pressure of over-commitment, the "spirit of the world" clamors for our attention, often drowning out the subtle, gentle voice of God. This struggle for inner focus is not new, but its intensity has certainly amplified. Pope St. John Paul II, acutely aware of this, often challenged the faithful—especially the youth—to choose between the true, living words of Christ and the "false illusions and parodies of happiness" offered by worldly voices. In a homily for World Youth Day, he noted that the deepest unhappiness comes from the illusion of finding life by excluding God, and urged us to resist the temptation to "allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity." To achieve the greatness God intends, we must first recognize that the noise we permit in our lives directly competes with the quiet clarity of His pe...

It's a common image shared from the ambo : Jesus's famous saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God ” ( Matthew 19:24 ), isn't about an actual sewing needle, but a small city gate called the "Eye of a Needle." This story beautifully illustrates the need for a rich person to unload their worldly possessions (like a camel shedding its burden) to "stoop down and wiggle through" into the Kingdom. While this interpretation offers a poignant teaching image about detachment from wealth , the simple truth is that there is no historical, archaeological, or written evidence that a gate by this name ever existed. Scholars and biblical commentators consistently debunk this tale as a myth. When Jesus spoke, the camel was the largest animal his audience would have seen, and the needle's eye the smallest aperture—making for a perfectly impossible, yet vivid, visual hyperbole . To confir...

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690) was a humble Visitation nun whose life was transformed by profound mystical experiences that would forever change Catholic devotion. Born in Verosvres, France, Margaret Mary struggled with illness and a difficult family life before entering the convent at Paray-le-Monial. It was within the quiet walls of the cloister that she began to receive visions of Jesus Christ , who appeared to her, revealing his burning love for humanity and lamenting the indifference with which his love was often met. The most significant of these apparitions was the revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus . Christ specifically requested that a feast day be established to honor his Sacred Heart and that Catholics practice the First Friday Devotion and the Holy Hour of reparation, encouraging all to make amends for the world's coldness toward God's love. Despite facing skepticism and resistance from her community and superiors, Margaret Mary remained steadfast...

Saint Teresa of Jesus , a Doctor of the Church and one of history's greatest mystics , left us an accessible roadmap for holiness in her classic work, The Interior Castle . The great secret she teaches is not complex theological knowledge, but the sheer necessity of mental prayer . She insisted that the entire spiritual journey—from self-discovery to transforming union with God —begins and depends upon making a determined effort to spend dedicated time alone with Christ. For busy modern Catholics, this means setting aside a non-negotiable period each day, perhaps 15 to 30 minutes, not just to recite formal prayers, but to actively practice silent, reflective, or affective prayer. This commitment to placing our whole attention on the Lord in our 'inner room' is what starts the journey of self-knowledge and purifies the soul, stripping away the worldly distractions and superficialities that keep us from recognizing the divine presence dwelling within. Once the practice of d...

In the vast expanse of the human heart, there echoes a profound longing, a yearning for something beyond the transient joys and fleeting comforts of this earthly sojourn. This divine homesickness, as it were, is but a whisper of the Holy Spirit, a gentle stirring of the soul that resonates with the Psalmist's cry: "Deep calls unto deep at the sound of Thy cataracts; all Thy waves and Thy billows have passed over me." ( Psalm 42:7 ). This sacred utterance, a testament to the soul's insatiable thirst for the Divine , speaks to the very core of our being, inviting us into a loving relationship with the Triune God. It is a call from the unfathomable depths of God's love to the nascent, often dormant, depths of our own spirit, a divine invitation to plunge into the ocean of His mercy and grace. This profound encounter, where the immensity of God's love meets the yearning of our hearts, is not a mere intellectual assent but a deeply personal and transformative exper...