Catholic Journal

We Are Never Alone

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. (Matthew 11:29) How can Jesus’ “yoke,” (i.e. his challenging teachings) be construed as “easy” and its burden “light?” Jesus’ yoke is...

The Lord is Calling Each of Us

One summer morning a farmer named Ned was helping his neighbor Willy build a new fence, but the work was going slowly. Finally, Ned deliberately dropped a fence post in a muddy puddle of water, splattering both men with mud. Ned’s wife happened to...

A Wellspring of Graces

The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Solemnity is formally celebrated on June 12. On that date, Bishop Piotr Sawczuk of the Diocese of Drohiczyn elevated the Church of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr, in Milejczyce...

All Essays

A Mystery Beyond Our Understanding

A religion teacher in a Catholic high school had been talking to her students about the Holy Trinity, and at the end of the class period she gave them an assignment. They had to write their answers to the question...

How Prayer Meets Leadership

When Catholics speak of prayer, we often refer to our practice of praying the Rosary, or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or praying before the Blessed Sacrament, or Sunday worship, or our penitential requirements, or our...

The Work of the Holy Spirit

A simple, inescapable statement gleaned from today’s gospel passage (John 20:19-23): every single aspect of our life, at all levels, from the biological to the supernatural, is brought into existence and to action by...

Finding Veronica

As an adult I have tended to have disappointing health insurance.  When I gave birth to my younger daughter, Veronica, in 1990, I had no health insurance at all. I secured a midwife for $1200, a fortune for me. She was...

Where the Spirit Reigns

Years ago, there was a country doctor in rural Oklahoma who was known for his dedication to the poor. Many of his patients had no transportation, so he would often drive out to their rundown shacks and homes to treat...