Category: Features

10 ways to prepare for first Communion day

Joseph D. White A child’s First Communion is an important and exciting milestone in the life of a Catholic family. As the first and most important teachers of their children, parents present their children for baptism and guide them toward Christ as they are initiated into the church community. Handing on our faith to the…

In praise of singing

Laura Kelly Fanucci The first thing I noticed about our parish was the music. Everyone sang. From the moment the opening hymn began, the sanctuary was filled with a robust chorus. I looked around and couldn’t believe my eyes (or ears) – adults, children, women and men were all singing at full voice.I grew up…

What is  ‘Catholic Enough’?

  Jesus keeps ‘left’ and ‘right’ in balance, writes Elizabeth Scalia   A discussion among practicing Catholics occurred in a social media group, inevitably landing on current divisions between Catholics – those who would describe themselves as ‘orthodox’ vs the ‘more progressive;’ those who pronounce themselves ‘proudly cafeteria’ versus those who identify as ‘proudly traditionalist’.…

Almsgiving and fasting can both be about money

Phil Lenahan In word and deed, Pope Francis continues to encourage Catholics to reach out to the poor and not succumb to a consumerist mentality where what we have is deemed more important than who we are. The season of Lent provides a special opportunity to take the Holy Father’s words to heart and live…

Love makes room

My heart started beating faster and my face flushed when I glanced at the messages popping up in text bubbles on my phone one early morning last March. “Are you at work?” one asked. “Can you let me know when you are there?” another said. “Uh-oh,” I thought. “Someone died.” Stepping away from a conversation…

Why giving up something for Lent still matters

Scott P. Richert Every year, for over 40 years now, I have given up watching TV for Lent. I know it’s no longer fashionable to give something up for Lent; instead, we are urged to ‘do something positive’, something that will make a difference in our spiritual life or (preferably, it seems) in the corporal…

Don’t wait too long to baptise your baby

I just celebrated my birthday. Twenty days after I entered the world, I was carried by my godparents to Immaculate Conception Parish in Maplewood, Missouri, to be baptised by the pastor, Fr John Ryan. Mom told me she and dad were nervous because they had waited almost three weeks instead of the expected two, and…

Fasting and abstinence: More than laws of the Church

D.D. Emmons As the penitential season of Lent begins, we Catholics, like Christians everywhere, prepare to commemorate the passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Just a few short weeks ago, we celebrated his birth, and now the Church begins our preparation to join him on his journey to Calvary. The Church scene becomes sombre, more…