Modern Mortification: Beyond Hair Shirts and Flogs
For years, the adoration chapel at my parish used to put out a little basket full of folded strips of paper on the table during Lent. It was accompanied by a little sign that read: “Pick a Penance.” Everyone takes one slip each time they visit. There’s to be no cheating and no “throwbacks.” As […]
Don’t Celebrate Hell This Halloween
By Charles D. Fraune For those who were not brought up in an authentically Catholic cultural environment, Halloween can easily take on the character of a death festival. Ghouls, vampires, witches, devils, eye-ball soups, depictions of demons and murder on front lawns (I saw a realistic hanging scene on someone’s front porch the other day […]
Lent + Coronavirus = An Unprecedented Spiritual Opportunity
by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS We might as well admit it right up front – this is a Lent like most of us have never seen in our lifetime. A killer virus is sweeping the planet. We’re virtually quarantined in our homes; the kids are off; events are cancelled; the churches are closed; and we’re […]
Passive Mortification: Making the Best of a Bad Hair Day
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS We’ve all had one – the day that starts off bad and gets worse by the hour. The car won’t start, the cat got out, your boss just imposed an impossible deadline, the kids came home with the stomach bug and the dishwasher stopped mid-cycle. This is known as a bad […]
An Exorcist Explains How Satan Tempts the Just
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS The three temptations of Jesus are familiar to all of us – the temptation for sensual satisfaction, the thirst for power, and the desire for worldly recognition – but, as the Spanish exorcist Father Jose Antonio Fortea explains, these temptations become much more subtle and dangerous when they are imposed […]
It’s Lent! Do you know where your imperfections are?
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Once upon a time (which was about three days ago), when the Lord told me to work on getting rid of my imperfections for Lent, I couldn’t come up with a single one (not a good sign). “Lord,” I prayed, “I’m drawing a blank.”
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