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Wednesday, September 10, 2025

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Faith

Ask Father Mike

What should I do for Lent?

Q) Lent is right around the corner, and I never seem to know what to do for the season. I’ve tried giving things up, but it always seems a bit hollow. What should I do?
Focus on Faith

This Lent, say sorry — and mean it

Lent is a time of reparation -- a season of sorrow for sins committed and expressions of a sincere desire to reform our lives. But what does it mean to be sorry? What are the components of real remorse?
Sunday Scriptures

Contagious Christianity

Oh, to be a leper in those days. Lepers were considered unclean by the Jewish faithful. They were outcasts. They were accused of being lawbreakers, sinners. Throughout the Gospels, they had a nose for Jesus. And Jesus did not disappoint.
Faith Fundamentals

How to apply to be a deacon

If a man, after prayer and reflection, thinks that God may be calling him to be a deacon, it is time to begin the application process. It is normal to waver. Is God calling me or not? Should I apply now or wait? It is better to apply sooner rather than later because the application process itself is an exercise in discernment.
Sunday Scriptures

Teaching with authority

Many facets mark this week’s Gospel, which might be titled “A Day in the Life of Jesus.”
Ask Father Mike

Why we struggle to pause and reflect

Q) With the start of every new thing (new year, new season, new stage in life), I find it difficult to stop and consider the previous year, earlier season or earlier stage in life. I find myself doing the same things over and over. There seems to be no end in sight. What do I do?
Sunday Scriptures

A true prophet has arrived

Our first reading this Sunday gives us an endearing vignette with little Samuel sleeping in the temple. We are told that the voice of the Lord was uncommon or “rare” in the early days of Samuel’s life. God’s revelation, and particularly his voice, is a gift. While proper discernment is needed, sometimes God’s silence can be a way of disciplining leaders whose hearts have grown cold.
Faith Fundamentals

The call to be a deacon

The call to be a deacon comes from God. There is no one way that the call comes to a particular person, so it is important to be on the lookout for signs and then subject the signs to discernment.
Sunday Scriptures

‘The Word was made flesh’

The familiar dialogue between the angel Gabriel and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Gospel of Luke is the centerpiece of the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Even the Mass’s Opening Prayer (aka “collect”) sounds familiar, because it’s prayed at the end of the Angelus.
Christmas

A walk through the Christmas season

The Church's liturgical season of Christmas is one of its shortest, but also one of its most unique. Within it is the eight-day celebration of the Lord's Nativity -- known as the Christmas octave -- as well as other feasts pertaining to the manifestation that Jesus is Lord of the nations. And there are feasts of several saints, many of whose stories contain special significance to the season.
Christmas

Preventing the nightmare before Christmas

A friend -- we'll call her Barbara -- once confided to my husband and me: "I hate to admit this, but, deep in my gut, I'm dreading the holidays. Every year around this time my kids' behavior just disintegrates. Visiting with relatives is always the worst part. The kids are overstimulated at one house, then bored at another.
Christmas

Making spirits bright when you won’t be home for the holidays

It's no longer as simple as a sleigh ride through the woods to join the whole family at grandma's for Christmas Day. Nevertheless, many of us make a trek, sometimes several times annually, to celebrate our holidays together. These days, we battle traffic, hectic work schedules, kids' commitments, crowded airports and icy freeways to get there.
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