The Word Among Us

A Conversation with My Grandson By: Lorene Hanley Duquin My fifteen-year-old grandson and I like to try different restaurants for Sunday brunch. The food is always great, but even better is the chance to talk about what is happening in our lives. Text Size Print Email Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest “I am working on a book for grandparents about what to do when bad things happen,” I told him one Sunday morning. I knew it would...

I Cannot Live My Faith Alone By: Monica Butler “There but for the grace of God go I” is a phrase that I used to take lightly. It was an adage I would throw on the end of a sentence after, perhaps, outlining someone else’s fall from grace. In a way, I think saying it made me feel better for rejoicing in another’s wrongdoing, which is quite literally the opposite of the definition of love that St. Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 13.

Being a successful doctor, a skilled surfer, or a vibrant lay minister would each be a great accomplishment. By the age of twenty-five, Guido Schäffer was all three. To top it off, he had a charming smile, a head full of dark wavy locks, and kind brown eyes. But most important, he had a deep, abiding faith and openness to the Holy Spirit, both of which inflamed him with love for those he met in all his pursuits. Text Size Print Email Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Desire to Serve.

Walking in the Humility of the Lord So far, we’ve seen that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation, surrounded by glory and majesty. We’ve also seen how each of us is a kind of firstfruits of God’s creation as we walk in this world. Because we have been consecrated as the firstfruits, every act of service and every sharing of the gospel and every act of prayer we do can make this world a little more holy.

Offering Our Firstfruits to the Lord The long years of wandering had come to a close. Finally, all of Israel stood at the edge of the wilderness and was about to enter the Promised Land, “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:9). As they stood there, Moses reminded them of all the ways the Lord had protected and guided them during their desert journey. Again and again, and often in the face of their own sins and disobedience, God had been with them and provided for them.

Where does your imagination go when you think about the early Church? To Rome, where both Peter and Paul were martyred? To Jerusalem, the heart of Judaism and the birthplace of the Church? Maybe to Antioch, where believers were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:26)? So much of our heritage as believers centers on these great cities. Text Size Print Email Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest But what about Colossae? That’s one place that we rarely think of. Colossae was not a very powerful city.

My wife, Jeannie, and I have been blessed with six grandchildren. The youngest of these is “Roxy,” who has just turned four years old. This girl has a lot of spunk. She knows how to hold her own when she gets into an argument with her two older brothers! She hates to lose when they play games together. She wants to be first in everything, and when that doesn’t happen, she explodes with either anger or tears.

Reflections from a Hospice Worker By: Laura Loker When Laura Weber walked into a patient’s home, she never knew what she’d find. Cultures, lifestyles, family members’ acceptance of their loved one’s declining condition—all varied from home to home. Text Size Print Email Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Once, she walked into a particularly unexpected sight: freshly caught turtles. The son of her patient, to her surprise and revulsion,...

God Never Stopped Calling Out to Me By: Angie Jose I grew up in a strong Catholic household, and I spent most of my free time at church with my mom. We went to Sunday Mass, of course, but we also attended weekly prayer meetings, Eucharistic adoration, retreats, and service opportunities. I belonged to the “Jesus Club,” our youth group, and I was an altar server for weekend Masses. Text Size Print Email Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Our way of life introduced me to our Lord and his Church.

He may be the most influential Catholic that most people have never heard of. But John van Hengel would want it that way. For much of his life, he worked so that all the attention would go to others. Text Size Print Email Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest This unassuming man devoted his time and energy to help people few others noticed—those desperate and hungry on the peripheries, including the families who found themselves suddenly poor and who could find food only by scavenging through dumpsters.