by Carol Lynn Miller | Apr 19, 2019 | God and Suffering, Philosophy, Prayer
In 1979, a large crowd gathered around the church of St. Agnes in New York to hear the wisdom of Fulton Sheen in the last Good Friday homily that he preached. The topic of Bishop Sheen’s homily was “Spectators on and about the Cross.” He broke the spectators into...
by Ascension Media | Feb 24, 2019 | Church Teaching, God and Suffering, Guest Blogs
I’ve often struggled with the concept of offering it up. If you’re a cradle Catholic, you’ve probably heard it from your parents or grandparents whenever the going gets tough. Sprain your knee? Offer it up. Have a bad day at school? Offer it up. Have to sit through a...
by Ascension Media | Jan 29, 2019 | God and Suffering, Guest Blogs, Happiness, Latest
For St. Ignatius of Loyola, at least in the beginning stages, the enemy’s tactic is to bring us into desolation, to bring us to despair and thereby break our resolve to persevere in the Christian life. Ignatius offers a series of “rules,” or principles, which can help...
by Maggie Ciskanik, M.S. | Dec 22, 2018 | God and Suffering, Happiness & Suffering, Latest
We need comfort because suffering is a part of life, and we can receive joy, because God is in it with us. Christmas can be a desperately sad time of year. Perhaps it your first Christmas without a loved one. Perhaps memories of happier Christmases set up a jarring...
by Michelle Miller | Dec 21, 2018 | God and Suffering, Latest, Soul, Transcendental Desires
Biographers of Walker Percy often begin their work with the distressing tale of how Percy’s grandfather, father and mother committed suicide. With suicide as a major factor in his childhood, Walker sought a way to define himself as a Percy without falling to the...
by Ascension Media | Nov 8, 2018 | Church Teaching, God and Suffering, Guest Blogs, Latest
The Church encourages us to pray for the souls in purgatory, also called the Suffering Church. Is purgatory real? It sounds so foreboding, but I have always found the “suffering” Church and purgatory (meaning place or state of purging) to be some of the most hopeful,...
