Have you ever wanted to witness a living miracle? The miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is in Mexico City and is one of the most-visited holy sites in the world. This is an opportunity to visit with others from the Diocese of Austin and led by clergy that knows the story and culture… [Read More]
Pilgrimage to Shrines of Mexico Fall 2021
JOIN US FOR A 9-DAY PILGRIMAGE (SEPT. 12-20,2021) TO THE SHRINES OF MEXICO! The pilgrimage will be led by Fr Juan Carlos López and Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez Lady of Guadalupe also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a venerated image enshrined within the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City…. [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXVIII: St. Michael the Archangel, Conductor of Souls!
Excerpts on St. Michael the Archangel, Conductor of Souls were taken from the messages from a Soul in Purgatory [Sister M.G.] to Sister M. de L. C. who was under the care of a spiritual director (priest) when receiving the messages. The messages were published in a book called: AN UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT ON PURGATORY The… [Read More]
CONSECRATION TO ST. JOSEPH VI: ST. JOSEPH MOST FAITHFUL, PRAY FOR US!
One of my favorite sections in the book “CONSECRATION TO ST. JOSEPH, THE WONDERS OF OUR SPIRITUAL FATHER” by Fr. Donald Calloway is Day 21 – St. Joseph Most Faithful, Pray for Us. This section and meditation show St. Joseph’s faithfulness in rescuing Jesus and Mary in different life and death circumstances (Mat. 2:13 &… [Read More]
Consecration to St. Joseph V: St. Joseph, Hope of the Sick, Pray for Us!
One of my favorite parts in the book Consecration to St. Joseph, The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father by Fr. Donald Calloway is Day 29 – St. Joseph, Hope of the Sick, Pray for Us. This is and was a powerful part of the book during the consecration because it covers the miraculous physical healings… [Read More]
Consecration to St. Joseph IV: St. Joseph, Terror of Demons!
One of my favorite parts in the book Consecration to St. Joseph by Fr. Donald Calloway is the “Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” section number 10 on St. Joseph, Terror of Demons. This is and was a powerful part of the book while doing the Consecration to St. Joseph, twice this year. Here is one… [Read More]
Consecration to St. Joseph III: St. Joseph’s Staff!
As thousands prepare to consecrate themselves on March 19th (Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary) and others prepare for the second consecration beginning March 30th and ending May 1st (Feast of St. Joseph the Worker) let us contemplate the power of our spiritual father St. Joseph and his mighty “Staff” which is a prefiguration… [Read More]
Consecration to St. Joseph II: The Medal of St. Joseph
As February 16, 2020 nears for the start of the Consecration to St. Joseph let us begin to prepare our hearts to encounter the man who most influenced Our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Teresa of Avila, St. André Bessette, and many others. Let us prepare for 33 days to enter St. Joseph’s workshop every day… [Read More]
Consecration to St. Joseph
For me, consecration to St. Joseph began many, many years ago, as far back as March 4, 2004, when I believe, St. Joseph interceded to save my life. (read story) I have done so many Consecrations to St. Joseph over the years that I honestly don’t remember which one I was using when St. Joseph… [Read More]
Processing the truth about Fr. Michael Sullivan and why we should
We Catholics love our priests so much. Without them we could not practice our beautiful Catholic faith. We receive the Eucharist at their hands. They extend the mercy of the Lord to us. They give us spiritual counsel. They represent Jesus to us. They are there for us in the most intense times of our… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXVII: St. Michael the Archangel in Thassos
At the end of the 11th century a monk named Luke lived for fourteen years on a Greek island called Thassos. The place he lived was later called Louka in his honor, but not before he constructed a church in honor of the beloved apostle St. John the Evangelist. Later, seeking a more contemplative life,… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXVI: The St. Michael Relic Stone Miracles
For centuries, St. Michael the Archangel has used relic stones from his cave in Gargano, Italy, to perform miracles. (See: St. Michael Relic Stone article September 2, 2017.) On September 25, 1656, St Michael said: “I am the Archangel St. Michael. Anyone who uses the stones of this grotto will be liberated…” At the St…. [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXV: St. Michael the Archangel in Colossae
St. Michael the Archangel was present in the life of the apostles and the early church from the very beginning. St. John the Evangelist wrote about St. Michael in the Book of Revelation, and others witnessed his prophecy at Colossae about the coming of St. Michael. When St. John the Evangelist went to preach the… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXIV: The Scapular of Saint Michael the Archangel
The Scapular of Saint Michael the Archangel is a sacramental of the Catholic Church. It was blessed by Pope Pius IX in 1878 and formally approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1880. The official blessing and investiture prayer found in the Roman Ritual for the Scapular of St. Michael the Archangel has seven important statements… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXIII: St. Michael the Archangel in America
In Tarpon Springs, Florida, USA, there is a shrine to St. Michael the Archangel with an ancient icon of St. Michael known for decades for miraculously curing many sick in America. The icon is approximately 400 years old, and it comes from Symi, an island in a chain known as Greece’s Dodecanese. The story began… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXII: St. Michael the Archangel in Mexico
On April 25, 1631, St. Michael the Archangel appeared in Tlaxcala, Mexico to a 17-year-old named Diego Lázaro de San Francisco who was married to Francisca Castillian Xuchitl. The apparition occurred as everyone was processing in celebration of a previous apparition of St. Michael to St. Gregory the Great (April 25, 590 A.D) during a… [Read More]
Book Review of Abuse of Trust: Healing from Clerical Sexual Abuse
In the current wave of the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, it has been hard to know what to do. I have taken it on faith that the church eventually would survive this crisis and make the necessary changes to protect children and adults from abuse, because I believe the Church is true…. [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XXI: St. Michael the Archangel in Spain
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony (Rev. 22:16).” On June 18, 1961, St. Michael the Archangel appeared to four girls, Conchita Gonzalez (12), Mari Cruz Gonzalez (11), Jacinta Gonzalez (12), and Mari Loli Mazon (12), at Garabandal which is a small village in Spain consisting of 300 habitants. As in… [Read More]
Sister Lynn’s “Lectio on Life
I had been talking to Sister Lynn D’Souza, OSB about the way people interpret dreams and often feel God is speaking to them in the stories and symbolic situations of their dreams. I had thought that one could also interpret life and its events as messages from God. In some situations, I tend to… [Read More]
Holy Naps
via Holy Naps
13-Day Pilgrimage to the Shrines of Italy September 2019
Join Fr. Juan Carlos Lopez on a life-changing pilgrimage to visit holy sites and important sacred art throughout Italy. September 8 – 20, 2019 DEADLINE TO REGISTER: JUNE 8, 2019 Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez: guadalupe-rodriguez@austindiocese.org $3,899 Per Person Round Air Trip from Austin, TX Price Includes: First class hotels with double occupancy option, Two daily meals,… [Read More]
The Spirit of Focolare: Unity and Love
In a bomb shelter in the Italian town of Trent in 1943, a group of young girls talked about how their hopes dreams were being crushed by World War II. Their town was relentlessly bombed. Families who could were leaving as the town literally fell apart. Those left behind were suddenly living in poverty and… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XX: “War in Heaven” (Rev. 12:7)
The Book of Revelation describes the “War in Heaven” (Rev. 12:7) between St. Michael and his angels against the Red Dragon and his angels, when a vision of a woman about to give birth is shown to them. What was the first battle like? Why did it happen? What was the trial of the angels? … [Read More]
Easter Pilgrimage
During Holy Week I was on a special pilgrimage. I went to a mountain in Oregon, almost to the top, and lived with my daughter and her little family off the grid. I took few belongings; only what I could fit in a back pack. At the airport I was so glad to… [Read More]
Look Up, Child: An Invitation for Holy Week
Lent has ended and Holy Week has begun. And you might say that we have all lived a really “good” Lent. The beginning of Lent was marked in a special way, coming as it did on the heels of Pope Francis’ meeting about the abuse crisis with all of the bishops in Rome. Now as… [Read More]
The Crowning of St. Joseph!
“Thus should he be honored whom the King desires to honor!” The Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary is on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. This year is also the 61st anniversary of the church approved apparitions of St. Joseph in America in which Sr. Mary Ephrem (1916-2000) saw him being crowned… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XIX: The Angel of Peace in America
In the fall of 1954, the Angel of Peace came to prepare Sr. Mary Ephrem (1916-2000) of the Sisters of the Precious Blood of Jesus for the coming of Our Lady of America. In 1960 and 1972 these apparitions received official imprimatur approval from Archbishop Paul F. Leibold (1914-1972) and in 2007 the president of… [Read More]
A quest to forgive
Forgiveness is at the very heart of the Gospel, and it is a clear tenet of our faith. Jesus made it clear he expects us to forgive as we have been forgiven. But what about traumatic, destructive wrongs done to us? What about toxic relationships and people who have done us serious harm? Even in… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XVIII: St. Michael the Angel of Peace!
For centuries St. Michael the Archangel has been known as the Angel of Peace! In the pre-Vatican Roman Breviary (Liturgy of the Hours) published in 1482 and in use until Vatican II, it clearly states, “St. Michael is the Angel of Peace because he was the leader of the heavenly hosts that fought the rebel… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XVII: The Power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
January is the Month of the Most Holy Name of JESUS, and the name of JESUS is the most powerful weapon against “the dragon and his angels (Rev.12:7).” This special feast is celebrated on January 3, and it is associated with the Circumcision of JESUS (Lk. 2:21) when Joseph officially gives Him, “the name of… [Read More]
Mary, Mother of God!
From the early centuries of the Church, Mary is called Mother of God “Theotokos”, or “God-Bearer.” Mary, “Mother of God,” is the first official title given to her by the Catholic Church and maybe her most essential and most powerful title, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “From the most ancient times… [Read More]
A “Small” Christmas Poem
Merry Christmas dear readers! May you be drawn this Christmas into the humility and smallness of the Christ Child – for our world is hungry for hearts that are uncomplicated and open, humble and warm. Let us make a home for others in our hearts this Christmas, through the grace of smallness that the God-Made-Man… [Read More]
An Advent Interview with St. Therese of the Child Jesus
“The Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty. You shall see his glory within you.”- Liturgy of the Hours We are sitting in my living room, reflecting silently together in the glow of the blinking lights of the Christmas tree. It looks particularly lovely in the dark. It’s light turns the smooth, gentle… [Read More]
Order, Disorder and Grace in Advent
I’m looking forward to offering these thoughts to you, dear readers, to be a small light on your Advent journey towards Christ. In His Providence, all these pieces fell together over the past few weeks. That doesn’t always happen in blogging, but when it does, it gives me the sense that the Lord is up… [Read More]
Christma Posadas at Community First Village – Dec 15, 2018
Join us for the “live” Christmas Posadas at Community First Village Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 7:30 PM. Bring the whole family, friends, clergy and religious for this special Christmas celebration of communal song, prayer as we walk with Mary on a donkey and Joseph searching for lodging. Posadas is a Spanish word that means… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XVI: St. Michael & All Souls
What happens when we die? And what does the Archangel Michael have to do with our life after death? The Catholic Church teaches through the mass prayers, Her prayers for the dying, and through the lives of the saints that St. Michael has been given a very important role both during and after our death…. [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XV: The St. Michael Statue
In 490 A.D. St. Michael the Archangel appeared to Bishop Lawrence Maiorano (the second apparition) at Gargano, Italy, giving him instructions on how to defend the area against a vast army of pagan invaders. During the battle a sand storm overwhelmed the attackers, blinding them and pelting them with giant size hail-stones, making them flee… [Read More]
Angels & Dragons XIV: Mont Saint Michel
Saint Aubert, the Bishop of Avranches in France, founded Mont Saint Michel in 708 after St. Michael the Archangel appeared to him in his dreams three times. Saint Aubert ignored the Archangel in the first two dreams, but in the third dream St. Michael drove his finger into Aubert’s skull and commanded him to build… [Read More]
Cardinal Sarah: Defender of the Faith
Within the ranks of the Church leadership, Robert Cardinal Sarah stands out as a rare example of outspoken zeal for the faith accompanying his conspicuous love of God. Born and raised in Guinea, he first became a priest and then archbishop of Conakry (covering all of Guinea). He was made Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI… [Read More]
Bishop Joe calls for a Novena of Reparation – this week!
Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Diocese of Austin has called all faithful to join in a Novena of Reparation starting Tuesday, October 9th through October 17th to pray for victims of abuse and offer prayers of reparation. In an interview from August, when the Pennsylvania grand jury news broke, Bishop Joe said the following: Editor:… [Read More]
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