Why are feast days special? How should we celebrate them? In this episode, Fr. Alec and Fr. Conrad discuss how to celebrate feasts and saint’s days in holy and beautiful ways and how we can connect our lives liturgically with the Church.

A crafty and good administrator Pope and his Franciscan opponents.

How well do you know your soul? In this episode, Fr. Alec and Fr. Conrad take a deep dive into the three types of souls, what makes human souls unique, and answer the question, “What is a soul?”

Several years ago, I made the shift away from asking graduates what they were majoring in to, “Where will life lead you after graduation?” The paths are as varied as the young adults taking them. The world is big and bright and in need of their leadership, skills and enthusiasm. To celebrate that next leap,…

The post Graduation Gift Ideas: College, Trade School, Gap Year, Military or Work appeared first on Kathryn Whitaker.

The 15th Ecumenical Council, the Council of Vienna, and the start of the Avignon Papacy.

 4th Easter   Vocation Sunday   May 8, 2022 Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”    Who are these “sheep”?    We are! Being compared to sheep is not particularly c…

The baby is eight, y’all. Eight. Scott asked me this morning if I was going to dust off the blog and write her a letter. I hemmed and hawed all day long and finally decided to do it. If birth stories are your thing, you might love this one. But, if you’re a fan of…

The post Happy 8th to the Baby of the Family! appeared first on Kathryn Whitaker.

What is Christian love? After my conversion to Catholicism (quite a leap from the way I was raised which was without religion,) my family had adjusting to do. My brother was the person I was closest to. We were symbiotic… Continue Reading →

  I feel like I can’t be happy about this and I can’t be sad either. I understand too well how this feels to the other side- that a good share of women feel that their bodily autonomy is being… Continue Reading →

When a small organization that I’m involved with wanted to move from text messages or Telegram to a more robust real-time chat platform, we had a few options. There’s Slack, of course, and Discord, but we’re geeks and wanted to look to open-source solutions. The open-source aspect was appealing for a few reasons—no corporate overloads …

The post <span class=’p-name’>Getting Started with Matrix</span> appeared first on The Journeyman.

 HOMILY   Second Sunday of Easter    Cycle C     April 24, 2022 Our Gospel starts with Locked Doors.  The doors were locked … for fear of the Jews.        Do you …

The answer may surprise you!

Last weekend, my family and I attended Mass at our parish here in Bismarck, the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. I was excited to see the holy water fonts since I had […]

A weak but holy man tries to clean up the mess from last episode.

All Easter day Jesus was playing hide and seek, surprising different disciples in different places and in different ways, all of these encounters beyond anything they ever thought they would see and know.  It had been an overwhelming day, a… Continue Reading →

Some types of darkness are so complete I wonder what I was calling darkness before. Fiddling with the scree at the bottom of the cave floor I am sitting on, my hand bumps into the most unlikely thing in the… Continue Reading →

A big personality gets slapped around.

Today, Holy Saturday, is traditionally Mary’s day. It was the loneliest Sabath she had ever spent. The sword Simeon had prophesied had pierced her heart through. Traumatized and grieving I don’t think she knew what God would do. Better than… Continue Reading →

In the 1989 film Major League, there is a scene where fans of the Cleveland Indians are reading the newspaper and talking about the team for the upcoming season. The overall consensus is […]

 Homily    5thLent  APRIL 3, 2022           Our Gospel opens with Jesus teaching in the Temple area.  Then a crowd of scribes and Pharisees arrives with a woman caught in the ve…

“Turn not to the easiest, but to the most difficult,” wrote St. John of the Cross. This principle has been my inspiration for my project for Lent 2022.  By nature I am somewhat reclusive. Solitude, prayer, and reflection come far… Continue Reading →

 Homily, 4thSunday of Lent “C”                                    &…

Papal resignation of a holy pope and his imprisonment.

In The Rule of St. Benedict, it states, “All guests to the monastery should be welcomed as Christ because he will say, ‘I was a stranger, and you took me in’ (Matt. 25:35). Show […]

How has COVID affected young Catholics, what trends are we seeing amongst Catholic youth today? Today, Fr. Conrad is joined by Dr. Josh Packard, Executive Director of Springtide Institute, to discuss what trends we are seeing in the rise and declines …

The date and location of St. Patrick’s birth are unknown; however, he was born around 389. He was the son of Calpirnius, a Roman-British deacon, and Conchessa. Contrary to popular belief, he […]

Papal resignation of a holy pope and his Imprisonment.

A few days ago, I was reading through a monthly magazine that we receive because our home is in an area of town that was once considered rural, that means our area […]

I stopped eating meat October 1, 1985. I was 17. I did not yet believe in God, having been raised without religion. However I think this life choice at 17 was the beginning of a journey toward God for me…. Continue Reading →

Most Catholics understand that there is some connection between the Eucharist and Jewish Passover, but how deep do those connections go? In this episode, Fr. George and Fr. Conrad revisit Exodus and the story of the first Passover while they draw the connections to how we celebrate and interact with the Eucharist today. Want to […]

When people think about St. Paul, his life and duties as a priest are not one of the first things that come to mind. In this episode, Fr. George and Fr. Conrad take a deeper look at St. Paul and how he shared the Mass and Eucharist with others. Want to check out Fr. George’s […]

The first Franciscan Friar is elected Pope.

First Sunday of Lent   March 6, 2022  Cycle C A long time ago, when I was a new priest in Chicago, I was fortunate enough to take several summer seminars on spirituality at Mundelein Seminary.  They were very good, and I was taught …

When I interviewed for my current position, Director of Mission and Hospitality in Dining Services, at the University of Mary, in November and December 2020, one of the interview questions was how […]

An old gout ridden Pope who doesn’t do too much.

As we prepare for this Lent of 2022, it seems to me the timing is good. With Russia invading Ukraine before the eyes of the world we watch and pray, deeply affected, this period of deepening our prayer comes particularly… Continue Reading →

Sometimes God grants gifts to particular individuals for the purpose of raising up the Church. In this episode, Fr. Conrad and Fr. Alec dive into glossolalia, or the gift of speaking in tongues, and answer the questions of its authenticity, its relati…

The conflict between Italians and French boils over during the Sicilian Vespers.

I’m sadden by the developments in Ukraine. History does repeat itself. My ancestors were Black Sea Germans—Germans who migrated to modern-day Ukraine at the invitation of Catherine the Great and Alexander I. My ancestors were promised peace, ability to worship and speak German freely, and exempt from military service. It began to change in the …

The post <span class=’p-name’>History Repeats</span> appeared first on The Journeyman.

 Homily      Seventh Sunday in ordinary time   Cycle C  Feb 20 2022   In the Gospel we just heard Jesus gives us some challenging, but critical, teaching.  Jesus begins with an unusual formula: “To…