On August 2, in light of an address last October to the Pontifical Council, Pope Francis made a modification to the Catholic Catechism declaring that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”. As an officially declared teaching of the Church, this poses a serious… [Read More]
A Church On Our Knees
I was praying the decade of the rosary I try to say everyday for clergy and I had to stop. I was internally yelling and externally crying, and that emotion had to find another outlet. So, I’m writing. I’m glad to have the Eucharistic company of Jesus, consecrated by one of the priests at the… [Read More]
Spiritual Nourishment for the Last Week of Advent
On the last leg of this Advent journey, I’d like to share with you two little bits of spiritual nourishment that I have found really helpful along the way. We are getting closer and closer to Bethlehem now, just one week away in this shortened Advent season. Can you feel the pace picking up? The… [Read More]
Calling all young adults! – An invitation to sit down with our Bishops
What are you doing next Monday evening? Young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 are invited to attend a Diocese of Austin listening session with Bishop Joe Vásquez and Bishop Danny Garcia on August 7 from 6-8 pm at St. Louis, Austin. This listening session will assist the diocese in preparation for the… [Read More]
#CatholicConvo Through the Eyes of an Texan
“Uplifting, motivating, challenging, community, transformative.” That’s how Theresa Prudhomme, a mid 20s young professional from Katy, describes her experience of #CatholicConvo in 5 words or less. The weekend before last, while we were all firing up the grill and making July 4th plans, Theresa joined thousands of lay leaders, religious, priests and bishops from across… [Read More]
Why Mary?
In our culture and our American church, I come across this question quite often – Why Mary? Sometimes its connected to other related questions like: Can you ever pray too much to Mary? How do I know if I’m worshipping Mary or praying to her for intercession? Does praying to Mary distract from Jesus? And… [Read More]
An Age of Mercy & Misericordia et Misera
Last Sunday as we were celebrating the closing of the Year of Mercy around the Diocese, my friend and I were talking about how we were kinda sad to see the Year of Mercy end. She turned to me and said – you know how we had the age of Enlightenment? And the age of the… [Read More]
Leadership in Difficult Times: Thanking God for Pope Francis
There’s plenty to be anxious about right now. Plenty to sweat over and stress over and just wear ourselves out with worry over. It could make anyone want to live under a rock — honestly I kinda understand the appeal of living under a rock as a reactive response to everything that’s happening. Against the… [Read More]
Mercy: The force that overcomes everything (Or, thoughts on how to get unstuck)
Have you ever been in one of those arguments where you get sucked into the back and forth, like a frenzied game of tug-a-war? Except no one is playing, and in fact the whole emotional environment feels weighty and overly serious, like we’re arguing about way more than the dishwasher all of a sudden. Sometimes… [Read More]
Parents & Teens, Freedom & Boundaries
Here at ATXCatholic I don’t often write about my job as a therapist, but today I’d like to delve a little bit into it, through the lens of good theology and a Christian understanding of the human person. I’d like to delve into the concept of boundaries in relationships, specifically between parents and teens. Tricky for… [Read More]
Redemption Through Reflection (Review: “Remembering God’s Mercy”)
We all have memories of things we’d rather forget. Some things are embarrassing. Some are painful. Some are traumatic. Dawn Eden is no stranger to the latter, as she revealed in her previous books about chaste love (The Thrill of the Chaste and its recent Catholic edition) and about healing sexual wounds with the help… [Read More]
Longhorns Forging a Culture of Encounter In Our Own Backyard – CARITAS 2016
The week before classes started at UT this January, nearly 80 Longhorn Catholics came back to town early – to go out in mission. This is the 4th year of Austin CARITAS (Catholics Answering the Redeemer’s Invitation to Authentic Sanctity), where UT students give up a week of their winter break to serve those in need… [Read More]
Humility Alone Conceives the Truth – a poem
I hope you are all having a restful and blessed Christmas season! Pope Francis invites us to contemplate what God teaches us in coming as a child: “He makes himself small, he becomes a child, to attract us with love, to touch our hearts with his humble goodness,” and also”Pope Francis said the creche reminds us that… [Read More]
The Door to Mercy – Knowing We Are Loved
For the opening of the Year of Mercy, I was late to mass. Late to mass! Imagine, this great event, once in a Jubilee, and I had even planned ahead to get out of work early – and still I was late to mass, and very late. Walking up to the mass-in-progress, I slid into… [Read More]
A Jubilee of Mercy by Deed, Word, and Prayer
We are about to embark on one of the most important years of our present lifetime, the Jubilee Year of Mercy. This year imparts a special grace that cannot be received twice. These types of years don’t come often in the church’s history except every 25 or 50 years, so we need to take advantage… [Read More]
Bubble-wrapped Saints
Bubble-wrapped saints? Let’s take in that image…bubble-wrapped saints! How ridiculous, right? Saints are brave, tough, warriors and queens who sweat through struggle and shed blood fulfilling the will of God, steadfast and stouthearted no matter how difficult the task! But wrapped in insulating bubble wrap…? But, if you think about it, if we carried our… [Read More]
My father & Friend Jesus, My Guide: Pilgrimage Journey to Philadelphia World Meeting of Families 2015
The following is a guest post by Michelle Mata from Austin, TX sharing her experience for the visit of Pope Francis to the US in September 2015. Jesus’ representative on earth, the “Pope of the People”, as he is often called, inspires me; he inspired me to go all the way to Philadelphia, PA. Where I volunteered… [Read More]
Mind Blown: Top Quotes from Pope Francis’ Visit to America
Unless you’re living under a rock that doesn’t get Wifi, you’ve heard about Pope Francis’ visit to the United States of America. His visit was historic. It was inspiring. It was filled with surprises and joy and humility. Everything he said could be turned into a semester-long study on theology or ecology or human rights. If… [Read More]
Something Greater Than Ourselves
In a little less than 2 weeks, on October 11, Bishop Joe Vasquez will celebrate Mass at the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Schoenstatt, in honor of the Feast of Our Lady of Schoenstatt, and to give thanks for the first year anniversary of the Shrine. What might inspire us to go? What might… [Read More]
Making the Rosary Fun for Kids
It’s never too early for children to learn how to say the Rosary. Here’s some documented evidence: That was my younger daughter when she was just two-and-a-half years old. I didn’t know how (or have any desire) to say the Rosary until well into my 30s, so let’s not make the same mistake with the… [Read More]
Spit, Mercy and the Human Spiritual Life
What is it about Jesus spitting, putting his fingers in the deaf man’s ear? It hits on something within us, pulls on something. Some inner notion of cleanliness, of boundaries, of unworthiness. It’s uncomfortable. Unusual. Certainly not how we would expect the God-man to act. Now – to bow at his feet, to stand at… [Read More]
“Everything is Connected” – The Ecological Spirituality of Laudato Si
“Everything is connected.” This phrase of Pope Francis could be the link that ties the whole of “Laudato Si” together and also communicates the core of his message. “Everything is connected,” he says, in such a way that as humans and the earth are a part of the same ecological fabric, our actions in one part of… [Read More]
See No Evil: Reflections on Laudato Si’ Part II
This is my second reflection on Pope Francis’ new Encyclical Laudato Si addressed to every person living on this planet and added to the official Catholic doctrine. I hope my reflection is beneficial to you, but I (and Austin CNM) encourage you to read the document yourself here. Last year my family found a great… [Read More]
Confessions of a Technocrat: Reflections on Laudato Si, Part I
This is a reflection on Pope Francis’ new Encyclical Laudato Si addressed to every person living on this planet and added to the official Catholic doctrine. I hope my reflection is beneficial to you, but I (and the Austin CNM) encourage you to read the document yourself here. I was seduced by technology in high… [Read More]
Open the Door of Mercy Homily
This homily was given at St Mary Cathedral in downtown Austin on May 7, 2015 in the 4th Week of Easter. [powerpress] Pope Francis Prayer for the Jubilee of Mercy Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him. Show… [Read More]
The Radio-Man, New Media & The New Man (Vatican II & Social Communication, Part II)
Social media & technology have been coming up recently in several conversations with friends of mine. The other night at a group of us were talking about youth and smart phones. I mentioned I’d been doing some substitute teaching lately, and experienced a little culture shock in seeing how nearly every high school student and… [Read More]
Here Comes the Judge
“We’ll take a short recess, and I’ll come back and give you my decision.” It only took Judge Wapner the convenient length of a commercial break to pass judgement back on the original version of The People’s Court. And yet we judge others even more quickly each and every day. The litigants for our first… [Read More]
The Ordination of Bishop Danny Garcia in Pictures
It’s said a picture is worth a thousand words. And so since several of us at ACNM were blessed to attend the Ordination of Auxiliary Bishop Danny Garcia, we wanted to snap some pictures and share them with you all. It was a Holy Spirit filled and blessed day to spend together with our Catholic… [Read More]
Let Yourself be Surprised and Transformed!
I started this year in a different way: going on a mission trip with a group of Schoenstatt girl’s youth in a small, humble town in the countryside of Chile. Now I am convinced that there is no better way to have begun 2015! I am deeply grateful for all that happened; the experience was a… [Read More]
Dejarte Sorprender y Transformar
Empecé este año de manera diferente: yendo a misiones con un grupo de jóvenes de Schoenstatt en un pueblito del campo en Chile. Ahora estoy convencido que no hay mejor manera de haber empezado 2015. Estoy profundamente agradecida por todo lo que pasó y todo lo que Dios me hizo experimentar, regalar y sacrificar… [Read More]
Pope Francis Calls Out the Curia (and All of Us)
This is the time of year when many of us begin narrowing down our New Year’s resolutions. I have had great success with resolutions I make throughout the year: drinking water, managing a better to-do list, and blogging more frequently. Your mileage may vary. Pope Francis, however, seems to be on top of the end-of-the-year… [Read More]
The Advent of Our Mission
I spent this Thanksgiving looking into our country from the outside, since right now I’m doing a bit of traveling in South America. So naturally, I had to explain to lots of curious friends and strangers what exactly we were celebrating last Thursday. And being the typical American that I am, I had to research… [Read More]
Do You “Like” God?
What’s the last thing you do as your head hits the pillow at night or the first thing you do at the moment you wake up in the morning? In this age of constant connectedness, many of us take one last look at our email or social media before hitting the sack and another quick… [Read More]
New Media and the Family: Pope Francis speaking on Covenant Culture
Just moments after the Pope’s audience with the Schoenstatt Movement in Rome, his words were reverberating in twitter and in blogs. Which words? The Pope’s strong words about the state of marriage today. These clear and straightforward words were picked up quickly and passed on. The world of the media heard them. “Marriage has never… [Read More]
It’s the Pope, not a Horoscope
Sometimes evil is unavoidable. But if we strive to make good moral choices, the good clearly outweighs the bad. A simple story in priest's homily really helped put this into perspective. Rev. Pedro Garcia-Ramirez, pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in Pflugerville, explained how his parish provides copies of a Spanish language newspaper… [Read More]
Called to Life
Today I really can’t write about anything other than the crazy huge party that happened all over the world this past weekend! The Schoenstatt Movement celebrated 100 years since it’s foundation, on October 18th, 1914, when a group of boys and Fr Joseph Kentenich sealed the original Covenant of Love with the Blessed Mother. Rather than go into… [Read More]
First Comes Love, Then Comes…
This past Saturday Pope Francis presided over a Mass during which several couples celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony (aka, Marriage). What made these couples “unique” according to social understanding of the Catholic faith is that all of these couples were either living together or who have had annulments. It seemed odd to the media… [Read More]
Straight from the Shepherd’s Mouth (Review: “Open Mind, Faithful Heart”)
I don’t really have an opinion on Pope Francis yet. I mean, he’s the pope, so I follow his authority on Earth and all that, but I don’t know whether I like his individual personality or not (as much as that matters). I realize that he’s been pope for over a year, however, I am… [Read More]
Mary, Undoer of Knots
Today I began the novena for a wonderful and unique Marian devotion to our Mother Mary through the Marian titled of Mary, the Undoer (or Untier) of Knots for a specific Marian Devotion in May. I only learned of Mary, Undoer of Knots a couple of years ago, and I love the idea (and images)… [Read More]
Compaña & Resurrection On the Via Crucis
Today is the last Friday before Palm Sunday and Holy Week. If you’re like a lot of Catholics, you might pray the Stations of the Cross this evening. And if you’re like me, you might get stuck along the way. During Lent we don’t only attempt to pray the Stations, but ideally we attempt to… [Read More]
