In my previous post I explained the Sacrament of Confession by using information from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The purpose of Part I was to describe the theology of the sacrament.
The purpose of Part II is to provide tools and guidance for participating in it.
After reading this post, I hope you feel excited to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation!
In this post I’ll focus on:
In my mid-twenties I began to practice my Catholic Faith more seriously and attend Mass regularly. During that time, I kept hearing a priest talk about confession during his homilies.
Even though I wanted to go to confession, I didn’t know much about it because I wasn’t taught to go regularly.
I desired to understand why I need to receive the sacrament, what it is and the effects.
Once I discovered this information and received the sacrament, it was life-changing!
Each October the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life (Respect Life).
In honor of Respect Life Month I’d like to share a prayer from the Sisters of Life, a religious order whose mission is to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life.
I arrived in Lourdes, France on July 31st and left on August 6th.
(I learned that Lourdes is pronounced “Lourd” in French.)
It was a special experience that I’m grateful for. It still seems surreal that God permitted us to go!
Lourdes is a beautiful place, and I hope to return someday.
I’ve been reflecting on my time there, and I’m sure I’ll continue this process for a while…
Since so much occurred during the pilgrimage — and so much is continuing to unfold — I plan to write about it in pieces.
In this post, I’ll share how my friend and I presented our prayer intentions (both your intentions and mine).
I’ve been praying the Divine Mercy Novena since Good Friday.
I’m grateful to those who are praying along with me!
Those praying the novena know it ends on April 27th, the day before the Feast of Mercy.
Have you heard of this feast?
Have you ever heard of the Divine Mercy Novena?
Has your heart ever been broken?
Has your spirit ever been crushed?
We’ve all been there.
We’ve all had an experience, or more than one, that caused us to feel emotional pain.
An experience that made our hearts ache. An experience that made us feel like we were kicked in the stomach and had the wind knocked out of us.
Whether we’ve experienced the loss of a loved one; end of a romantic relationship; betrayal of a significant other, friend or family member; or something similar, we can probably remember how much it hurt.
When we go through painful situations, do we try to deal with them on our own or do we turn to the Lord for help?
When we go through painful situations, do we believe God is somewhere off in the distance or right there with us?
