The Making Disciples Today Blog has reflections to help you grow in your journey of missionary discipleship, reviews on recommended Catholic evangelization resources, and practical insight on how to evangelize in your daily life.
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- Written by: Fr. Larry Rice
Understanding Sunday Obligation
It happens every year at this time. I’ll be at a wedding on a Saturday, and someone will ask, “Father, does this count for Sunday?” Or someone will say, “Father, I missed Mass last week because we were driving in from Detroit—is that a sin?” Or in the winter, an elderly person will say, “Father, I need to go to confession because I missed Mass last week, because of the snow storm.”
Our Sunday Mass obligation is something we Catholics take very seriously. In some ways, it sets us apart from other Christian denominations, where weekly church attendance is seen as the ideal, rather than as part of our minimal obligation to the faith.
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- Written by: Burning Hearts Team
Have a child heading off for camp or a mission trip? Preparing for a road trip? Sending a college student back to school? This prayer is a great way to keep Christ at the center of any journey you may be taking!
Litany of the Way: Prayer for the Journey
As Jesus sought the quiet of the desert,
teach us to pray.
As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples,
teach us to love.
As Jesus promised paradise to the thief on the cross,
teach us to hope.
As Jesus called Peter to walk to him across the water,
teach us to believe.
As the child Jesus sat among the elders in the temple,
teach us to seek answers.
As Jesus in the garden opened his mind and heart to God’s will,
teach us to listen.
As Jesus reflected on the Law and the prophets,
teach us to learn.
As Jesus used parables to reveal the mysteries of
the Kingdom, teach us to teach.
Amen.
Prayer taken from the Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers, Revised Edition, copyright © 2007, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
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- Written by: Helen M. Alvaré
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother / and be joined to his wife, / and the two shall become one flesh. / This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32).
St. Paul could not have been more correct. This Christian teaching—that marriage and the relationship between Christ and the Church, shed light on each other—remains “a great mystery.” What can it mean?
At the very least, it must mean that marriage is a far weightier matter than bridal magazines and television shows indicate. It also means that God himself made marriage, and had it in mind when he made two “opposite” sexes who are able to become “one flesh.” Finally, from the reference to Christ and his Church, we get the distinct impression that marriage—like the relationship between God and the People of God—might involve great sacrifice for the other, total fidelity, and not a few ups and downs.
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- Written by: Connie Mayta
Our church bookclub recently finished the book Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves by Jason Evert. Part biography and part explanation of five things Mr. Evert deemed most important to this amazing pope and saint, the book was a page-turning and inspiring read
It must be impossible to read about this great saint without desiring to amend some aspect of one’s own life in imitation of his holiness. Among the amazing aspects of Saint John Paul the Great’s life was his devotion to near constant prayer.
My own prayer life had been inconsistent and of little depth in recent months, so I decided that now would be the perfect time to make some changes.
Jumping In With Both Feet
Inspired by Saint John Paul the Great’s other great devotion to Mary, I thought that the daily Rosary would be a good place to start. Some of the women in the book club recommended saying the Rosary while doing other tasks, such as driving or doing dishes. After some rather questionable driving, loading dirty dishes into the dishwasher with clean ones and falling asleep while praying in the evening, I decided that I need to pray the Rosary when I am neither busy nor tired.
