Hope you had blessed Sunday! ✝️🙏
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday.
Catholic Meme Monday— Issue 231
3 Reasons Why I Don’t Argue with Opponents of the Catholic Church
Editor’s Note: Post originally published on June 9, 2019.
This weekend I heard the following comment on the floor as I began work, “Catholics and I don’t get along much. I live to destroy Catholics.” While his statement may certainly be hyperbolic—that co-worker is definitely known for exaggerated and bombastic claims—there is truth to it. During my college years, his statement would have provoked righteous anger. Immediately, I would have engaged in debate on the level of St. Nicholas, the hectic-puncher, himself!
According to Venerable Fulton Sheen, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” Perception trumps reality more often than not. Refraining from leaping to judgement, unlike my co-worker, will allow me to demonstrate the love and truth of Catholicism. This article will look at three reasons why I no longer debate opponents of the Catholic Church.
Continue readingSaint Anthony of Padua: More Than a Finder of Lost Things
Every June 13, Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua. For most, he’s the quick miracle worker who helps recover misplaced keys, lost wallets, or that library book you swear you just had. But Saint Anthony was much more than a “patron saint of lost things.” He was a preacher, a teacher, a scholar, and a spiritual guide whose life still points us toward Christ today.
I have a personal connection with Anthony that goes beyond anecdotes. My oldest son shares his birthday with Anthony’s feast day, which somehow makes the saint feel like a family friend. Growing up with ADHD, I’ve had my fair share of forgotten items, most memorably my car keys during a summer music camp away from home. Thanks to Saint Anthony, they were found, though it involved my mom driving up to unlock the car. Moments like that, small and practical, are reminders of the saint’s intercession, but they also hint at a deeper truth: Anthony helps us find what is lost, both in the tangible and spiritual sense.
Born Fernando in Lisbon around 1195, he grew up in a noble family and was initially part of the Augustinian canons. He studied Scripture and the Church Fathers, preparing for the life of preaching and teaching that would later define him. Around 1220, Fernando encountered the memory of early Franciscan martyrs who had gone to Morocco to witness the Gospel, even risking death. Inspired, he left the Augustinians, joined the Friars Minor, and took the name Anthony. Though his missionary plans were curtailed by illness, he embraced the Franciscan way with zeal, eventually becoming Provincial Superior in northern Italy, preaching tirelessly, and guiding his fellow friars until his death near Padua in 1231.
Continue readingLiving the Eucharist: Sharing Christ’s Love in Everyday Moments
Guest Post by: David Tonaszuck
A reflection on the Gospel of John 6:51-58
Dear Friends in Christ,
Before our children moved out of our home, most evenings, the five of us would gather around our kitchen table. The table wasn’t always perfectly set—sometimes it was just a simple meal, a pot of soup, a loaf of bread, maybe a few apples. But every night, we laughed together, shared stories from our day, and always took a moment to pray—thanking God for His blessings and asking for the grace to follow Jesus in all we do.
I remember one winter when our neighbor Jimmy, a Vietnam veteran who had become a dear friend, fell seriously ill. Jimmy was a man who had seen much in life and was quietly fighting his own battles every day. Moved by the Holy Spirit, our family knew we had to help. We began inviting Jimmy to share our meals whenever he felt up to it. My children and I would stop by to visit him and help with his yardwork, while my wife checked on him regularly and made sure he got to his doctor’s appointments.
These weren’t grand gestures—just small acts of kindness, offered from the heart. Yet as we cared for Jimmy, we felt a new sense of peace and warmth in our home—a gentle grace that lingered long after the meal was over, a reminder of God’s love alive among us. In these moments, we realized that living the Eucharist means letting the love of Jesus flow through us, sharing His presence not only in church but in the everyday ways we serve, encourage, and lift each other up.
Continue readingCatholic Meme Monday— Issue 230
Hope you had blessed Solemnity of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus! ♥️✝️🕊️🙏
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday.
P.S. Not strangers but neighbors.
5 Epic Quotes to Help You Celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Catholic Church traditionally dedicates each month of the year to a specific devotion, helping the faithful grow in prayer, holiness, and reflection on Christ, Mary, or the saints. June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion focuses on Christ’s divine-human love—the “entire mystery” of Jesus considered most intimately in his person as God the Son and the source of infinite charity that saves and sanctifies. 1 It is rooted in Scripture’s imagery of Christ “pierced” on the side, from which blood and water flow, and in the Church’s invitation to a deeper communion with Jesus’ mercy and humility.
Continue readingThe Power of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Sponsored: This article is made possible by Sacred Heart Tea, supporting quality and engaging Catholic content.
When Everything Changed
7 years ago my life forever changed and the Sacred Heart of Jesus played a huge role in this change. Today, I’m writing this article on what would have been the 18th birthday of my little girl. Instead, she never made it past 10 years old.
One moment I was online sharing about a new sunscreen I found and the next day I was posting to tell the world that my little girl had died in my arms. You see, just 13 days before her 11th birthday I had to rush my daughter to the ER with a severe headache. Within a few hours she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was too late to save her and that day I held my little girl in my arms and birthed her into the arms of Jesus. As she died I remember weeping and saying, “He makes all things new. He makes all things new.” I told her, “It’s ok to go baby. You don’t have to stay. Mommy’s here. Mommy loves you.”
A Mission Passed On
In the moment of her death I had an overwhelming sense of what God was calling me to do. You see, for various reasons Maggie had not yet completed her RE classes and was scheduled to receive her first Holy Communion the day I rushed her to the ER.
And all that year her RE teacher talked about what it meant to be a missionary, and she had decided that she was not going to be a hair stylist or a nun but instead she was going to go wherever God called her and she was going to be a missionary. I realized in the moment she died that she was now the greatest missionary she could ever be. That the miracles she could work from Heaven would be unlike anything she could have done while alive here on earth. And I KNEW that as her mom it was my job to help her in her missionary work.
Heaven Touches Earth
6 weeks after Maggie died I found myself at a women’s retreat at my parish that lasted all weekend. No phones. No clocks. Just us and Jesus. We had 24 hour adoration and I found myself sitting before the Eucharist for hours at a time. You see, the room we used for adoration was small and the table was short so I could literally sit at His feet and talk with Him the way a friend would. As I looked at Jesus and spoke with Him, I felt a profound sense that Heaven opened to us in that moment. I realized I wasn’t just spending time with Jesus—I was also on a mommy-daughter date, because Maggie was there with Him, surrounded by all the saints and angels in Heaven.
Held by the Heart
I sobbed as I stared at Him and I was overwhelmed by His Most Sacred Heart. I begged Him to place me within His heart because it was there that I would find solace. It was there I would find love. It was there I would find protection from the flames that threatened to consume me in my agony.
And so I found myself there. Surrounded by burning flames and embers and I felt at peace. I was curled up in His embrace and I never wanted to leave. I didn’t realize how long I had been kneeling there when my knees collapsed. I never hit the ground because 3 or 4 women had been watching me and immediately rushed to my side.
They lifted me up and put all of their weight under my arms. I was on my knees again adoring the One I love only this time with the support of my sisters around me. I stayed there on my knees with their help and that weekend I left with an understanding between me and Jesus. God called me to be a missionary because He had called my daughter to the same mission, and as her mom, I knew it was my role to help her carry it out.
Into the Sacred Heart
And what is the mission? Christ and Him crucified! Christ and His Most Sacred Heart.
What storms have you endured? Is it hard to find peace? Does it feel impossible to remain standing? Ask Jesus to hide you in His Sacred Heart and it is there you will find protection from the storms that rage around you. Your pain won’t be taken away and your suffering won’t be non-existent. But you will find the peace and love you need to live life to the fullest.
Maggie, I’ll see you in the Eucharist baby girl. Mama loves you now and forever.
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