Hope you had a blessed Sunday! 🙏✝️
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday.
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
Welcome to another The Simple Catholic Sunday Funnies! Growing up, one of my favorite parts of Sunday was flipping to the comics section of the newspaper: a little pocket of humor, color, and light-heartedness to start the week.
Now, in that same spirit, I’m excited to share this weekly collection of wholesome, funny Catholic comic strips. Thanks to the incredible talents of artists like Father Alvaro Comics, The Catholic Cartoonist, Sam Estrada, Tomics, and Fr. Michael DeBlanc. These comics bring a joyful twist to our shared faith, reminding us that laughter is one of God’s great gifts.
Enjoy Catholic comics!
Summer Note: With many of our amazing comic artists taking some well-deserved vacation time with their families, you may notice a lighter batch of comics some weeks. Thanks for understanding!
You can follow Fr. Michael on Instagram: @patermichaeldeblanc and on Facebook Fr. Michael DeBlanc).
Follow The Catholic Cartoonist on Instagram.
Follow Father Alvaro Comics on Instagram
Find more of Sam’s work at prostrada.com!
I hope this week’s edition of The Simple Catholic Sunday Funnies brought a smile to your face and a bit of lightness to your Sunday. In a world that can often feel heavy, it’s good to pause, laugh, and see our faith reflected in simple moments of joy.
Be sure to check back next week for more Catholic humor — and as always, feel free to share with a friend who could use a laugh and a little grace.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Jocelyn Abyad via phone call on June 26th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
In 2020 and 2021 my husband and I lost three babies due to miscarriage (at 10 weeks, 6 weeks, and 15 weeks). We were blindsided and found there were not a lot of existing resources that were compatible with our faith.
My husband and I did some research on this and found our own journey of healing. I found a local grief support group called Forget Me Not (they later merged with Owl Love You Forever).
From the work we saw with Forget Me Not, we were inspired to create more Catholic resources for those experiencing loss. My mom, myself and a couple friends started We Carry You Still as a non-profit in 2024.
I am an Eastern Catholic and my mom is a Roman Catholic, so we had the East and West represented. As we brought my friends on board, they are actually Orthodox, our mission expanded. The Orthodox similarly are not providing enough support on the miscarriage issue. Our faith is an Incarnate one. When you lose a child due to miscarriage it feels like this invisible weight that people are carrying on their own. One of the beauties of our faith is that we have a physical faith. We have our Mother in Heaven. She knows how it feels to bury Her child.
Well the name of our ministry reflects that vision. We address this on several levels. First, we know that the parents and immediate family carry the baby that was lost in their hearts, even for years to come.. We offer free Memory Boxes for the women who experience the miscarriage to help them remember their child and process their grief..
Similarly, we are empowering the community to show up for the grieving family with this gift box. Sometimes the community wants to help and show up but they don’t know how. This gives them a way to do that. Everybody together is carrying each other in their grief. Mothers, fathers, living children and even parents who had miscarriages decades ago. And helping the community around them support those in grieving their loss.
We also offer healing retreats (no matter how long it has been since you lost a baby).
Our retreats are offered to women and couples. We are in the unique position that my husband is serving as a priest and father who knows the loss of a child personally.
Our box packing events are an opportunity for people to help pay if forward and put their grief to work. While we do have some people who haven’t experienced this type of loss helping with the grief boxes, it is predominantly those couples who have experienced loss themselves with miscarriages helping to prepare these boxes for those couples who are currently going through the grief of losing a child.
First off, on our website, we offer informational guides and resources. We have a guide for anyone who is touched by these losses. We have guides in both English and Spanish. On our resources page we have book recommendations for both adults and children. Everything we recommend is in line with official Church teaching.
Typically, for children it is helpful to keep them informed about the miscarriage, bring them to the funeral, visit the graves of their siblings, and invite them in prayers.
There’s this context by which the children can experience such loss through the lense of faith. There’s a hope in the Resurrection and seeing our babies (and their siblings) in Heaven.
I think that while my children were very sad at the moment, having them be a part of the grieving process in light of our Catholic faith has been impactful in the healing process.
I think number one if I speak broadly, this is the forgotten front of the pro-life movement. We do a good job of praying outside abortion clinics and pray to end abortion and euthanasia. And yet we leave faithful couples in the pew who have experienced miscarriage with little to no support.
Burying the dead is a corporal work of mercy. If women are prepared to bury their babies; if people were given these resources they would be more prepared to deal with these crises when they happen.
I think we can be more sensitive on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Use more inclusive language that acknowledges that there is a range of experiences of motherhood and fatherhood.
Providing information is a key way. In the Diocese of Phoenix, we will be participating in the annual NFP training and giving couples resources if and when they may need it. To at least give them resources in the back of their mind should they experience a miscarriage.
I would point back to the guides we have on our website. Don’t be afraid to mention the child. The parents will not forget about their child. If you can remember the child by name it can be very empowering.
I try to ask open-ended questions to see how they are feeling. And I also ask people to tell me about your family instead of how many kids you have.
Visit us at We Carry You Still and take a visual tour to learn more. You can also follow us on: Facebook and Instagram @wecarryyoustill . There are two other excellent ministries in this line of work. One is Redbird which supports child loss of any age and the other is Springs in the Desert, who supports Catholics experiencing infertility.
Jocelyn Abyad is the wife of Fr. Zyad Abyad and mother of 7 daughters on earth and 3 babies in Heaven. She holds a degree in psychology from Arizona State University and worked as a finance banker for over a decade before choosing to stay home to homeschool her children. Alongside her husband, she serves at St. John of the Desert Melkite Catholic Church in Phoenix, Arizona.Jocelyn shares insights on homeschooling and liturgical living across multiple platforms as Melkite Momma and is a regular contributor to Byzikids Magazine. Throughout her work and personal experiences, Jocelyn seeks to foster faith, family, and community.
Guest Post by: David Tonaszuck
Today, as we gather in prayer and quiet reflection, I invite you to listen; not just with your ears, but with your hearts—to the words of Jesus, spoken gently to each one of us: “My son, my daughter, I love you so very much and am always with you. Come and be by my side, and together our hearts shall be one; one with our Father in heaven and united with the Holy Spirit.”
These aren’t just words for comfort. They’re an invitation. An invitation to relationship, to unity, and to a love that doesn’t just fill us up, but spills out into the world around us. And nowhere does Jesus make that more practical, more concrete, than in the parable we hear today: the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
In Luke’s Gospel, a scholar asks Jesus what must be done to inherit eternal life. As He often does, Jesus answers with another question: “What is written in the law?” The scholar recites the great Commandments: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus commends him, but the scholar, wanting to justify himself, presses further: “And who is my neighbor?”
That’s the question that cracks everything open. Not “What should I do?” but “Who counts? Where do I draw the line?” It’s a question that tries to limit love, to keep it manageable. But Jesus won’t let us off that easily. He tells a story that blows up all our categories.
You know how it goes: a man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Two respected religious men; a priest and a Levite – pass by. They see the man, but for whatever reason: fear, ritual purity, inconvenience – they cross to the other side. Then comes a Samaritan: a stranger, even an enemy in the eyes of Jesus’ audience. And he’s the one moved by compassion. He stops, tends the man’s wounds, carries him to safety, and pays for his care. Not just the bare minimum, but more than anyone could expect.
What’s striking here isn’t just who helps, but how he helps. The Samaritan doesn’t ask if the man is worthy, or if he’s the right kind of person. He sees need, and his heart responds. Mercy, not calculation. Compassion, not qualifications. In this, Jesus shows us what it means to truly love our neighbor: to cross boundaries, to take risks, to put love into action.
And so, Jesus flips the scholar’s question around. It’s not “Who is my neighbor?” but “How can I be a neighbor?” The difference is everything. We’re not called to pick and choose who is deserving. We’re called to become people whose hearts are shaped by mercy, whose lives overflow with the love we ourselves have received from God.
But let’s be honest: this isn’t always easy. It’s one thing to know the words: “Love your neighbor as yourself”; and another thing entirely to live them, especially when loving means inconvenience, sacrifice, or stepping outside our comfort zones. The scholar in the Gospel had the right answer in his mind, but it hadn’t yet made its way to his heart, or from his heart to his hands.
That’s where grace comes in. The love the Father pours into our hearts through Jesus and the Holy Spirit isn’t meant to stay locked up inside. It’s meant to flow outward. And this love is made visible in the Paschal Mystery. Through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God shows us the deepest mercy; a mercy that reaches us even in our brokenness and lifts us up to new life. In the cross and the empty tomb, we see the true cost and the true power of compassion. Jesus did not pass us by in our suffering; He became our neighbor, carrying our wounds, healing us, and opening the way to eternal life.
When we ask God to help us love as He loves, His Spirit begins to change us. He softens our hearts, opens our eyes, and gives us the courage to act. Through prayer, the Sacraments – especially the Eucharist, where we encounter the living Christ who gave Himself for us: through acts of charity and forgiveness, we are drawn closer to Jesus. And as we draw near to Him, we begin to see Him in every person we meet.
When that happens, living the new covenant isn’t just about reciting commandments. It’s about letting God’s love move us from the inside out: so much so that it becomes natural to serve, to forgive, to show mercy, to be a neighbor to anyone in need.
This is how the Kingdom of God grows: not by drawing lines, but by building bridges. Not by asking “who counts?” but by counting everyone in. Every act of mercy, every step towards another in love, builds up the Body of Christ.
So let’s return to those words of Jesus: “I love you, my son, my daughter, and am always with you.” Let them sink in. Let them change you. And then, go out: overflowing with that love; to give praise, thanksgiving, and glory to our Father in heaven, and to love those around you as He loves you.
Amen.
Blessed Carlo Acutis once said, “Not me, but God.” His words echo deeply in my own spiritual life. This blog is not about me, but about the work of the Holy Spirit. I choose to remain anonymous because the voice behind these reflections isn’t what matters — the One speaking through them is.
I am a lifelong Catholic with a deep love for Scripture, the sacraments, and the quiet ways God speaks through everyday life. Live the Eucharist was born from my desire to share how the Gospel and the Eucharist shape not just my Sundays, but every step of the journey.
My hope is that these reflections bless you, challenge you, and draw you closer to Jesus — truly present in the Eucharist and profoundly present in your daily life.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Ana Munley via phone call on June 26th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
I had a regular account I made in 2020. I posted something about reading the Bible in 2024 and it was flagged as a violation. It sat under review for several weeks. I was upset and feeling like I was being silenced about sharing my faith. So on December 15th, 2025 I decided to make a new TikTok and this one dedicated to my Catholic faith.
For about a month I only had Tiktok, but with the ban looming, I went over onto Instagram in January 2025.
I think it’s because growing up I was a cradle Catholic. My family was Catholic in name only. Being lukewarm, our life was about comfort over our actual faith.. but as I started to dig deep and look at the teachings I realized it is the way it is because it’s rooted in truth. Because of that, my faith was deepened and transformed.
I like to describe the Catholic faith being like the railings on the side of a highway to keep you on the road and safe, to keep you from veering off the road.
I always want to stay rooted in truth. The tagline speaks to the content that I share and the intent I have with sharing it.
The answer is the same one. What’s resonated with me the most is the rediscovery of my faith and hearing from cradle Catholics. It’s like you are re-catechetizing Catholics.
Bishop Barron said we are taught this “Sunday school” type of catechesis in either OCIA or in Catholic schools,but there’s so much richness in the faith.
People want to learn more but don’t know where to start. I’m not here to debate people and tell them they’re wrong.
My approach is more like bringing light to the truth instead of fighting darkness with more darkness.
My first episode comes out next week. I want to provide reverts and new converts more information about the faith in a long-form manner. It’s based on how to be a more devout Catholic and how you can be the best Catholic you can be.
I want it to be a place to have conversations and not just a bite-sized version on the other platforms.
This is something I have taken to Confession. My priest has given me really good advice. When you deal with negative comments especially the ones that bash the Theology of the Catholic Church. My priest told me that the Catholic Church doesn’t need my defense, She has stood before you and will remain after you.
Another thing to realize is to keep it charitable for the sake of those people who are watching and reading the comments who may slightly think the same thing as the negative commenters. Can my response help the people reading/commenting? If not, then I don’t comment that way.
I get feisty and a bit sassy at times (you can see that in some of my videos) but I always aim to have my responses be rooted in charity and truth for the sake of those reading.. And that is my approach.
Not necessarily any saints that shaped anything online, but Saint Rita has resonated with me. She is the patron saint of impossible causes (victims, the sick, etc). As far as my online work, Saint Maximlian Kolbe inspires me. He played a huge role in online evangelization and his life and death are a great example of not only how to spread the Good News of your faith but also how to live it.
My number one thing is to start with something that resonates with you. For example, if the Rosary is a devotion you are particularly passionate about and drawn to, start with that.
There’s a way to deliver your faith from a place rooted in faith while also delivering it with love and charity.
The podcast is definitely top of the list, and I am also working with a Catholic shop called Abundantly Yours in designing a Rosary (Saints Jude and Rita design). I’ll be sharing why these specific rosaries are important to me and sharing more of my personal struggles and how these Saints have helped me.
Living in sunny Florida with my husband Joe and our two kids, Emilia and Lucas. I’m a Catholic content creator, corporate professional and host of After Mass, a podcast for Catholics who want more than just Sunday. First podcast episode drops 7/1! Follow along on TikTok & Instagram: @anamunley where I’m sharing Catholic truth with conviction, compassion and zero fluff.
There’s something about the rhythm of a day that either drags us down or draws us closer to heaven.
You know what I mean. Morning rush, midday crash, evening blur, and late-night scrolling. Then we wake up and do it all again. It’s easy to get caught up in the noise, in the cycle, in the relentless pace of “just getting through the day.”
But what if our day—yes, the messy, ordinary Tuesday with lukewarm coffee and school drop-offs—could become prayer?
That’s the invitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. It’s not just for monks in cloisters or clergy in Roman collars. It’s for us: lay people, parents, teachers, students, and that one guy at your parish who somehow always sings the wrong verse. And it’s the Church’s way of sanctifying time itself.
The Liturgy of the Hours is the daily prayer of the Church. It’s meant to consecrate the entire day to God. While the Mass is the “source and summit” of our spiritual lives, the Divine Office flows around it like a river of praise, scripture, and reflection. It baptizes each hour of the day in prayer.
Rooted in ancient Jewish tradition and lived by Jesus Himself, the Liturgy of the Hours is built primarily around the Psalms—those raw, poetic cries of the human heart. Whether it’s “The Lord is my shepherd” or “Out of the depths I cry to You,” the Psalms become a bridge between our lived experiences and God’s eternal Word.
Fr. Timothy Gallagher puts it beautifully: “Jesus not only prayed the psalms: He fulfilled them.” When we pray the Liturgy of the Hours, we don’t just imitate Christ; we enter into His own prayer to the Father.
The Divine Office isn’t private prayer in the strict sense. It’s a liturgical prayer. That means it’s public, communal, and offered with Christ to the Father through His Body, the Church.
The Catechism describes it as a “dialogue between God and His people.” Sometimes that dialogue feels grand and glorious. Other times, it feels like groaning in hope. Either way, when you open your breviary or app, you’re joining a chorus that spans continents, languages, and centuries.
As St. Pope John Paul II said in 1979:
“Through this prayer of Christ to which we give voice, our day is sanctified, our activities transformed, our actions made holy… We pray the same Psalms that Jesus prayed and come into personal contact with him.”
That’s not just poetic. It’s powerful.
The Liturgy of the Hours follows the natural rhythm of the day and is made up of five main “hours” of prayer:
Each Hour includes:
At the heart of it all are the Psalms, those ancient prayers that become surprisingly personal the more we pray them.
While bishops, priests, and religious are obliged to pray the Divine Office daily, the Church invites all the faithful to take part. Vatican II encouraged the laity to pray the Hours either with clergy, in small groups, or individually.
It doesn’t have to be the whole thing. You could begin with Night Prayer before bed, or try Morning Prayer with your spouse or kids. Apps like iBreviary, Divine Office, or Universalis make it easy to access the prayers on your phone. Perfect for the carpool line or a quiet moment during your break.
Even just one psalm a day is a step toward that unceasing conversation with God.
Here’s the beauty. The Liturgy of the Hours doesn’t remove us from daily life—it transfigures it.
That 10-minute Evening Prayer on the couch with the dog snoring and your toddler dumping Cheerios on the floor? That’s holy. That’s liturgical. And that’s you offering your tired, faithful love to God, just like the monks and martyrs and mystics did.
As you pray, you join in Christ’s own praise of the Father. You unite with the Church universal. You lift up the world, hour by hour, into the hands of God.
And over time, the psalms get into your bones. They come back to you when you’re anxious, joyful, weary, or unsure. They become the soundtrack of your soul.
In a world that confuses distraction for peace and noise for meaning, the Liturgy of the Hours is an antidote to religious indifference.
It reminds us: time is sacred. Words matter. Worship isn’t reserved for Sunday. It’s meant to shape every hour.
As St. Ambrose once said, “the Psalms soothe the temper, lighten sorrow, offer security at night, and stir up holiness by day”.
And as John Paul II said with fatherly clarity:
“Christ’s prayer goes on in the world… With the Liturgy of the Hours among the highest priorities of our day—each day—we can be sure that nothing will separate us from the love of God.”
So maybe it’s time to dust off that breviary. Or download the app. Or just start with the Benedictus tomorrow morning.
Either way, take a moment. Breathe. Pray.
Because God doesn’t just want your Sunday. He wants your whole day.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Joshua Mazrin via phone call on June 18th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
This job is a contributor to that, but I think the sacramental grace of marriage helped me learn this. So long as my work is morally good or at least morally neutral, that even the most mundane work can be seen as the best work as it is helping to provide for my family. While my apostolate work is important, the ordinary work is to provide for my family. Saint Joseph worked with dirt and wood and maybe stone. And learning how to pray during the real estate development is something I am working on. I am blessed to work a very flexible schedule. My office downtown is three blocks away from the Catholic Church so I can pop in for adoration or Confession.
Fr. LaGrange, in The Three Ages of the Interior Life, talks about how we all have an evergoing monologue in our day. And the challenge is to turn that monologue into a dialogue. And to find the random things and the challenges we face to bring those into dialogue with God.
You know the attitude that surrounds Confirmation being just a graduation step? But really it is a change and a confirmation of our faith. In a similar way, not ontologically, Marian consecration should be a transformative moment. Catholics often see Marian consecration as a mere devotion. But it really should shape your outlook.
Saint Maximilian saw himself as a soldier under the guidance of Mary. The spiritual battle is ongoing. His outlook on this battle was so peculiar to me, Maximilian was going against the actions of freemasonry. The victory is not in destroying people (the freemasons) but to convert them to our side. And Mary is the surest way to convert people to Christ.
It might just be my outlook or my temperament, but my primary intention is never to focus on winning an argument. My first intention with theology is to know God and the end intention is to love God. The primary objective of theology is to know and love God. I think Aquinas is brilliant but he was also very mystical in his prayer life.
That one’s got to be a grace. I don’t know. I have been doing this for over five years. And I like doing this. Some of the more academic stuff you can get burned out on but I am not doing as much. I genuinely enjoy editing! Your intention has to be Jesus. You are encountering a person, not just an event.
I would start by intentionally talking to Him. In an interesting way, the Holy Spirit is the action of God. Anytime God does something it is by the action of the Holy Spirit. So simply ask the Holy Spirit to help learn about Him. Start by rote prayer and then turn those into more conversational, spontaneous prayers. It requires an ongoing relationship to get to know a person and it’s no different with the Holy Spirit.
The challenge is getting everything out there because people are distracted by a million different things. We have moved to a culture where we are too busy. Lack of intention, people don’t say yes or no anymore. They say maybe. The joy occurs in that Marian consecration changed my life. And to share that with others is exciting because you can see an intense transformation in others.
The actions on Auschwitz was the icing on the cake. It was the natural actions of how he lived out his life. We live in a time where cultures are influenced by bad things. Saint Maximilian’s response was to do something about it. He was very patriotic in Poland. Originally he thought he was called to be a soldier, but he was actually called by Mary to be a priest. He found his mission, and poured his energy into his vocation. How we actually orient ourselves towards our callings.
Plus he was brilliant (insanely high IQ): as a kid he drew military strategies; and in college drew blueprints for a satellite. He organized a structure with his magazine that grew to 1-2 million subscriptions and organized his monastery to be printing 24/7. He went to Japan with no money and had his magazine in print in a month. He grew his beard as a sign of respect in Japan (it was a cultural symbol of a wise elder).
Maximilian Kolbe was the first Fulton Sheen, the first Mother Angelica. He was the precursor to all digital evangelization and media.
A husband and father first, Joshua holds bachelors and masters degrees in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and has completed PhD-level coursework in Systematic Theology at Ave Maria University. He spent years in ministry as the founder of an apostolate in New York City and later as Director of Evangelization for the Diocese of Venice, FL.
Now, he helps to build up both souls and structures. His “St. Joseph job” is in real estate development, while his passion for theology continues through his work as a technical editor, author, and curriculum writer. He’s edited more than 30 theology textbooks and other Catholic books, and has contributed to diocesan institutes, graduate programs, and national publications.
Joshua is the author of Knowing the Unknown God: A Practical Guide to How the Holy Spirit Will Make You Holy, and his most recent book, Led by the Immaculata, which unveils St. Maximilian Kolbe’s spiritual battle plan for Marian consecration.
He has been featured on EWTN, Catholic Answers, iHeart Radio, popular Catholic podcasts and radio shows, and at international and diocesan conferences on evangelization, apologetics, and spirituality. He has taught theology at multiple levels, helped design graduate programs, and served in academic publishing for international Mariological organizations and other Catholic organizations.
Joshua specializes in Marian theology and devotion, the Holy Spirit, Catholic spirituality, Scripture, and dynamic evangelization. His goal is to help Catholics live a Spirit-filled, Marian-led, radically holy life—whether they’re preaching, parenting, or laying bricks.