Theology

The Simple Catholic Sunday Funnies: Episode 23

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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!

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Gaudete Sunday: Joy in the Nearness of Christ

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There’s a moment in every long race when everything quietly changes.

You’re not finished yet. You’re still tired. Your legs still hurt. But you know something important. You’ve passed the halfway point.

In high school, I ran cross country. Most of our races were 5Ks, and every course had landmarks, trees, hills, and turns that helped you pace yourself. The midpoint was one of those silent checkpoints. You didn’t suddenly feel great. You weren’t magically faster. But hope crept in. You could see the finish line, not clearly and not fully, but you knew it was coming.

That’s Gaudete Sunday.

The penultimate Sunday of Advent is the turning point. The preparation is still needed and the waiting continues. But the Church, like a good coach, leans in and says: you’re past the halfway mark. Keep going. Rejoice.

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When God Becomes Our Safe Place: Attachment, Faith, and the Healing of the Heart

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Sponsored: This article is made possible by The Elijah Institute, supporting quality and engaging Catholic content.

There’s a quiet moment that happens sometimes in prayer. It’s that pause when the words dry up and what’s left is something simpler: a reaching out. We may not even know what we’re reaching for, only that we need Someone.

Psychologists have a name for that reaching: attachment behavior — the human drive to seek closeness, safety, and reassurance from someone we trust. It’s the instinct that makes a child run to her father after scraping her knee or a friend call someone they love when grief hits hard. But it’s also at the heart of our spiritual lives.

According to attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth and expanded in later research, our earliest relationships with caregivers shape the patterns of connection that follow us into adulthood. The secure, anxious,avoidant, and fearful avoidant ways we bond with others don’t disappear when we start praying. They often reappear in how we relate to God, particularly during dark and desolate times.

That’s what Pehr Granqvist and Lee Kirkpatrick explore in “Attachment and Religious Representations and Behavior” from The Handbook of Attachment. Their work invites us to see that the God we love is also the God we attach to. Grace often works through the same relational pathways that once taught us how to love, fear, trust, or withdraw.

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The Joy of Anticipation: A Catholic Reflection for Advent

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By: Elisabeth Williams

Preparing the Way of the Lord

Each year, as Thanksgiving dishes are barely cleared and Black Friday sales flood our inboxes, the season of Advent quietly arrives. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t demand. Rather, it simply invites: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”

For years in our family, this meant going to every holiday function, dragging the kids around the city to make memories while also losing sleep hoping that we checked off everything on their Christmas activity wish list. It was imperative to arrive early enough to get seats at their Christmas pageants, to complete the Jesse Tree, and read from scripture nightly. It was tiring, overwhelming, and left the kids and us cranky and too tired to celebrate the actual Octave of Christmas when it finally arrived.

More recently, Advent has become less about checking off traditions like parties, LEGO calendars, and candy-filled shoes and more about listening. What is Christ asking of me in the waiting? How can I make space in my home and in my heart for Him? And is it possible for me to offer that simple invitation to others as well?

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Preparing the Heart for Christmas: Welcoming Jesus, Bearing Good Fruit 

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Guest Post by: David Tonaszuck

Reflection on the Gospel of Matthew 3:1-12 

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, 

As Advent unfolds before us, we’re handed an invitation—not just to more lists, more shopping, or more frantic hustle, but to something riskier and far more honest. Let’s take a glimpse at someone in our own midst—a woman like Samantha, perhaps someone you know, perhaps someone a little like you. 

Every year, Samantha mapped out her perfect Christmas with military precision: menus, presents, decorations, endless lists promising a season that would finally feel right. And every year, as she sat among the torn wrapping paper and cold leftovers, a hollow ache settled in. “Hollowed out by the holidays,” she joked. But beneath that joke—loneliness, disappointment, a hunger for something real. 

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Why the Immaculate Conception is Important

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The most common question students got wrong in my catechism class was related to the teaching of the Immaculate Conception. Nearly all the students thought the Church is referring to Jesus. Instead, the Immaculate Conception is referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary!

According to Pope Pius IX in his encyclical Ineffabilis Deus, “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

The angel Gabriel testifies to the holiness of Mary in Luke 1:28 by greeting her, “Hail, favored one full of grace.” Mary’s perfect obedience to God’s will of selecting her to bear the Son of God is another instance of her holiness.

How was Mary Saved

I once heard a priest describe Mary’s salvation this way. Imagine that humanity fell into a muddy pit. This caused our first parents (Adam and Eve) to get dirty with the stain of sin.

In order for mankind to be purified or washed from this imperfection God instituted the sacrament of Baptism. Mary did not need Baptism (and the other sacraments) for salvation because God saved her from falling into the pit (of sin) in the first place!

Mary is not a deity to be worshiped. Her role as in salvation history is that of Jesus Christ’s Mother. The Son of God is still the focal point of our hearts, mind, and soul.

To Jesus through Mary

We can look to Our Blessed Mother as a guide, a signpost, and a beacon that orients us toward God. Throughout Church Tradition, the Old Testament signs of Noah’s ark and Jacob’s ladder are interpreted as symbols of Mary. The Blessed Virgin acts as a bridge or intercessor between us and Christ. She is NOT a replacement for Christ.

The beauty and grandeur of Mary exists because she is the perfect mirror. Immaculately conceived and without sin. That was the mysterious plan of God. She reflects God’s love outward toward all of humanity. May we continue to grow closer to God and learn from the humble example of Mary to obey God in all things!

Related Links

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9ineff.htm

https://thesimplecatholic.blog/2019/08/14/3-reasons-the-assumption-of-mary-is-a-big-deal/

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