by Marc Postiglione | The next World Youth Day will be held in Krakow in 2016 and Pope Francis has written a short message to the youth of the world to help prepare for this momentous occasion. Each year, Pope Francis will reflect on a different Beatitude in anticipation of Krakow 2016. The first Beatitude that the Pope reflects on: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

by Dave Armstrong | Sometimes people say that the Bible and tradition are against each other (with tradition being the “bad” thing). But the Bible itself teaches that tradition was already around before the Bible was put together. In fact, the Bible itself is part of the Christian tradition, just as the Catholic Church also is.

by CCC | It seemed like an ordinary lunch hour for a Legal Clerk in her mid-twenties, even working for a Supreme Court Justice. Yet the normal lunchtime banter with her Boss somehow took a turn for the extraordinary. Soon, they were engaged in a discussion on the Catholic Dogma of Mary as the Immaculate Conception.

by Marc Postiglione | One of my fondest and earliest memories of childhood is the way we as a family celebrated Sunday. Sunday always started with morning Mass. We were not a sleep late family and were out the door for 9:00am Mass.

by Bl. Pope John Paul II | If it is true that by giving life parents share in God’s creative work, it is also true that by raising their children they become sharers in his paternal and at the same time maternal way of teaching. According to Saint Paul, God’s fatherhood is the primordial model of all fatherhood and motherhood in the universe (cf. Eph 3:14-15), and of human motherhood and fatherhood in particular.

Let it be repeated as an immutable and inviolable fundamental doctrine that matrimony was not instituted or restored by man but by God. Not by man were the laws made to strengthen and confirm and elevate marriage, but by God, the Author of nature, and by Christ Our Lord by Whom nature was redeemed; and hence these [marriage] laws cannot be subject to any human decrees or to any contrary pact, even of the spouses themselves.

Download this ‘The 4 Marks of the Church’ Crossword! A fun activity to challenge your knowledge of facts and trivia. For all ages! Answer these questions: There are four ___ of the Catholic Church by which all men can recognize it as the true Church. This saint was martyred in the third century; many people give cards to their loved ones on his feast day. This saint was the brother of St. Methodius.

Every St. Valentine’s Day leaves men at a loss for telling their girlfriends or wives how much they love them. Very often, whether a dozen red roses, a box of chocolates, or a hand-written poem, nothing seems to suffice. If you homeschool husbands find yourself in this predicament, don’t feel too bad. We’ve all been there.

So often in human life we wonder if someone is going to call, coming to visit, or going to write us a letter. We assume that we are to expect, ...

Recently in a class to our Confirmation students, I was attempting to explain that much of morality can be traced to Genesis 1:26-27 and the creation of man in the ‘image and likeness of God.’ As I was preparing for the lesson, I thought back to three works that have inspired me and have always been faithful companions in my teaching experiences

Pope Francis: "There is another form of poverty! It is the spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously. It is what my much-loved predecessor, Benedict XVI, called the ‘tyranny of relativism,’ which allows everyone to create his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of peoples. But there is no true peace without truth.”

On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, when Bernadette was only fourteen years old. The “lady” appeared to be only about sixteen, wearing a white veil and a white gown with a blue sash.

As someone who has been teaching high school and college now for more than fourteen years, it has become life’s daunting task to motivate students. In an age of instant communication, a teacher needs to be able to convey subject material in a way that is both ever dramatic and always engaging. It used to be a concern to worry about a bad day; now, one has to worry about an un-engaging minute.

by Kerry Costanzo | Already behind in our schoolwork, now we are REALLY behind. I didn't want to be this behind. . . I really didn't. Yet, during those last months of pregnancy, the fatigue was so severe, and the couch was so inviting, and the coffee pot was so empty (I wasn't drinking it during pregnancy). . . well, the homeschooling suffered.

Because of our fallen nature, you and I are going to be subject to all sorts of temptations for the rest of our lives. There is no point in our lives – no matter how old we are – when we are going to be able to lose our vigilance when it comes to temptation.

I have known Catholic families and I know how much light they were in the 1950’s. One family I knew as a seven-year-old boy touched me by the very fact that the father of the family led the Grace of the meal with the Sign of the Cross and the prayer asking for God’s blessing. A small thing, but small things speak to pure hearts.

Blessed are those who do not stumble or become hindered in their faith when Christ does not act according to the plans and preconceived ideas they’ve worked out in their own minds concerning how things will go in their lives and how God will move in their lives as well.

The words of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on the day of her first Confession are very appropriate: “How awful are those words of unloosing after a thirty years’ bondage! I felt as if my chains fell, as those of St. Peter at the touch of the Divine Messenger. My God! What new scenes for my soul!”

A few months ago, I wrote an article dealing with blaming yourself as a Catholic parent whose children have veered off course. In it, I told the story of a man who spent an afternoon in a famous museum. The man walked around and observed the paintings of Raphael and the sculptures of Michelangelo.

Do you know what an aspiration is? An aspiration is a strong desire to do something, be something, or possess something. People have many different aspirations. Some aspire to be musicians, doctors, or librarians. Some aspire to go to college, while others aspire to go right into the workforce. Some aspire to be priests or religious brothers or sisters, while others aspire to be good husbands and wives. There are as many aspirations as there are people in the world.