May 13, 2020

Declared a martyr and since proposed for sainthood by the bishops of Guatemala, Stan was an ordinary man who found extraordinary courage in his faith.

I hate to see people suffer because they worry about the wrong things and misread what God thinks of them. They feel guilty for past sins—sins for which they have been forgiven.

One of the sure signs of maturity occurs when a young person begins to be accountable for his or her acts and decisions. It’s one of the nicest presents a young person can give his or her parents.

All four Gospels make note that Mary was present at the crucifixion and death of Jesus on Good Friday. Matthew, Mark, and Luke note that Mary and other women, in particular Mary Magdalene, “watched from a distance.” Only Luke writes that “some of Jesus’ disciples” were with Mary. Notably, the Twelve were not there, but hiding out of fear for their lives.

Abba Anthony said: “The time is coming when people will be insane, and when they see someone who is not insane, they will attack that person saying: ‘You are insane because you are not like us.’”

We are all aware of the rise of criticism atheists are leveling at all religions, but in particular at Christianity. For example, there’s the movie by Bill Maher, Religulous (an obvious play on the word “ridiculous”), in which he interviews a number of Christians. Some indeed have very extreme ideas, many of which we as Catholics would not agree with. There are others who profess to be Christian but really do a very poor job of explaining what they actually say they believe . Sadly, Religulous has been described as “the funniest movie of the year.”