Inspiration

man looking at a valley | Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

Franciscan Inspirations: God Doesn’t Punish

It is common for religious people to attribute natural disasters as a punishment by God for sins. If that’s true, then God’s aim is off target because it’s usually the innocent who suffer rather than the guilty.

Read More →
Pregnant woman holding a picture | Photo by Bethany Beck on Unsplash

Franciscan Inspirations: Size Doesn’t Matter, Really

In our society, it seems that everything has to be bigger or the greatest. “More is more,” as they say. But the truth is this: size is not really that important.
Read More →
Walking through a tunnel | Photo by Chris Buckwald on Unsplash

Franciscan Inspirations: Reincarnation and Judgment

In recent years, we’ve heard references to the concept of reincarnation. This is the theory that the soul or spirit, after death, begins a new life in a new body depending on the moral quality of the person’s previous life.
Read More →

Franciscan Inspirations: Seed Planted Comes to Life

The Gospels are full of moments in which people met Jesus, often in very difficult circumstances, and years later, the significance of their meeting produced marvelous fruit.
Read More →
Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Conn., speaks Nov. 13, 2018, at Theology on Tap with Sarah Yaklic, former director of Grotto Network out of the University of Notre Dame, and Jonathan Lewis, assistant secretary for pastoral ministry and social concerns in the Archdiocese of Washington. (CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard) See FAITH-ALIVE 20 April 9, 2020.

Theology-on-Tap: Quenching a Spiritual Thirst

No longer satisfied with going through the motions of Mass, many young Catholics across the country gather to celebrate and invigorate. Theology-on-Tap quenches two thirsts at once.
Read More →
Statue of St. Peter

Franciscan Inspirations: Peter’s Failures

Far be it from me to put words into Jesus’ mouth, but I can easily imagine someone asking Jesus, near the end of his ministry, just what he thought about Peter. Peter was the first chosen by Jesus and the ...
Read More →
hands clasped together in prayer

Franciscans and Muslims: Eight Centuries of Seeking God

Franciscans and Muslims encountered one another during the lifetime of Saint  Francis (1181-1226). Indeed, he sent friars to the Holy Land in 1217.
Read More →