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  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: Bearing Fruit for the Kingdom - Wednesday, May 14, 2025

    05/14/2025 8:38:58 AM PDT · by fidelis · 6 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCB“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” John 15:16After Judas betrayed our Lord, the Apostles gathered together to pick someone to succeed him. They decided it should be someone who had been with them from the beginning. They prayed for guidance and cast lots “and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles” (Acts 1:26). Little is known about the ministry...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: Learning the Language of God - Tuesday, May 13, 2025

    05/13/2025 7:47:57 AM PDT · by fidelis · 6 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 13, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe.” John 10:24–25Why is it that these people did not know that Jesus was the Christ? They wanted Jesus to speak “plainly” to them, but Jesus surprises them by saying that He already answered their question but they “do not believe.” This Gospel passage continues the...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: Recognizing the Voice of God - Monday May 12, 2025

    05/12/2025 6:45:20 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 12, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCB“But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.” John 10:2–4Do you recognize the voice of the Shepherd? Does He lead you each and every day, guiding you into His holy will? How attentive are you to what He speaks each day? These are some...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: Shepherding Through Virtue - Sunday May 11, 2025

    05/11/2025 11:06:52 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 11, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.” John 10:27–28The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is an endearing image. Many artists have depicted the gentleness of Christ as He leads His sheep or carries a straying lamb on His shoulders. We are given this image today as we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. In our short Gospel passage today, Jesus addressed some of the Jews who were trying to trap...
  • [Catholic Caucus] The Sacred Page: Both "Lamb" and "Shepherd"? Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

    05/10/2025 11:40:07 AM PDT · by fidelis · 3 replies
    The Sacred Page Blog ^ | May 11, 2019 | Dr. John Bergsma
    By Dr. John BergsmaThis upcoming Lord’s Day is often known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” since each year the Gospel reading is taken from John 10, the “Good Shepherd Discourse.” It’s also often observed as a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, since priests and religious are visible manifestations to us of Christ in his role as the Good Shepherd. Most of the Readings are tied together by a shepherding theme. 1. The First Reading continues the traditional Christian practice of reading Acts during the season of Easter. We are up to Acts 13, the point...
  • Christians: The Forgotten Victims of the Indo-Pakistani Conflict

    05/10/2025 11:38:39 AM PDT · by EnderWiggin1970 · 4 replies
    Courage Media ^ | 5/9/25 | Ayaan Hirsi Ali?
    After Pakistani militants attacked Indian-administered Kashmir in late April, gunning down 26 tourists and escalating a new series of offensives in the ongoing Indo-Pakistani conflict, media has drawn attention to the sectarian perspectives of Pakistani Muslims and Hindu nationalists in India, as well as more ameliorating voices in the region. The perspective of Christians in the region, however, has gone largely ignored. It is worth noting that Christians as well as Hindus were targeted for their ethno-religious status in the Kashmiri attack, and that this was by no means the first time that Christians were caught in the crossfire. Trends...
  • Why Christianity ?

    05/10/2025 8:27:25 AM PDT · by knarf · 17 replies
    Jack Hibbs ^ | May 10, 2025 | Jack Hibbs
    48 minutes of assurance, re-assurance or conviction.
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: A “Hard” and Deep Mystery - Saturday, May 10, 2025

    05/10/2025 6:00:27 AM PDT · by fidelis · 6 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 10, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBAs a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” John 6:66–67Today’s Gospel concludes the beautiful and profound sermon on the Bread of Life (see John 6:22–71). When you read this sermon from beginning to end, it is noticeable that Jesus moves from more general statements about the Bread of Life that are easier to accept to more specific statements that are challenging. He concludes His teaching just prior to today’s Gospel...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: A “Holy Fear” - Friday, May 9, 2025

    05/09/2025 7:55:23 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 9, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCB“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink.” John 6:53–55On a philosophical level, it’s useful to consider various things that appear to be “competing forces.” Good appears to be the opposite of evil. Light the opposite of dark. Heat the opposite of cold. And life...
  • The Mysterious Taoist Spells from China that Proclaim Jesus as King

    05/08/2025 12:45:50 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 10 replies
    Greek Reporter ^ | May 8, 2025 | Caleb Howells
    One of the most prominent religions in ancient and medieval China was Taoism, or Daoism. This is completely unrelated to Christianity, an Abrahamic religion related to Judaism and Islam. For this reason, it might be surprising to learn that some medieval Daoist texts include brief Christian prayers that were used as spells. The writings of Lu Dongbin Lu Dongbin was born in China in the eighth century CE. He was a prominent scholar and poet, alleged to have performed miracles. His poems are collected in The Complete Works of Lu Yan or The Complete Book of Ancestor Lu. The overwhelming...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: The Flesh of Our Lord - Thursday, May 8, 2025

    05/08/2025 8:17:25 AM PDT · by fidelis · 6 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) | May 8, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBI am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” John 6:51Jesus was starting to stir up the emotions of some within the crowd. They began to ridicule Him because He had said that He was the “bread that had come down from heaven.” Thus, many of those who had sought Jesus out in hopes of another miraculous free meal began to murmur among themselves and ridicule Him. As a result, Jesus began...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: Holy Sight - Wednesday, May 7, 2025

    05/07/2025 7:42:58 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 7, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCB“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” John 6:40Do you believe in Jesus? Unquestionably the answer is “Yes.” However, to believe in our Lord is something that must deepen with every passing day. Therefore, if you do have faith in Jesus, you can also admit that you do not have faith enough. In this Gospel passage in which the “Bread of Life Discourse” is continued, Jesus calls us to do two things....
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: The Bread of Life - Tuesday, May 6, 2025

    05/06/2025 8:31:58 AM PDT · by fidelis · 6 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 6, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBSo they said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” John 6:34–35Imagine if you were to never grow hungry or never thirst again. On a natural level, this would be an interesting reality. Of course, if you never had physical hunger or thirst, then you may never enjoy the delight of good food and drink. So why would anyone want to lose out on such delights? Of course, Jesus was...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: Food for Eternity - Monday, May 5, 2025

    05/05/2025 9:17:52 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 5, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCB“Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:25–27What do you work for in life? That which ultimately perishes? Or that which is eternal? This is an important question to sincerely answer. Too often we spend most of our lives putting most of...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! One Hundred and Fifty-three Large Fish - Sunday, May 4, 2025

    05/04/2025 7:36:00 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | Sunday, May 4, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBWhen it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. John 21:4–6Recall the first time there was a miraculous catch of fish in the Gospels. In Luke 5:1–7, Jesus was preaching to...
  • [Catholic Caucus] The Sacred Page: The Primacy of Peter and of Love: Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter

    05/03/2025 10:39:10 AM PDT · by fidelis · 4 replies
    The Sacred Page Blog ^ | May 03, 2019 | Dr. John Bergsma
    By Dr. John BergsmaThis week is the Third Sunday of Easter, and our readings highlight the primacy of Peter among the Apostles, and the primacy of love in following Jesus. In the First Reading this week (Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41) we see Peter’s primacy (“Peter and the apostles said in reply …”) in leading the early Church through the experience of persecution, and in boldly proclaiming the Gospel despite sustained and serious cultural opposition. As commentators point out, we witness here a power struggle between the new and the old priestly leadership of the people of God. the Sanhedrin represents the...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Do You Not Know Me? - Saturday, May 3, 2025

    05/03/2025 6:09:40 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 3, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBPhilip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:8–9Today’s liturgical feast is in honor of two of the Apostles, Philip and James the Lesser. Little is known about James other than that he was chosen by our Lord for the apostolic ministry and that we have one of his...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Superabundance - Friday, May 2, 2025

    05/02/2025 8:16:02 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | Friday, May 2, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCB“Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.”John 6:12–13John’s Gospel is filled with much symbolic meaning. The passage above concludes the story of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. After feeding the multitude of people with only five barley loaves and two fish, they were able to fill twelve wicker baskets with what remained. What was the reason for the extra? Saint Augustine, in commenting...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! The Meaning of Love - Thursday, May 1, 2025

    05/01/2025 9:03:42 AM PDT · by fidelis · 6 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | May 1, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCBThe Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. John 3:35It’s interesting to note that the words of today’s Gospel appear to be from Saint John the Baptist, since they come within the context of his testimony to Jesus. Some commentators, however, suggest that they are words that were actually spoken by Jesus and that the Evangelist inserts them here as a continuation of the testimony of the Baptist, attributing them to Saint John. Regardless of who actually spoke these words, the line quoted above gives us much to reflect upon, in that...
  • [Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! A Summary of Clarity - Wednesday, April 30, 2025

    04/30/2025 9:28:38 AM PDT · by fidelis · 7 replies
    My Catholic Life! (YouTube) ^ | April 30, 2025 | My Catholic Life!
    Daily Readings from the USCCB“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” John 3:16We continue, today, to read from the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus, the Pharisee who ultimately converted and is venerated as one of the early saints of the Church. Recall that Jesus challenged Nicodemus as a way of helping him to make the difficult decision to reject the malice of the other Pharisees and to become His follower. This passage quoted above comes from Nicodemus’ first conversation with...