The prison guard weighed the small plastic bottle in the palm of her hand. “It’s not grape juice?” “No, ma’am.” She held the three ounces of rose-colored liquid up to the light. “Not permitted,” she said. I was taken aback. “Ma’am, Catholics are required to use real wine for Mass. I’ve been to this unit numerous...

by Craig Taffaro One may hear of the need to prepare for Holy Communion, but wonder how. Besides the obvious — be in a state of grace — or the many beautiful prayers written to help prepare a soul for Communion, one should study the Mass. Holy Mass contains within it the means for proper preparation and efficacious receptio...

The Road, a film based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, unfolds in a devastated world where every city lies in ruins, animals no longer exist, all plant life is destroyed and bands of cannibals roam the country. At the center of the story, a father and young son journey toward the ocean where they hope warmer air will help them survive the coming ...

When I was considering converting to the Catholic Church, I had a hard time getting over the statues.  Yes, the saints slapped on coffee mugs and pumper stickers struck me as at least cheesy, but what was with the Catholics and these statues that they kissed, knelt to, prayed toward, and even dressed for different events?  From my vantage point...

By Chris Ratliff The notion of discipleship is a powerful one. For anyone to say he is a Christian ought to mean, "I am a disciple of Christ." And to be a disciple means you strive hold nothing back from your commitment to follow him. Examining the simple logic that true discipleship leads to salvation -- everlasting life in the presence of God -...

God created us to give Him glory, which we do by sharing in His own happiness. The Catechism describes this reality in its opening line: “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.” The Baltimore Catechism captured the question “why did God make me?...

I recently had a priest friend visit my farm to help me eat a pig.  He had, in fact, wanted to be there “for the bullet”, meaning when I began what is politely and (I think) cruelly called “processing”.  “Processing” is thoroughly modernist farm-speak that helps people cope with the reality that I am shooting a small bullet into the p...

Catholics receive the Eucharist regularly, but we do not focus our attention on preparing to receive Christ worthily and fruitfully in the sacrament. The danger is complacency and allowing obstacles to creep in that block the graces of the Eucharist from taking root in us. In the early Church, Christians received the Eucharist frequently, as we ...

We can fall into a routine reception of the Eucharist. Receiving our Lord’s Body can remain an isolated moment in our life—meaningful, but not central to our identity or how we live. God does not want the Eucharist to remain hidden at Mass or a secret in our lives. Rather, the Eucharist stands at the center of Christian culture, our communal an...

Sometimes around big holidays we find ourselves in conversations with friends and family who might be attending Mass with us but are not Catholic. In today’ world, to say “no, you can’t do that” is tantamount to telling someone they are the scum of the earth with no freedoms.  So, when it comes time to explain to them that they cannot r...