Holy Family Ties – The Feast of The Holy Family (December 30)
The popularity of genealogy and ever-new ways to search for family origins has brought to mind the importance of family. Ever since God told our first...
Preparing Kids for Christmas: A Candlelight Prayer
The last days in class before Christmas can be hectic. Use this prayer service to spend some quiet time with your students. Create a peaceful atmosphere...
Mary’s Incredible Role in God’s Plan
Laurie was confused when she spent the night at Eden’s house. Before Eden went to bed, she prayed a Hail Mary for her sick grandmother and...
5 Ways to Jump-Start and Nourish Your Faith This Advent
5 Ways to Jump-Start Your Faith This Advent Is your faith feeling a bit . . . stale? Has it been awhile since you’ve connected with...
Four Ways Engaged Learning Can Create More Meaning With Children!
Have you ever been teaching, and you look out to see a room full of children just staring back at you with glazed eyes? Maybe you’ve...
Saint Thérèse and 3 Other Young Saints to Inspire Teens
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897) Feast day: October 1 In every teen’s life, there are big decisions to be made. This is true in a saint’s...
Mastering the Words
We’ve all heard them—the bloopers or malaprops young children come up with as they articulate memorized prayer. The child who prays, “May the souls of the...
Teaching Kids About Our Lady of Sorrows
Opening Prayer On September 15th each year, the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, a day for prayer and reflection on the distinct...
Calling Forth the Invisible, Spreading Goodness: Virtue Ethics in Laudato Si’
On the surface, Pope Francis’s Laudato si’ does not look like a call for an ecological virtue ethics.¹ Large-scale social change seems to be the main point....
Embracing the Season of Creation
While many are familiar with the seasons of the Church such as Lent and Advent, not many are aware of the Season of Creation. This season...
How to Become a Trusted Adult
As we approach the end of the school year and faith formation programs (and a remarkable year at that!), it is helpful to pause and reflect...
Why I Can’t Stay
By Sophie Vodvarka (Editor’s note: This guest blog post appeared originally Nov. 7, 2018, on the blog Sick Pilgrim on Patheos, a website devoted to global...
Is Our Worship Beautiful?
Google “most beautiful places of worship” and you’ll get some stunning examples of architecture, from churches to temples to mosques. But what makes a place of...
Our World Needs Wisdom of Weak Ties
Recently, I relistened to a series of CDs by the poet David Whyte. Titled Clear Mind Wild Heart: Finding Courage & Clarity Through Poetry, the audiobook...
Some Megachurches Looking Like Catholic Parishes
“Why are megachurches and formerly iconoclastic mainline denominations looking more like Catholic parishes in terms of liturgy and practices even as some Catholics are, late to...
Journalist Explores Future of Religion in America
What’s the future of religion in America? Award-winning journalist Ray Suarez explored that question in an address to the Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul Annual...
Some Young People Staying to Lead, Serve Church
Not all young people are leaving the Catholic Church. Nor are those who stay uniformly conservative, traditionalist, or doctrinally dogmatic. Those realities make few headlines, pushed...
Millennials Value Diversity, Inclusivity at Work, Worship
Religious affiliation is not to blame for anti-Muslim attitudes in the United States. Islamophobia rather is most characteristic of those who do not have personal relationships...
Design Thinking May Be Just the Tool Churches Need
By D. Dale WalkerPart 1 of 2 How can churches engage young people meaningfully, keeping them active and growing in faith? Helpful ways of answering this...
Design Thinking Can Help Churches Serve Young People
By D. Dale WalkerPart 2 of 2 One of the defining characteristics of the American church is its entrepreneurial spirit. Innovations like Methodism and Mormonism took...
Rachel Held Evans Taught Us How To Be Christian
I had not heard of Rachel Held Evans until she died on May 4. My wife noticed a write-up about her online and pointed it out to me....
The Transformative Power of Music
Music throughout history has provided people a means to gather, talk, worship, pray, celebrate, dance, sing, meditate. Music is both communal and profoundly personal, providing comfort,...
Growing Up Muslim in America
(Note: Saint Mary’s Press Research spoke with Sara, a young Muslim woman, about her experience growing up and today as a Muslim woman in the United States. Her...
Spiritual Director: ‘We Are All Seekers’
Spiritual direction is essentially companioning someone in his or her spiritual life. Other ways of describing spiritual direction include holy listening, spiritual friendship, sacred journeying.” (Janna...
Can We Talk?
A number of blog posts in this space have emphasized the importance of listening and being heard. Not only do those in the midst of religious...
Church Called To Be Midwife
Note: Christiana Rice, coauthor with Michael Frost of To Alter Your World: Partnering with God to Rebirth Our Communities (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017), participated in a...
Undocked Scooters May Be Telling Us Something
By Andrea D. Chavez-Kopp If you live in or visit any major city, you will find the new phenomenon of motorized scooters zipping along the streets....
New York Gathering Reviews Disaffiliation Study Findings
Seeking to identify “points of hopefulness,” archdiocesan leaders met at the New York Catholic Center in Manhattan for a gathering called “Conversation About Young Catholics Leaving...
