Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, “the tinder for sin” (fomes peccati); since concupiscence “is left for us to wrestle with, […]

But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us –Romans 5:8.
Wiping tears from our eyes, we viewers read these last words as they rolled off the screen for the movie premiere of, Fireproof, a powerful, worthwhile movie on Christian marriage.
I can remember, many moons ago, learning […]

When I was a young adult there was a wildly popular book about dressing for career success.  It spawned many copycat books, all proclaiming the benefits of proper attire for everything from boardrooms to schoolrooms.  The premise was that your clothes were the first impression others had of you, and consequently had a great impact […]

I’m a big fan of dark chocolate so it was with great delight that I embraced the news of dark chocolate’s anti-oxidant properties.  That was all I needed to hear in order to justify my personal intake of the wonderful substance.  Once it began being used as a cover for such things as raisins and […]

I can say with a fair amount of certainty that my children, now aged 20, 18, and 16, did not see the rules and regulations imposed upon them as they grew up as providing freedom.  Like most kids, and even many adults, they saw the restrictions I placed upon them as enslaving them, as preventing […]

As many of the regular Catholic Exchange visitors may have noticed, there is a book quietly calling for your attention in a number of different spots on the site. The book is Letters to Luke by Joe Holoubek and I recently enjoyed both reading the book and having Dr. Holoubek’s daughter, Martha, participate in the online […]

Although there are very few things that people would agree upon, it would seem safe to say that we would all agree that there is no shortage of evil acts in our world today.  And although that statement could be said, literally, at any point in human history, televised wars, executions, and kidnappings bring these […]

During a recent family gathering, my husband, my brother-in-law, and my uncle regaled the gathered group with tales of childhood games.  In particular, one that all three of these men, now in their late 40’s through mid 50’s, played was “Church.”  Each man took turns relaying how he would use a Ritz cracker or a […]

I’ve always been a fairly driven, type “A” personality and have been able to handle, more or less, the demands on my life.  However, in recent years I began suffering from back problems that really took the wind out of my sails.  One thing led to another and before I knew it, a few years […]

When my husband and I built our house many years ago I did my best to share the experience with my mother.  But as many mother-daughter relationships go, ours is probably fairly normal.  We have our moments of extreme closeness and times of growing and stretching (i.e. not so much closeness).  It seemed to me […]

The celebration of women and motherhood is most beautifully portrayed in a new book by Catholic author, speaker, and Catholic Exchange columnist, Heidi Hess Saxton.  Saxton, a convert to the Catholic faith and adoptive mother herself, exquisitely reveals the relationship between Mary and us, her adopted children in, Behold Your Mother: Mary Stories and Reflections […]

The nuptial covenant between God and his people Israel had prepared the way for the new and everlasting covenant in which the Son of God, by becoming incarnate and giving his life, has united to himself in a certain way all mankind saved by him, thus preparing for "the wedding-feast of the Lamb." ~ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1612

What great reassurance we have of Christ's love for us when He calls Himself a bridegroom! Of course this can only be truly comforting, and reveal the depth of His commitment, when we understand the context within which He spoke.  We cannot look at the lack of marital commitment in today's world, whether Jewish or Christian, and fully grasp what Jesus meant when He answered the question about fasting by saying, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast" Matthew 9:15. 

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters.  Genesis 1:1-2
From the beginning, literally, the presence of God has been intimately connected to water.  Water has always been life-giving and fundamental in God's plan […]

Love.  What is love?  Is it a feeling?  A fantasy?  A dream?  A reality?  A hoax?  As I see more and more marriages ending with the words, "I don't love you anymore," I am wondering…What exactly is love?
There are so many different kinds of love that it would seem impossible to answer this question.  I […]

By the time a child is but a few years old he recognizes any number of different monikers to which he must answer.  Let's take a look at fictitious Joseph James Baxter.  To his grandmother he might be "Joe-Joe," while to his friends he might be "The Big J."  His parents probably call him "Joe" […]

Mal'ach is the Hebrew word for angels. It means "messenger." The Torah has many instances in which angels interact with man to facilitate God's will. In Genesis, these instances include, but are by no means limited to, the angels who guard the gates of Eden after Adam and Eve are expelled and the angel who […]

As a middle school teacher, I rarely raised my voice to my students.  Throughout the years I discovered many other strategies that kept my classroom humming.  So, one day, when I started barking orders at my seventh grade religion students, they were caught quite off guard. 
"Do NOT eat potato chips at lunch today!" I […]

In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.  ~ John 14:2a
When I was a young parent (well not so young, but let's say a new parent) I scoured books searching for parenting tips and techniques.  I had no siblings who were parents nor were any of my closest friends.  I can remember once reading […]

'Avodah' is the Hebrew word that means both "work" and "worship." Whether in Genesis, where God put man to "work," or in Exodus, when God instructs Moses to approach Pharaoh with the request to release the Hebrew slaves so that they can "worship" God, the word 'avodah' is used. The image of both work and […]

When HaShem (God) dictated the Torah to Moses, that Written Law, or Torah She'bi-khetav, made God's laws known to His people.  This Truth, in all its glorious revelation, was to provide the Jewish people with instructions for daily living, how to celebrate their holidays, and the ways in which they should worship their Creator.  The […]

When I began working with Catholic Exchange on the upcoming woman's study that will celebrate the 20th anniversary of John Paul's Apostolic Letter on the Dignity of Women, I knew I wanted everything about the study to reflect a female presence — including the music that would begin the weekly podcasts. 
As always, when I'm […]

Advent is a glorious time to be a Catholic woman.  For the past few years, I have been asked to speak at a variety of different teas and dinners that mark this special season and each one has been a gift from God.
I have had the good fortune to meet hundreds of women who […]

Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, often called The Matriarchs of the Faith, provide a remarkable insight into God's commitment to women and His interest in how women play an integral part in His plan for mankind.  These women teach us about the roots of our faith but also how our faith has unfolded so that […]

The last of the leaves have finally fallen from the trees.  Actually, a late November rain brought them down and they are now mixed with the snow that has begun to accumulate on the ground making it quite difficult to rake and bag them one final time.  As I enjoy the first signs of winter […]

"Be still and confess that I am God!  I am exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth."  Psalm 46:11
Windridge Solitude is an 83 acre retreat in Lonedell, Missouri that is owned and operated by a new religious community of nuns whose mission is "spiritcare and earthcare." They seek to balance their lives between the […]

The word mitzvah, writ large and uttered reverently, means an act which I perform because God requires it of me.  ~Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld
Central to Jewish theology is the understanding that man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and that God calls His people to be holy, just as He is holy (Lev. […]

Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves […]

Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.  ~2 Maccabees 12:46
November 2nd marks the Commemoration of All Souls; the day in which the earthly faithful are called to pray for the faithful departed in Purgatory.  Often considered connected to Pagan or other ritualistic ceremonies, All Souls Day is, […]

"Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  Luke 1:45. 
With those words, Elizabeth confirms what we already know about Mary, the mother of Jesus: that she freely, and without reservation, trusted in God.  With those beautiful words we only begin to fathom the depths of […]

Pray without ceasing.  ~1 Thessalonians 5:17
I was recently reminded of the time, a good half dozen years ago, when I asked my seventh grade religion class, "Who has a parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle who prays 'unceasingly'?"  Without an exception, each of my students was able to quickly draw to mind a relative, […]

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroys, and thieves break in and steal.  But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroy, nor thieves break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there also your heart be  ~Matthew 6:19-21.
Reading any sort of published material, […]

When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, "the first to hear the Word of God."  The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant.  To the Jews "belong the […]

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid, for God has come to you only to test you and put his fear upon you, lest you should sin"  — Exodus 20:20.
In this particular passage the word "sin" is translated from the Hebrew word "chãtä" or "chëta" which means "missing the mark."  Moses is telling the […]

All who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall come up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the feast of Booths — Zechariah 14:16.
Autumn has always been my favorite season.  I am enamored by the cooler temperatures that bring crisp night breezes wafting […]

Love covers a multitude of sins…~1 Peter 4:8
Joining the ranks of thousands of parents last weekend, my husband and I moved our oldest son into an apartment on his college campus.  As we tentatively hand over the reins of his life to many unknowns that include new roommates, liberal professors, and the secular world at large, […]

Then he shall slaughter the people's sin-offering goat, and bringing its blood inside the veil, he shall do with it as he did with the bullock's blood, sprinkling it on the propitiatory and before it.  ~Leviticus 16:15
Yom Kippur begins, this year, at sundown on September 21st.  This Day of Atonement, as prescribed in Leviticus and […]

When John Paul II made his historical trip to the Holy Land in 2000, he called us, as Catholic Christians, to a unity unlike any we may have previously experienced with our Jewish roots and our Jewish brothers and sisters.  He specifically spoke of our irrevocable link with the ancient peoples of the Covenant and […]

They say, and I believe, that confession is good for the soul.  It is so good that, as Catholics, we include it as a sacrament, as one of the seven means by which we gather the strength to persevere in our earthly sojourn.  It is one of the aspects that reflect the fullness of our […]

As Catholics, each and every one of us has participated in Masses that have been offered up for deceased members of our church community.  We listen to the names of these brothers and sisters in Christ and, in a very personal way, share in the intentions of a family that we may or may not […]

Incessant snow can bring out the best and the worst in us. If nothing else, snowbound children are apt to find novel ways to amuse themselves. There are LEGOS to play with, indoor exercise opportunities, public television. Here’s a glimpse at snow day diversions at my house.

(Foss is a freelance writer from Northern Virginia. […]