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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
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Today, we talk about something going viral! This is mostly on social media. For instance, if someone writes, “A man bites a dog.” Everyone is curious to ask who that person is. How is it possible for a person to bite a dog? But if we say a dog bites a man, the surprise won’t be the same. Now moving to the Gospel of today, Jesus' message, his works, and the works of his disciples have gone viral. Everyone must be speaking about them. However, this does not sound good for Herod the tetrarch. His forefathers had tried to stop Jesus even from the time of his birth and had failed. It is astonishing how Herod seems not to know Jesus. Even people within his court. People of the inner circle must have known Jesus or heard about him. But just to clarify how terrifying the truth might be, some were saying John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Let us recall the main message of John the Baptist: Repent, prepare the way; the Kingdom of God is at Hand. Jesus comes, initiating the same kingdom. The reaction of Herod is justified because he feels threatened by another Kingdom. So, he affirms I beheaded John the Baptist, who is this I hear of? The scriptures say Herod asks, “Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
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Catholic Faith | Learn more about our faith
Truth vs relativism? Morality, religious truths? As we heard yesterday St. Paul continues his apologetic teachings. He continues his kerygmatic, which is public proclamation and defense of Jesus' resurrection. The truth of the resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith. Christ's Resurrection is the strength, faith, hope, and ark for Christian faith. At Christ’s death, everything seemed to be lost. If He had not risen from the dead, as St. Paul asserts, we would be false witnesses, and our faith would be in vain. Perhaps, Christ would be perceived like any other Roman criminal. St. Paul gives us reason for faith anchored in Jesus' Resurrection. From scripture we find five reasons fitting for faith in Resurrection of Jesus (Thomas Aquinas).
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Catholic Faith | Homily Video | Learn more about our faith | Scripture
As part of my ministry as chaplain to a pro-life club at the University of Portland, I interacted for many years with a wonderful group called the Equal Rights Institute, or ERI. One of their primary missions is to train pro-life advocates to have conversations with abortion supporters, especially on high school and college campuses. They take a very data-driven approach to this mission, testing out many pro-life arguments “in the field” and employing or modifying their arguments accordingly. Their over-arching desire is to try to identify those pro-life approaches that are not only accurate, but, more important, would move the hearts and minds of people who aren’t yet pro-life. They often remind the students they train that the goal is not to win an argument or a debate, but to win over people.
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Catholic Faith | Eucharistic procession | Father Patrick Peyton | Jesus
In honor of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s stop at The Father Peyton Center in North Easton, Massachusetts, today, we are sharing CatholicMom contributor Kate Taliaferro’s family experience with the first National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and the lessons they learned about following Jesus. On Monday, June 29, 2026, the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage — the “St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route” — will make its way to the Diocese of Fall River. Holy Cross Family Ministries is honored to be the first stop on this pilgrimage before participants continue in procession with Jesus on Monday evening in New Bedford and Tuesday morning in Fall River.
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Catholic Faith | Easter season | Family Activities | easter
Laura Vazquez Santos explores how the Church’s fifty-day Easter season invites mothers to move from celebration to formation. Every year, I enter the Triduum with holy ambition. I imagine dim lights, whispered prayers, and children gazing reverently at a crucifix. What I usually get is my 6-year-old asking for crackers every 5 minutes during the Gospel at Mass or my preschooler sword-fighting with last year’s blessed palm. I admit that getting through the Easter season can be both logistically challenging and spiritually testing. In years past, and especially after my reversion to the Faith, I placed an unrealistic pressure on myself as a mother to get everything right each Easter, especially as I feared my children would be more enticed by the celebration of the Easter Bunny than by the amazing reality that is the Resurrection.
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Catholic Faith | Lent activities | Spiritual Life
What are the things that hold you back from having a fruitful Lent? Catholic Mom contributor Andrea Bear provides practical tips for finishing the season strong. We are well into Lent, and the chocolate bar looks tempting; you just gulped down a roast beef sandwich, then noticed the calendar says Friday. Or on the opposite end, you’re still trying to determine what to give up — and there’s only a couple of weeks left. Does this sound familiar? What happens when we can’t commit to our Lenten promises, or we just feel unenthusiastic about Lent? Unlike the Christmas and Easter seasons of celebration, Lent often has the stigma of being a gloomy period in our Church calendar. If we don’t prepare for Lent, it can seem like a depressing time, rather than a time of renewal.
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