faith – The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel

Saints for Venezuela

With all that’s taken place in Venezuela over the past week I decided to do some research to find out what saints might be good intercessors on behalf of the Venezuelan people, to help them with the very serious social and political challenges they face. A quick internet search told me that the main patroness of Venezuela is the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our LadyContinue reading “Saints for Venezuela “

The Grace of Angry Prayers

While his day job for the past 20 years has been chaplain to the students at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Fr. Mike Schmitz is best known for his work with Ascension Presents and his popular podcast “The Bible in a Year.” Full of enthusiasm, Fr. Mike is one of the great contemporary teachers ofContinue reading “The Grace of Angry Prayers “

Summer Rest

This Tuesday (7/29) we celebrate the feast day of Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, a family of siblings who were close friends of Jesus. Our Lord would often stay at their home in Bethany when He was visiting Jerusalem. In St. Luke’s gospel (Lk 10:38-42), we hear about one such visit. Martha is “burdened withContinue reading “Summer Rest “

Reasonable Faith

Is it reasonable to believe in God? The Church at the First Vatican Council (1869-70), in its document Dei Filius, declared infallibly that “God, the principle and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason from created things.” This means that human beings on our own canContinue reading “Reasonable Faith “