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St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) devised a way of examining our soul that moved away from looking only at the sinful thoughts, words, and deeds of our day. Ignatius’s introspection begins not with sins but with gratitude and the cataloging of daily blessings.This manner of praying later came to be called an Examination of Consciousness, to distinguish it from what was done before the sacrament of reconciliation. A different contour arises in our souls when we look primarily at the …

Lectio Divina Lectio (Latin for “reading”) is an ancient way of letting God’s words speak to you as personally and as uniquely as possible. Normally, this practice takes a scene from the scriptures and allows them to serve as an opportunity to see our own life’s journey as an extension of God’s activity in history. Try it in these steps:  Select a brief passage that draws you; perhaps this could be the Gospel reading for the Mass that day.  Con …

Faith, in the Christian tradition, is a theological virtue that comes from God as a gift. So any baptized person has received this gift of faith. The gift of faith is a habit that is still present in us even when we are not using it. If I have the habit of playing the piano, I remain a piano player even when sleeping or swimming. So the gift of Christian faith remains in a person whether or not a person is at the moment using this gift or even sensing this gift.  Indeed, Christian faith is …

As we approach the unapproachable God, we have to pass through his Ten Commandments. We examine our conscience to unearth ways we have said “no” to God. This is a practice that should be done often, certainly weekly, if not daily! To know our sins is not easy and to name them is even more difficult, so it takes constant practice. It also requires the cultivation of humility and self-knowledge to be able not only to say, “I have greatly sinned” but “here is how and …

Christian apologetics arose during a time of persecution in the 200s . . . and not much has changed between then and the 2000s.  What Rome started then, the secular culture continues now, but often in even more vile and vicious ways. Whereas a person living in the second century was utterly convinced that something numinous governed the universe and that truth was both discoverable and demanding, modern man mocks both of those realities: if there is a god, he must be a moral monster for al …