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St. Joseph's Noble Example

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Saint Joseph is a prime example of fatherhood for fathers, godfathers, and spiritual fathers. He trusted in the Lord and provided for Mary and Jesus despite not having a word in scripture. This blogcast explores “St. Joseph's Noble Example" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Chris Pierno and read by Brian Rhude.

As we continue through this “Year of St. Joseph” as proclaimed by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, one cannot help but reflect on St. Joseph: adoptive father of Jesus, spouse to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Patron of the Universal Church. These lofty and impressive titles have been given to a man who in many respects is seen as humble, consistently in the background, and having no words come from his mouth in Scripture. His example of what it means to be a man and a father is one men can strive for.

As a father of a precocious one-year-old, I cannot help but look for examples of how to be a father. Of course, we often look to our own fathers, grandfathers, friends, and perhaps even godfathers and spiritual fathers through the priesthood. There are many qualities that we can emulate from these father figures in our lives, indeed very practical ones. How to change diapers without a mess; how to look good while carrying an undersized backpack filled with wipes, pacifiers, and a change of clothes; or at what posture to best steer that not-tall-enough stroller? What prayers should we be introducing to our young family? How can we strive to provide for our child both practically and spiritually? However, I would suggest another figure to look to: St. Joseph.

When my son was baptized, a friend of ours – who happens to be named Joseph – gifted to him (and to us) a statue of St. Joseph. At the time, I considered it more of a funny coincidence, and a nice gesture. As I continued to reflect on it, I really began to see it as providential. Admittedly, as a new father, I was scared and anxious (I still am). St. Joseph undoubtedly faced many of the same anxieties. However, throughout Scripture he is portrayed as a man who sorts out problems and comes up with solutions in practical and brave ways. It is this particular quality that I think we, as fathers, should take as a noble example.

There will be times throughout our fatherhoods when we will come to face challenges, confusion, and doubt. St. Joseph protected the Holy Family and trusted in the word of God when it was easy not to trust. As fathers we are called to protect our own families, not necessarily always from harm or danger, and also to provide an example of kindness, love, and humility that so often is characterized as weak. Instead, I invite you to seek St. Joseph’s noble example and see these qualities as a strength.

We also need to trust in God. Pope Francis says in Patris Corde, “The greatness of Saint Joseph is that he was the spouse of Mary and the father of Jesus. In this way, he placed himself, in the words of Saint John Chrysostom, 'at the service of the entire plan of salvation.'” Let us as fathers follow in St. Joseph’s noble example to place ourselves at the service of God’s plan for us. Then we will truly be able to serve our families without fear or anxiety.

Author:

With the Center since 2011, Chris Pierno is the Catholic Apostolate Center's Manager of Marketing & Consulting. In this role, he oversees the Center's marketing program and coordination of consulting services. He also supports the staff in areas of graphic design, advancement, public relations, administration, and strategic planning for the Center. Chris also is a co-host for the Center's premier podcast, OnMission.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: The Saints

On Mission: The Year of Saint Joseph

Browse the Saints and Feast Day Site

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Compassion for Others and Collaboration in the Church with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 03/11/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Compassion within ministry ensures that our relationships with those involved remain charitable and remain open to the will of God for the ministry. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about exhibiting compassion for our coworkers when people make mistakes or are at fault to help the ministry remain faithful to the mission.

Yet we are the Church of Christ, his members, his body. We are brothers and sisters in him. And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: In Illo uno unum.

Notes:

More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

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St. Frances of Rome: The Pride of a Name

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 3 Mar 2026 05:00:00 +0000

St. Frances of Rome is known for her charitable works for the poor despite her noble status. She founded a religious society to help the suffering in Rome. After her husband passed, she lived with the community. This blogcast explores “The Pride of a Name: St. Frances of Rome" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written and read by Sarah Scalfaro.

Last year, I wrote a blog about my confirmation saint, Saint Felicity. I wrote how her life was inspirational towards my own life and how proud I was to have her as “my” saint. I really enjoyed the experience of learning more about “my” saint, and I thought it would only be fitting to continue on my self-discovery journey through the saints. This time, I set out to learn more about Saint Frances of Rome.

When I was younger, I always disliked having to tell people my middle name. You see, my given name is Sarah Marie Frances (intentionally two middle names). I would always just tell people my middle name was Marie. In my naivety, I felt like Frances was a boy's name and just never found that it stuck; I swore to remove it once I turned eighteen. I knew that the name Frances was chosen for me after my Great Aunt, and I understood the sentimental reason as to why my parents chose my name, but it just didn’t feel “cool” to tell my peers that my middle name was Frances, so just Marie would have to suffice.

As I’ve gotten older, I’m disappointed in my past self for believing this. I’m so honored to bear the name of my Aunty Frannie, as we called her. She passed away when I was around four, and I seldom have memories with her when she was alive, but I cherish the few that I did have. Since I was old enough to go on the internet, I would research various names and whether they had an impact on history (can you tell that I studied history in college?). I would search Sarah and read about her journey in the Old Testament, Marie is a diminutive of Mary, the Blessed Mother, and Frances is known as Saint Frances of Rome.

Saint Frances of Rome was born in 1384 in the Papal States to a wealthy family. She was always interested in religious life, but was soon forced into an arranged marriage, yet she always yearned for a life of service and prayer. Together with her sister-in-law, Vannozza, she began to minister to the poor in Rome. After a few years, Frances lost her son and daughter to a plague that was sweeping across Italy. In an attempt to help the suffering, she donated all her money and possessions to those who were in need. Even after the plague had ceased, she continued her work for the poor and later founded a religious society for women with the goal to offer themselves to God and be of service to the poor. She continued her work for many years and, after the death of her husband, she moved into a home with the members of the society she created.

Saint Frances really is an inspiration to us all! She serves as a reminder to help those who are in need, to prioritize our relationship with the Lord, and to persevere through the challenging moments in our lives. I am so honored to bear her name and I hope to use her story as a model for my own and to be more like her each and every day.

To learn more about St. Frances of Rome, visit our feast day site.

Author:

Sarah Harrigan Scalfaro is the Director of Administration for the Catholic Apostolate Center where she coordinates the promotions and logistics of various groups and visitors coming to our Green Hill facility.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission podcast Catholic Feast Days App

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Communication with God and Collaboration in the Church with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 02/25/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Communication with God is the root than enables effective communication among ministry leaders and to keep the ministry focused on Christ. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how we can communicate well within our ministries and ensure that God is leading the efforts.

Yet we are the Church of Christ, his members, his body. We are brothers and sisters in him. And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: In Illo uno unum.

Notes:

More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Collaboration

Cooperation with God and Collaboration in the Church with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 02/18/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Holy cooperation involves integrating our ministry’s or apostolate’s decisions with the grace and movements of the Blessed Trinity to better come to discover where God is calling us. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how we can collaborate with the Blessed Trinity throughout the process of discernment and decision making.

Yet we are the Church of Christ, his members, his body. We are brothers and sisters in him. And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: In Illo uno unum.

Notes:

More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

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Lenten Transfiguration

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Lent is the period in the Church’s calendar to where the faithful are encouraged to rekindle their relationship with Jesus through practices such as prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Come Easter, we can rise with Christ a new creation. This blogcast explores “Lenten Transfiguration" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Kate Fowler and read by Jonathan Harrison.

“Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.” -Luke 9:32

Twice in the Gospels we hear of the trio of disciples sleeping at pivotal moments in Christ’s life and ministry: at the Transfiguration – in this Sunday’s Gospel – and in the Garden of Gethsemane during Christ’s Agony. Both times, Christ is in deep prayer. And both times, Peter, James, and John are “overcome by sleep.”

I get it. The group of men have just hiked up a mountain. It would have been normal to rest after such a grueling endeavor. Similarly, in the Garden, Jesus took the three disciples to pray after the Feast of the Passover—a long, filling meal complete with wine. I think of all the times I’ve napped after a holiday meal and sympathize with Peter, James, and John.

In these scenes, they are so human. They become tired and rest their eyes. And yet, because of their physical tiredness, they miss out on God’s glory.

In this week’s Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent, Jesus is transfigured and his three beloved disciples are offered a glimpse of the glory to come—not only the glory of the Resurrected Christ, but the glory that awaits all men and women who allow themselves to be transformed by his grace.

This Lent, I find myself asking, “Am I asleep with his disciples? What’s causing me to shut my eyes to God’s glory?” These questions are what have guided my Lenten journey as I discern how to grow in holiness this season.

Each year, the Church in her wisdom asks us to reflect on what is making us spiritually sluggish and helps us prepare for Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. By ramping up in these three Lenten tenets, we can grow in our ability to see God’s will and the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

Had the Apostles been awake throughout the entirety of Christ’s Transfiguration, they would have basked longer in this glory—fear and confusion would not have gripped them. Lent calls us to wake up, to be alert, not only for the Easter celebration, but for God’s invitation to greater holiness throughout our lives.

Pope Francis highlights Lent as the continuation of the “journey of conversion.” This journey is a lifelong one. And yet, seasons such as Lent, which focus on an even greater attention to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, often spur us deeper and further on this journey towards Christ.

As Pope Francis encouraged in his 2019 Lenten message:
Let us not allow this season of grace to pass in vain! Let us ask God to help us set out on a path of true conversion. Let us leave behind our selfishness and self-absorption, and turn to Jesus’ Pasch. Let us stand beside our brothers and sisters in need, sharing our spiritual and material goods with them. In this way, by concretely welcoming Christ’s victory over sin and death into our lives, we will also radiate its transforming power to all of creation.

The goal of Lent is not only Easter, but Christ Himself. This Lent, may our participation in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us shake off the drowsiness that shuts our eyes to God’s glory.

For more resources to accompany you throughout your Lenten journey, please click here.

Questions for Reflection: Am you asleep with Christ's disciples? What’s causing you to shut your eyes to God’s glory?”

Author:

Kate Fowler is a former staff member for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Her work included: editing posts and resources for the Center, and co-hosting the OnMission podcast.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Ash Wednesday

Lenten Practices

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Lent and Easter Resources

Communion and Collaboration in the Church with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 02/04/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 4 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Greater unity and communion with one another allow us to work together more effectively. The Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary gathered in the Cenacle, or Upper Room, to collaborate with each other and the Holy Spirit as they made decision and implemented their actions. This model of prayer and collaboration in union with the Holy Spirit should be emulated at all levels of the Church today, including within parish ministries. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about why we must deepen our communion with God and each other in order to more fully collaborate and fulfill our ministries.

Yet we are the Church of Christ, his members, his body. We are brothers and sisters in him. And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: In Illo uno unum.

Notes:

More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Collaboration

Letting Christ Reign in Your Lent

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 3 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Lent precedes Easter as a season of preparation. We are encouraged to pray, give alms, and fast. We invite Christ more into our lives this time of year so as to bring about greater conversion before the great feast of Easter. This blogcast explores “Letting Christ Reign in Your Lent" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Erin Donn, and read by Meghan Abando.

“Jesus, let there be more of you and less of me.”

This is the short prayer I was once encouraged to pray as a penance by a wise, older priest. As we find ourselves at the start of Lent, these words once again come to mind, and I would like to offer them for your contemplation.

The Church offers the season of Lent as an opportunity to prepare Her children well for Christ’s resurrection–both at the celebration of Easter (March 31 this year) and at His Second Coming. These preparations take the form of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; the spiritual, penitential, and charitable practices we take up and the worldly things we put down. For forty days we walk into the desert, just as Jesus did, to humbly open ourselves to temptations and more fully offer our lives to the Lord.

So what does that prayer–letting there be more of Jesus and less of me–have to do with Lent? Well…everything. In the first reading at Mass on Ash Wednesday, the prophet Joel extols us: “Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God” with your whole hearts (Joel 2:12). The Lord does not want to see what we can do of our own strength or will during this season; He wants us to see what He can do through us and the transformation He can work within us.

Lent certainly calls for a degree of testing the limits of our comfort zones. More than this, it is an invitation to leave behind our will and consider the offerings and changes that will help us become more like Christ. As you reflect on your Lenten practices, consider asking yourself: “What can I offer to Jesus? How can I make more room for Him in my life? What can I let go of that will help me on this journey?”

Approaching Lent in this way necessitates an act of surrender. It requires us to focus less on the material outcomes and more on the spiritual. This might mean to not give up ice cream like you do every Lent and instead, or additionally, prayerfully consider what areas of your life you have been keeping the Lord out of. St. John Henry Newman speaks to this in a sermon for the First Sunday of Lent: “...fasting is only one branch of a large and momentous duty, the subdual of ourselves to Christ. We must surrender to Him all we have, all we are. We must keep nothing back.”

This, admittedly, is a challenging invitation, but remember that we are not doing Lent on our own. We are doing it with Jesus. This act of surrender necessitates reliance. And this reliance requires humility; an admission of our own weakness and powerlessness compared to Christ’s great strength. When you want to snooze your alarm and eschew the morning prayer time you’ve committed to, offer that to the Lord. When you are tempted to join in the office gossip, ask for Jesus’ strength. Ordinary as these offerings may be, that does not mean they are easy. If we have chosen to subdue ourselves for Christ’s sake, we can trust that He will provide the grace and strength we lack.

As Catherine Doherty writes in Season of Mercy, “Mortification and penance are a passionate response of a man to a Passionate Lover who is God.” In humbly striving to more fully do the will of the Father, we naturally make more room for Jesus. As you surrender yourself to Him this Lent, also rely on Him. He wants us, and the attachments that bind us, to shrink away only so that His mercy and love can reign more completely.

“Jesus, let there be more of you and less of me.”

Author:

Erin Donn serves as the parish missionary at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington, DC.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Journeying Through Holy Week

Read and learn about Lent and Easter

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Cenacle Spirituality and Collaboration in the Church with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 01/21/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary gathered in the Cenacle, or Upper Room, to collaborate with each other and the Holy Spirit as they made decision and implemented their actions. This model of prayer and collaboration in union with the Holy Spirit should be emulated at all levels of the Church today, including within parish ministries. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how to effectively collaborate in ministry as well as a reminder that we are working for Christ’s mission.

Notes:

More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Collaboration

St. Francis de Sales: The Doctor of Divine Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0000

St Francis de Sales is a popular Saint and Doctor of the Church who promoted the universal call to holiness and encouraged lay people to grow in holiness in their current state of life. This blogcast explores “St. Francis de Sales: The Doctor of Divine Love" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Erin Donn and read by Brian Rhude.

Today we celebrate the heavenly birthday of one of my dearest friends, St. Francis de Sales. It is often said that the saints choose you, and I have certainly found that to be the case with Francis. Since I first “met” him while reading a book about the saints, he has continued to captivate and encourage me.

Francis was born in France in 1567 to an aristocratic family. He was well educated, and while his father hoped this would lead Francis to a career in law, his studies ended up leading him to the priesthood. He was a sought-after spiritual director (perhaps his most well-known directee was St. Jane Frances de Chantal with whom he started the Visitation Sisters). Francis was also devoted to evangelization and catechesis through preaching and writing, and had a love of the poor which was manifested through works of charity and his own detachment from material things. He was canonized a saint in 1665 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1877.

One of the things that makes a saint is that their life and teaching transcend time and remain relevant over the centuries. This is certainly true of St. Francis de Sales. While Vatican II affirmed the universal call to holiness in the 1960s, Francis ardently promoted this teaching three centuries prior. When St. Jane Frances de Chantal wanted to leave her duties as a mother for the “higher” calling of entering religious life, Francis encouraged her to have patience and fully embrace her current vocation as a mother. Rather than imagining that holiness is better achieved in religious life, he reminded her that faithfulness to the real life unfolding before her was the place for her to become holy. As he said to another directee in An Introduction to the Devout Life, “work in quiet cooperation with him, and then rest satisfied that if you have trusted entirely to him you will always obtain such a measure of success as is most profitable for you, whether it seems so or not to your own individual judgment.”

When Francis was named a Doctor of the Church, it was under the title Doctor of Divine Love. Francis’ personal devotion to the Lord and life of ministry flowed from his own love for God and awareness of God’s love. When Francis’ devoted friend, Bishop Jean-Pierre Camus, questioned him about how to grow in love of God and neighbor, Francis replied simply, “You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working. Just so you learn to love God and many by loving. If you really want to love God, go on and love Him more and more.” This simple approach to God is a hallmark of Francis’ spirituality. Without pretending that such growth in holiness would be quick or easy, he offered straightforward guidance that people in any vocation or stage of life could follow. While we may not be able to love God perfectly and completely today, we can certainly strive for that and lay our foundation today. Francis shows us that God’s love toward us and our love toward God are reciprocal, growing in relation to one another.

One of my favorite quotes from St. Francis de Sales is, “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.” Francis offers the guidance of a gentle, compassionate father. He knew firsthand the temptation towards despair at our lowliness before God, but he also knew personally that God offers us the grace we need in our pilgrimage towards Him. God knows each of us intimately–our strengths and our struggles–and looks into our hearts. Rather than being overwhelmed by our shortcomings, spiritual and otherwise, Francis encourages us to extend God’s own gentleness and patience to ourselves. As Francis says elsewhere, God “delights to show forth his power in our weakness, his mercy in our misery.”

St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of Divine Love, pray for us!

Author:

Erin Donn serves as the parish missionary at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington, DC.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: The Saints

On Mission: St. Vincent Pallotti

Browse the Saints and Feast Day Site

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Christ as the Center of Our Collaboration in Mission with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 01/14/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Christ needs to be the center and purpose of all that we do in our lives, particularly in and through the ministries and apostolates that we are a part of. Christ gives us a share in his mission, and we must facilitate his goal, rather than our personal goals and beliefs. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how to effectively collaborate in ministry as well as a reminder that we are working for Christ’s mission.

Notes:

More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Collaboration

Christ-Centered Collaboration in the Church with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 01/07/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 7 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Collaboration in Church ministry requires intentional skill sets and practices to ensure that the ministries advance the mission of Christ and his church. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how to effectively collaborate in ministry as well as a reminder that we are working for Christ’s mission.

Notes:

More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Collaboration

St. John Bosco and the Power of Receptivity

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 6 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0000

St. John Bosco is known for his ministry and work with young people. This work finds its success in seeing the young people as infinitely loved by the Father and worthy of his love. This sentiment brought the young people to know Christ more personally. This blogcast explores “St. John Bosco and the Power of Receptivity" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Danielle Schmitz and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

Receptivity to others is an important part of the work of evangelization. When we think about those in faith who we can look to for guidance in receptivity, we often go to Mary, and rightly so. While Our Blessed Mother is the perfect model of receptivity through her being the one who received the Incarnation, it is in examining the life of an unlikely 19th century saint that we see how we can live out Mary’s model of receptivity in a modern, secular world in order to bring others to encounter with Christ.

St. John Bosco was an Italian priest who lived in the 19th century, and is known for the work he did with troubled youth in the city of Turin where he was assigned as a parish priest. During his time, it was often frowned upon for priests to educate, accompany, house, and provide for the poor youth in the ways that St. John Bosco did, but this did not stop him from his work. Through his lifetime St. John Bosco helped so many young boys in difficult situations to encounter Christ and become faithful Christians that other priests in Turin accused him of bribing the boys and “stealing” them from the other parishes.

But it was not St. John Bosco’s money or ulterior motives that brought these boys to the Church, it was his ability to receive and love them fully where they were. When he met boys living on the streets, he did not immediately try to get them into the church for Mass, but rather grew to know and love them as children of the Father, becoming a trusted friend who could share the love of Jesus Christ with them. When he visited the boys in prison, he did not condemn or accuse them, but would listen lovingly to whatever they had to say, simply being with them so that they would not feel forgotten or unloved.

St. John Bosco understood that the point of his evangelization was not to get as many people in pews as possible, but to bring as many people as possible to know their Savior– and to do that, a person must first know that they have an identity, a community, and a purpose. When St. John Bosco received the boys he ministered to at whatever level of faith or morality they were at, he let them know, often without words, that they had the identity of being sons of the Father, had community in Holy Mother Church, and had a purpose of getting to eternal life in the Holy Trinity.

We learn from St. John Bosco how crucial of a step receiving the other is when evangelizing. It can be tempting to jump straight into a script or already be thinking about ways to invite the person you’re encountering into the faith before you’ve even started talking to them. However, the example of St. John Bosco challenges us to instead receive the person first: to listen to them, get to know them, and love them fully where they are. It is only from this place of trust in receptivity, that we can truly say to the other: “I love you, but there’s someone who loves you infinitely more, and I want to introduce you to Him.”

Author:

Danielle Schmitz is a Communications Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where she assists in the updating and creation of social media content for new and ongoing projects at the Center. Danielle is a student at the Catholic University of America studying Marketing and Theology and she is originally from San Jose, California.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission podcast Catholic Feast Days App

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Christmas: Beyond a Twinkle

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Christmas welcomes the coming of Jesus Christ into the world at his birth in Bethlehem. This Christmas season reminds us of Jesus as the Light of the World and how we are called to bring Jesus to others. This blogcast explores “Beyond a Twinkle" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Don McCrabb, D. Min. and read by Meghan Abando.

There is just something about Advent with its joyful anticipation of Christmas, the rush of preparation - decorating, gifting, and writing Christmas cards - and holy waiting. We ponder, like Mary, the birthing of the Messiah in history, in our lives, and our future.

We can see the Christmas spirit in “the twinkle of an eye,” a person fully alive with the joyful anticipation of Christmas. When my family would gather for the holidays, there would be a lot of storytelling among the adults. Mom would say to me, from time to time, “this happened before you were even a twinkle in your father’s eye.” At the time, I was not sure what she meant, but I knew that twinkle - in my Dad’s eye over a job well done, carving the Christmas turkey, or preparing to host a party. I also noticed it in the Santa’s I saw, Fr. Jim preparing for Mass, or Sister Prudence teaching us our catechism. It was a sign that a person was fully alive, joyful, and expectant.

The Church celebrates the Feast of Saint John the Apostle on December 27th, just two days after Christmas. Saint John, and his older brother Saint James, are the sons of Zebedee, a fisherman. He was one of the youngest of the apostles and he was the last apostle to die. Tradition credits him with the fourth Gospel, three epistles, and the Book of Revelation.

I must confess, I have struggled with reading the Gospel of Saint John. At times, it is mysterious, tender, and baffling. Yet, it has always been a grace - deepening my faith and expanding my heart.

As we celebrate Christmas - and we must remember it is a season that begins on Christmas Day and ends with the Baptism of the Lord (January 12th) - I want to take the time to pray and ponder the Prologue to the Gospel of John. It is just 18 verses but it is saturated with meaning that elevates the Birth of Jesus beyond the horizon of our awareness, even beyond the boundaries of our imagination.

The story of Jesus born of Mary in a stable is found in the Gospel of Luke. Saint Matthew’s account stresses Saint Joseph, his dreams, the three “kings,” and the flight into Egypt. Saint Mark, like Saint John, begins with John the Baptist. Saint John, however, weaves a beautiful poem about who Jesus really is to introduce the testimony of the Baptist.

Jesus is the Word of God and, from the very beginning, he was both with God and was God and through him “all things came to be.” Every thing, every one of us, was created by God through Jesus, the Word of God. (John 1: 1-3)

Jesus is the light “of the human race,” enlightenment is found in him, and we who accept Jesus, believe in his name, are now children of God. (John 1: 4-5)

In Jesus, the Word of God became flesh, dwells among us. In him and through him we see the face of God. (John 1:14-18)

When Saint John ends his Gospel, he proclaims both the truth of what he has written, but also its limitation since, “there are also many other things that Jesus did … I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25).

Hopefully, we will receive many wonderful and meaningful gifts this Christmas. The discipline of Christmas is to receive the gift. To recognize the gift given, the giver, and the completeness of the gift. In so many ways, I am still unwrapping the gift of my smartphone years after my wife, Barbara, gave it to me.

As I unwrap the prologue to the Gospel of Saint John, I am struck by three amazing truths. First, all of us were created through the Word of God. Jesus himself participated in our creation. Our being begins in him and flows through him. Second, if we accept the gift of Jesus, and unwrap all of the gift, as we are able, we are no longer creatures. We are now children of God. Third, we have a light, a twinkle if you will, shining within us, “and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

The Gospel of John is a gift given to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift that takes time to unwrap. It is so much better than Christmas cookies because its goodness, its sweetness, does not go away. Indeed, the more we feast on its truth and beauty, the more enriched we are. We leave both satisfied and hungry for more.

Author:

Don McCrabb, D. Min., a pastoral theologian, is the former Executive Director of the United States Catholic Mission Association.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Christmas

Read and learn about Advent and Christmas

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

The Blessed Virgin Mary’s Abiding Hope in Advent with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 12/17/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

The Blessed Virgin Mary enjoys many feast days throughout the year, particularly in Advent. These feasts remind us of her role in salvation history, pointing us to Christ. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how we can look at the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary to help us abide in the hope of Christ.

Advent refers to the coming of Jesus Christ in time and at the end of time. We look forward to commemorating his birth into this world at Christmas and we look forward to the coming of Christ at the end of time where he will usher in the new heaven and the new earth. During this time at the end of the calendar year, we put our hope in Christ as the pathway towards our salvation and we pray that he will enter more fully into our lives today, so we can help serve him more completely.

Notes:

Access Advent Resources

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St. Joseph and Silent Hope with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 12/12/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how we can look towards the example of St. Joseph to help us understand trusting in God’s will.

Notes:

Access Advent Resources

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From the Ad Infinitum blog:

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Leaning on the Example of the Holy Family this Advent

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 9 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

The Holy Family’s trust in the Lord at various times of their lives is a prime example of how we are called to trust in the Lord and reflect on their witness this Advent Season. The Holy Family certainly faced challenges and difficulties, but their faith and trust never wavered. This blogcast explores “Leaning on the Example of the Holy Family this Advent" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written and read by Sarah Scalfaro.

Advent is one of the most important and joyful times for our Church. We are preparing for the birth of our Lord! While listening to Christmas music and baking cookies, I also am taking time to deepen my faith-life this Advent. This year, I am particularly drawn to thinking about Mary and Joseph and how they must have felt during this time.

Mary was a young woman who was told by Archangel Gabriel that she was pregnant and her child would be the Lord. For anyone else, this news would have been overwhelming and scary, but not for Mary. She gave her resounding “yes!” to Gabriel. Because she was born without original sin, she was free of fear and anxiety that sin can sometimes lead us to feel. She cast aside all doubts or fears she may have had and began to prepare to give birth to Jesus. How inspirational that is for us to hear! When things in life seem overwhelming or scary, we are called to look to the example of Mary and put our trust in God. We also see that we are all called to holiness by God, each of us has a vocation and are given the graces to live out this vocation throughout our lives. From the outside, Mary was just a normal girl living a normal life, but she was called to more from God. We are all called to more too, but are we listening to the call God is giving us, or are we ignoring it due to fear?

Joseph is also an interesting example of remaining faithful during this Advent season. At the time that Mary found out she was pregnant, she and Joseph were betrothed, but not yet married or living together. Originally, when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he intended to divorce her quietly, as he did not want to bring her shame. As it is written in Matthew, “Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1:20-21). When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.” (Matthew 1:24). This is again another example of leaning on the Lord during difficult times in our lives. Joseph could have easily walked away from Mary, making her face the world alone during her pregnancy, but instead, he took his wife into his home and supported her. Joseph’s example also shows us to be supportive to those around us as you never know what people are going through. He shows us that through faith in God, we can accompany those who may be going through difficult times. Are we listening to those around us and lending a helping hand, or a listening ear? Or, are we blocking out the noise? If we choose to keep our ears open, you never know just who we might be listening to. For Joseph, he was accompanying Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Who might need accompaniment in your life?

I also think about the Nativity story - Mary and Joseph wandering around trying to find a place to lay their heads for the night. On a dark night, the journey must have felt impossible for them. Joseph must have felt helpless as all of the nearby accommodations had no vacancies. Mary must have had some sort of anxiety that they would never find a place to rest. Yet, two people living normal lives are brought to a manger and that is where she gives birth. It is really inspiring when you think about it, that our Lord was born in a humble manger among livestock and hay. It reminds us that we do not need shiny expensive things to live fully through God. We just need to believe in Him and feel the love and support of those around us. That is what makes us rich, not any earthly belongings.

As we continue throughout this Advent season and look towards the birth of Christ, let us all lean on the examples of Mary and Joseph during this time. Their witnesses of faith led them closer to Jesus during what could have been a very difficult time in both of their lives. Instead of turning away, they decided to embrace the call from God. How are we embracing the call we are receiving from God in our lives? I hope you all have a wonderful Advent & Christmas!

Author:

Resources:

Listen to On Mission podcast Advent

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

St. John the Baptist, Advent, and Hope with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 12/03/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 3 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

St. John the Baptist reminds us that we must continually convert all of our lives over to Christ and to repent. This Advent, we are given an opportunity to prepare for Christ’s coming at Christmas and his Second Coming. When we conform our lives to Christ, we receive a unique kind of hope, rooted in Christ, particularly in this Jubilee Year. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how we hope in Christ as we prepare for Christmas and more closely conform our lives to him.

Notes:

Access Advent Resources

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From the Ad Infinitum blog:

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Realizing We Are Abundantly Blessed

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Gratitude helps us to appreciate God’s blessings in our life an enables us to recognize the ways he works and how he loves us. This blogcast explores “Realizing We Are Abundantly Blessed" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Jay Schaefer and read by Meg Ferguson.

Growing up in a fairly large extended Catholic family, I remember the Thanksgivings of my childhood always including long, loud dinners, preceded by seemingly longer prayers of grace before the big meal. As children, we were encouraged (or, really, required) to go around the table and each name one thing we were most thankful for. It could be something small or large, momentous or enduring, as long as it was something we were truly grateful to have in our lives. My parents, aunts, and uncles were naturally trying to make sure we didn’t take for granted the food on the table, let alone all the other blessings in our young lives.

There were plenty of years when, fancying myself the dutiful elder of two children, I’d spend the week or so leading up to the holiday concocting the best possible thing to say I was thankful for, lest my younger sister or one of my cousins come up with something better. And then there were the years when I completely forgot to prepare, only to halfheartedly come up with something on the spot when my turn came. While the former may have boosted my ego, the latter made up for it by knocking me down a peg. I’d often think to myself, “Could I really be so ungrateful that that’s all I could come up with?”

As we hear in today’s Gospel reading, one of the ten lepers, “realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice.” Jesus commended the Samaritan man’s gratitude, telling him, “your faith has saved you.” Don’t we all prefer to think of ourselves as that dutiful, humble foreigner, rather than counting ourselves among the nine ungrateful ones who couldn’t be bothered to thank Jesus? And yet, how quick we are to forget the truth that we are, in fact, abundantly blessed by God.

I’ve always found this story to have two key points. First, we are better able to receive God’s blessings and grace when we are grateful: “your faith has saved you.” The second is a bit more hidden, though. Note how Luke mentions that, “one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned” to thank Jesus. It’s not necessarily true that the other nine were just a bunch of ingrates. Rather, they were doing what Christ had instructed them to do. They obeyed in an act of faith, and in so doing, were healed along the way. While they were healed physically, however, the leper who returns is also healed spiritually: he is saved.

How often do we forget, in the midst of the stresses and struggles of life, that we’ve each been blessed by God? It’s not a matter of remembering to thank Him for the big things; those parts of life are the easiest to be grateful for. It’s the small things, the things we take for granted, that we ought to try the hardest to be thankful for. Not only will that reflection make us more appreciative of our blessings themselves, it will remind us even more deeply that all of life’s blessings are gifts from God.

Question for Reflection: What are some things you are grateful for this year?

Author:

Jay Schaefer was the Production Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where he assisted with training and technical coordination of the Center's webinars.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Thanksgiving and Faith

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Advent and the Second Coming of Christ with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 11/19/2025

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and the early part of Advent focus on the coming of Christ at the end of time. As Christians we hope for our salvation through Jesus Christ and in the Jubilee year it is most appropriate to place our hope in Christ. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how we hope in Christ as we prepare for his Second Coming to restore all righteousness.

Notes:

Access Advent Resources

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From the Ad Infinitum blog:

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Mentors for Saints

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Saints, even the most holy, needed the assistance of others, mentors, to help them grow in holiness and guide them in the Faith. Today, young people especially need the guidance of mentors to educate them and accompany them on their journey of holiness and sanctity. This blogcast explores “Mentors for Saints" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Brendan Burtis and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

One of the topics the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment sought to address was the role of mentorship in the development of the spiritual life. In a time when so many of us seek to know more about the faith and struggle to find faithful examples in the world, the topic of mentorship is extraordinarily important in nourishing young Christians in the faith. The Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod, published in March, brings up two major points that address the roles a mentor has today. The first, and most talked about, is that of accompaniment. The other is education, which is especially important in a time when we live in an increasingly secular culture. These two facets of mentorship are different and cannot always be fulfilled by one person. For this reason, the contribution of the community of faith is incredibly important.

In my life, faith education came from many sources, but none was more important than my Confirmation teacher who was also my youth basketball coach and the father of one of my best friends. Throughout my life, my mentor helped me to learn and grow more in my faith by inviting me to events and men’s conferences. In my Confirmation classes, he showed the beauty of the Faith and helped me understand the truth that flows from the Church’s teachings. Like many young people, I didn’t fully take advantage of a great mentor when I had the chance. But his presence in my life continues today, and his example is a continual witness of what it means to be a faithful Christian.

When we look at the life of a saint, we often see the impact other peers, mentors, or saints had in their life. St. Augustine, for example, had two great saintly mentors: St. Monica (his mother) and St. Ambrose. St. Monica, who prayed tirelessly for the conversion of her son, showed the young Augustine an example of the Christian faith in a lived way. Augustine only fully appreciated this until after his conversion. St. Ambrose provided Augustine—who was struggling with his dualist view of the universe—with the truths found in the Christian faith, which strengthened Augustine and propelled him to ultimately become a Doctor of the Church.

In my life, my friends and peers have been incredible examples of accompaniment. An intimate and baseline knowledge about me makes it so much easier for a friend or peer to understand where I am in life and how to proceed. Peer mentorship, in my experience, is only possible because of the tireless effort that my parents, teachers, ministers etc. have put into nurturing me in understanding and action in the Faith. Without those people I wouldn’t have had the faithful and honest advice that is always so valuable to making me a better Catholic. Just as Jesus sent out his Apostles two by two, we share in the Apostles’ mission to evangelize the world and we must rely on those who share our mission for their support in life.

Saints are often friends with other saints. Two men who followed in the footsteps of the Apostles in fraternity and holiness were St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. In the early days of the Jesuit Order, these saints relied on one another for the strength to persevere in promoting the mission of the Society of Jesus. Roommates at the University of Paris, their friendship was centered around Jesus and informed by their studies in Theology. The union of intimate friendship and a well-formed Christian mind creates incredible fruits, which are seen clearly in the success of the Jesuit Order in the missionary work in Europe and around the world.

A revitalized sense of mentorship among Christians is so necessary in a time when the world directs us away from God and into itself. The responsibility for educating and accompanying young people falls on old and young alike. So many young people search for true meaning. It is our responsibility as Christians to take their hand and walk them closer to faith by showing them the truth in the Church’s teachings.

The 2018 Synod is so important because it refocuses on the universal call to holiness. We are called to invite young people into the fullness of the Faith through mentorship, educating them in the fullness of her truth and accompanying them through their struggles—always striving to bring each other closer to Christ along the way.

Questions for Reflection: Do you have any examples of mentorship in your own life? How can you accompany and educate those around you in the example of Christ?

For more resources on the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, please click here.

Author:

Brendan Burtis is studying International Economics & Finance at the Catholic University of America.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission podcast Catholic Feast Days App

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Hope in God Who is Faithful and Pope Leo XIV with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 11/05/2025

Wed, 5 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Hope is a characteristic virtue of the Christian. The Christian understands that Jesus is always faithful and always loves us, regardless of our shortcomings. Pope Leo XIV emphasizes this authentic Christian Hope often in his pontificate. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how our hope is found in Jesus Christ and we can always rely on the faithfulness of Christ, as Pope Leo XIV encourages us.

Pope Leo XIV emphasizes hope, a hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. We can hope in God’s providential care and in Jesus’ infinite goodness towards us. Pope Leo encourages all of us, regardless of our age, that we can live and persevere in the virtue of hope despite suffering and difficulties.

Notes:

Access the Pope Leo XIV Portal

More episodes about The Pope

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Pope Leo XIV

Saint Jude: A Dwelling Place

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

St. Jude offers us an example of how we are to become dwelling places of the Lord Jesus. When we follow his commands, Jesus resides in us and our love overflows and we must share his love with those who do not yet know him, like St. Jude. This blogcast explores “A Dwelling Place" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Victor David and read by Sarah Scalfaro.

I have always had a special admiration for St. Jude. Growing up, my home parish was the Church of St. Jude. I can still remember my mom telling me to pray to the saint whenever I felt that I was facing an impossible task. Legend says that since his name was so close to that of Judas, many people did not pray to him, for fear of confusing the two. To show his thanks to people who did remember him, St. Jude was willing to be extra fervent in bringing the faithful’s requests to the Lord.

In John’s Gospel, towards the end of the Last Supper, Christ observes that soon he will no longer be with his disciples, but that he will soon reveal himself. Jude asks Jesus, “Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” (John 14:22) Our Lord responded, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23). He is telling his disciple, and us, that whoever holds God’s teachings in his or her heart and acts accordingly is filled with the Spirit of the Lord.

The Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude remind us all to be God’s dwelling place. While we do not know much about the lives of either saint, tradition tells us that Simon was called the Zealot in the gospels and Acts (Lk 6:15; Acts 1:13). There is some debate to whether this means he was an ardent disciple of Jesus or that he was a former member of the Zealot sect that advocated for the violent overthrow of the Roman occupation.

If the latter is to be believed, then Simon truly demonstrates that no one is beyond becoming a dwelling place of the Lord. The Zealots were known to use violence to advocate noncompliance with the Roman authorities. Nevertheless, tradition and legend hold that Simon helped to spread the Good News, peacefully, through much of the Middle East. It was that conversion of heart that truly made Simon a dwelling place of the Lord.

Legend tells us that both saints suffered martyrdom while spreading the faith in Syria. Tradition holds that Simon was either crucified or sawed in half while Jude was clubbed to death or beheaded by an axe. Yet, in the face of adversity and hostility, they continued to profess the faith that had been revealed to them until the very end.

So, the question remains: How do we become God’s dwelling place? The answer is simple – follow what Jesus told St. Jude at the Last Supper: love the Lord and keep His Word. When we accept and follow the Word of God, He truly and fully enters into our lives. By keeping His word on our minds and in our hearts, we make ourselves His dwelling place.

Sts. Simon and Jude truly became dwelling places of God. What happens when God resides with someone? He or she becomes so full of God’s love that it must be spread. That is what happened to Sts. Simon and Jude and that is what is possible for all of us. By following their example, we, too, can be an outpouring of God’s love to others and help build up His kingdom.

*This post was originally posted October 27, 2015*
--
The St. Jude Shrine is located in the heart of Baltimore, Maryland, and has been operated and staffed by the Pallottine Fathers and Brothers for over 80 years. The Archbishop of Baltimore entrusted the Shrine to the Pallottines in 1917. Regular Novena Services were established around the outset of World War II, when devotion to St. Jude reached remarkable proportions. Today, St. Jude Shrine is the Nationwide Center of St. Jude Devotions. Like the St. Jude Shrine on Facebook.

The St. Jude Shrine is a ministry of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate - Immaculate Conception Province. Learn more by visiting http://www.sacapostles.org/our-ministries.html.

Author:

Victor David is a collaborator with the Catholic Apostolate Center and a staff member at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission podcast The 12 Apostles

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Peace and Pope Leo XIV with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 10/22/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Peace is what we all desire, especially in the midst of great struggles and strife in the world today. Even more so, we must sow peace within our own lives. Since taking office, Pope Leo XIV has made living peace a priority among Christians. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how we can live peace in our families, workplace, and schools as Pope Leo XIV encourages us.

Pope Leo XIV emphasizes peace. In fact, his first words as pope were “Peace be with you all.” In our world where there is much unrest from war and strife, peace is needed. More personally, we must be sowers of peace in our daily lives. This means that we must sow peace in our family life, our workplaces, and, especially, on social media. Listen to this podcast to learn more about what Pope Leo XIV has to say about promoting peace in our world.

Notes:

Access the Pope Leo XIV Portal

More episodes about The Pope

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Pope Leo XIV

Eucharistic Encounters Through Social Media

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Eucharistic devotion can be spread through social media. Many people can come to a deeper relationship with Christ through the posts they encounter. Such an evangelization medium must be approached responsibly with genuine posts. This blogcast explores “Eucharistic Encounters Through Social Media" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Patrick Laorden and read by Monica Thom Konschnik.

October 12th is the Feast of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Since he was beatified, I have learned more about him through various articles and videos. He is truly remarkable and an inspiration to young Catholics around the world! I was intrigued by his devotion to the Eucharist and his keen interest in computers and Eucharistic miracles. I recall one of his quotes:

“The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”

This reminds me of the adage, “you are what you consume.” I think about that when consuming social media today and the challenge of finding good and inspiring news. When we encounter that news, what do we do with it? Do we scroll away once we read the headline? Do we bookmark it, say we will get to it later and never end up reading it? Considering Blessed Carlo, I think we are called to do something more!

Just as Blessed Carlo shared the power of Eucharistic miracles, we can foster Eucharistic encounters through social media. Eucharistic encounters are transformative, calling us back to Christ. Through this encounter, our faith is deepened and renewed, and we are brought into a relationship with Christ. Below are three helpful ways to foster Eucharistic encounters through media:

1. Share something honest
Posts are often tailored to show only the good sides of life, giving the illusion of a perfect life, when in reality life is not necessarily how it looks on social media. As a Catholic parent, the posts that I take to heart are those that are honest. I recall a friend who is a mother of two posting about her experience of raising two kids. She showed a picture of her cluttered home, commenting how it was late, the kids had yet to be put to bed, they were not following her directions, and she still had a laundry list of things to do. Despite that, she gave thanks to God for being able to raise a family with her husband and having two kids who genuinely care about their faith. These posts meet people where they are at, showing the mundaneness of human life where not everything has to be perfect or go to plan.

2. Root it in Christ and your faith
Sacraments like the Eucharist have a visible and invisible reality. The visible reality is the outward expression, that is, the form they take and the way in which they are administered and received. The invisible reality is God’s grace. Fostering a Eucharistic encounter through social media means rooting what we share in Christ and our faith. What we choose to share may be good or inspiring news, but what does the news point to? Going back to my friend, despite the chaotic moment she shared about her family life, she took the opportunity to give thanks to God for her family and children. Gratitude is a powerful expression that builds human connection. What we share on social media are moments of life. In giving thanks to God for that moment, what we are sharing points to the invisible reality that these moments are gifts from God.

3. Consider a Call to Action
The Roman Missal has various options for dismissal as part of the Mass: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord,” “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life” and “Go in peace.” In all options, the faithful are sent out to share the Gospel. Fostering a Eucharistic encounter through
social media can have a similar effect, calling people to action. Posts like my friend’s that share a moment in their life that they are thankful to God for is a great opportunity to invite others to do the same. In this case, my friend invited others to think about one thing they were thankful for and share it with a family or friend. A call to action is a way for others to sow the seeds of the Gospel, a message which bears fruit over time as people continue to share it faithfully. Earlier this year in his message for the 58th World Day of Communication, Pope Francis focused on artificial intelligence, both its uses and challenges. He mentioned this regarding growing in humanity:

“We are called to reflect carefully on the theoretical development and the practical use of these new instruments of communication and knowledge. Their great possibilities for good are accompanied by the risk of turning everything into abstract calculations that reduce individuals to data, thinking to a mechanical process, experience to isolated cases, goodness to profit, and, above all, a denial of the uniqueness of each individual and his or her story.”

Despite advances in technology, human connection is something that should not be compromised nor forgotten. Social media is a tool which can be used for good such as evangelizing. Fostering Eucharistic encounters through social media is an opportunity to deepen realities to ultimately foster relationships with Christ. Like Blessed Carlo, let us share the Gospel through creative ways as we interact with others through social media.

Author:

Patrick Laorden serves as a Grants Associate for the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in Hartford, CT.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Eucharistic Revival: Year of Mission

On Mission: Social Media Practices for Catholic Ministries and Apostolates

Browse Eucharistic Revival Resources

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Importance of Fraternity and Pope Leo XIV with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 10/08/2025

Wed, 8 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

As Christians, fraternity is how we treat all those whom we encounter, and we recognize that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Since taking office, Pope Leo XIV has made fraternity a priority among Christians, that we are to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how unity in Augustinian spirituality has informed Pope Leo’s actions and words toward building a more unified Church.

Pope Leo XIV’s emphasis on fraternity and unity derives from his experiences in Augustinian spirituality, informed by St. Augustine. Even before St. Augustine, we recognize that the early Church, for example, and St. Peter and St. Paul had disagreements, but their unity in Christ and devotion to fraternity allowed them to work through their differences charitably.

Notes:

Access the Pope Leo XIV Portal

More episodes about The Pope

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

More blogs about Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV and Unity in Christ with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 10/01/2025

Wed, 1 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Pope Leo XIV has made unity a central aspect of his pontificate from his papal motto to gathering with leaders from the Orthodox Church. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how unity in Augustinian spirituality has pervaded Pope Leo’s actions and sayings to build a more unified Church.

St. Augustine and the Augustinians emphasize unity in their spirituality and charism. Pope Leo XIV’s experience in Augustinian spirituality has led to his emphasis on unity in his pontificate. Pope Leo stresses unity in his meetings with Augustinians, Orthodox Church leaders, and to all Christians in his actions and his speeches.

Notes:

Access the Pope Leo XIV Portal

More episodes about The Pope

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

Friends Help You Stay Catholic in College

More blogs about Pope Leo XIV

Serve the Lord with Laughter

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Laughter and joy are typical characteristics of those who are close to Christ and experience the love of the Holy Spirit. We are called to witness Christ’s joy and love in our lives. By being joyful and sowing laughter, we can help bring people closer to Christ and serve the Lord through that. This blogcast explores “Serve the Lord with Laughter" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Kate Fowler and read by Sarah Scalfaro.

“Serve the Lord with laughter.”

It’s a quote from a favorite and incredibly popular saint that might surprise us, for the man who spoke these words was so deep, profound, and intentional that we might overlook the fact that he laughed. When we think of St. Padre Pio, we often instead focus on the deep wounds in his hands—the stigmata which he bore for 50 years—or his ability to levitate, speak with his guardian angel, read souls, or bilocate.

Laughter seems too ordinary, perhaps, for sanctity.

And yet, as a practical jokester and manager of mischief, I am drawn to this quote deeply—for I feel a personal apostolate of joy and am experiencing that call more starkly in a season in my life marked by exhaustion, stress, and transition.

Some of my favorite saints and quotes from Scripture focus on the theme of joy. When asked to speak to a group at Theology on Tap several years ago, I chose “The Serious Call to Joy” as my topic. I love Psalm 34, which reads, “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.” And I often meditate on Christ’s words to his disciples: “I have said these things to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Finally, a patron of our family is St. Philip Neri, who was lovingly nicknamed “Apostle of Joy.” My son John Philip was even born on his feast day and shares his name.

When I think of what I want to be called after my death, I can’t think of anything better than that title given to St. Philip Neri (apart from, perhaps, being known as the Patron Saint of Bacon). To me, joy just seems like the natural fruit of holiness—a sure sign of a deep and profound relationship with Christ.

Pope Francis himself has noted this—dedicating an entire encyclical to the joy of the Gospel. He made waves when publishing the encyclical because he said there was no room in evangelization for “sourpusses”—the first time any such term has appeared in a papal document.

He explains, “Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow him is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful, capable of filling life with new splendor and profound joy, even in the midst of difficulties.”

I think now of joy perhaps because I’m seeing so little of it in general. The world seems bogged down by burdens greater than we think we can bear. And being 8 months pregnant, I find myself a bit bogged down physically and emotionally, too. But, Pope Francis reminds us that the joy of Christ is possible even in the midst of our suffering and hardship. This does not diminish our suffering, nor does it erase or ignore it, but points out that Christian joy can transcend and transfigure suffering.

So, when I came across Padre Pio’s quote on his feast day earlier this month, it was a powerful reminder of my call to laughter—or at least of my commitment to being an apostle of joy.

Pope Francis continues, “Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved.” (EG, 6)

The knowledge that I am infinitely loved despite my frailty and littleness, especially in this season of pregnancy, is what beckons me ever onward.

If I think of my life right now, I don’t know how else to keep going other than by laughing. I look down to find crumbs and stains dotting my bulging belly. My goal most days is not to waddle while walking. I find myself stopping mid-sentence because I forgot my train of thought or walking into a room to get something just to leave puzzled, muttering to myself. Turning over in bed practically requires the use of a crane. And I face my staircase each day with the determination of one climbing Mt. Everest.

Humor aside, if we turn to Scripture, we find a love story saturated with calls and invitations to joy. From the Old Testament to the New, God speaks to us throughout salvation history because he wants to restore his creation to be “man fully alive.” For me, someone who is “fully alive” is a person of joy that radiates love wherever they go.

As our world and society continue to navigate times of hardship, transition, and injustice, and as you personally continue to navigate your own crosses (whether they be staircases or not), I invite you to ask St. Padre Pio and other holy men and women to help teach you the secret of joy that comes from “the certainty that Jesus is with us and with the Father.”

May we all become apostles and ambassadors of joy to a world thirsting for Christ’s love and may we find creative and nourishing ways to serve the Lord with laughter.

As Pope Francis quotes Paul VI saying,
“Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that ‘delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow… And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ.[6]’”

Author:

Kate Fowler is a collaborator with the Catholic Apostolate Center. She received her Master's in Leadership for the New Evangelization from the Augustine Institute.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission podcast

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Webinar: Listen, Teach, Send: The U.S. Bishops Renewed Strategy for Engaging Young Adults

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Practical strategies for encountering, accompanying, and engaging young adults (or “young people”) are only effective if they are built on a strong theological foundation. Recently, the Catholic bishops of the United States sought to do just that with the release of a new national pastoral framework for the Church’s ministries with youth and young adults entitled Listen, Teach, Send. This webinar will explore this new foundational document, how it complements past efforts, and how concrete measures can flow from this vision statement.

Integrating Young Adult Professionals into Parish Life After College with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 09/03/2025

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Young adult professionals oftentimes relocate to new communities as they start a career. As they seek to practice their faith in a new community, they can encounter stumbling blocks as they integrate into parish life after experiencing college campus ministry. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how parishes can welcome and help young adult professionals integrate into the larger community of faith.

College campus ministries offer young adults numerous faith-based events and catechesis that cater to the students’ needs. After graduation, some young professionals may have a hard time finding a sense of community in a new parish, which may lead to them leaving the faith all together. To address the needs of young adults in parish communities, parishes need to prioritize welcoming and getting to know young adult community members. Parishes could offer mentorship opportunities to young adults and specifically inviting the young adults into service.

Notes:

Listen to On Mission: The Knights of Columbus

Young Saints

Spiritual Growth During Collegiate Years

Other episodes about Young Adults

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

10 Ways to Remain Active in Your Faith Life During College

Young Adults

Love All Around

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

St. Vincent Pallotti said, “Seek God and you will find God. Seek God in all things and you
will find God in all things. Seek God always and you will always find God.” When I was in high
school, this was used as a call and response to get the lunchroom or assembly to be quiet. In
hindsight, it is pretty sad that we took such beautiful words and reduced them to a bit of a Pavlovian
response to get high schoolers to zip it, but I digress. At the heart of Pallotti’s sentiment is this: God
is everywhere (this is the Jesuit side of Pallotti coming out) and all we have to do to find him is open
our eyes and our hearts and look for him.

I have been sitting with this strange scene that is a mix of a drama movie and spiritual
writing. I imagine two people talking after some form of suffering, maybe it is raining for cinematic
effect, with one looking at the other and saying, “how can you endure _____ and still see love?” The
other person, after a pause, responds, “how can I not? It is like opening your eyes on a clear day and
trying not to see the sunlight. All there is around me is love. Every color, shape, and composite thing
radiates the love of God. It is inexplicable, but I can’t really explain seeing the light either- it simply
is. And so too, in an even deeper way, is the infinite love of God.” I have not played out the rest of
the script, but I do not think I will write the whole movie anyways.

We live in, to say it in highly a-theological language, a pretty messed up world. War, violence,
natural disasters, poverty, and so much more make it hard to watch the news and, somewhat
understandably, hard for people to look at that seemingly endless void of evil and see a God, let
alone the Christian God who is infinite love. And yet, as friends and followers of Jesus, we are
invited to open our eyes and to see love all around us. Yes, it is difficult, but it is necessary when our
context is the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In the last few weeks, I have faced the loss of a friend, accompanied some of my students
through their own loss, and more of the normal ups and downs of life. It has not been easy, and yet
when I open my eyes, once the dust settles and I have a chance to remember who I am and where I
am, all I see is love. I am aware, though, that this is a conscious choice. The easiest thing is to see the
suffering and to sit in it. As I said in my last post, suffering is a guarantee in life. If that is all we see,
life looks bleak and even meaningless. If we see love, we realize that suffering can have meaning in
our lives and that death and sin do not have the final say. Today and every day, regardless of where
you find yourself, what you endure, and how you are feeling, let us follow Pallotti’s model and seek
God, because when we do, we will realize that he is all around us and the only thing we can see if we
choose to look for Him.

Author:

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Talking to Children About Suffering

On Mission: St. Vincent Pallotti

Browse Self Care Resources

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Being a Eucharistic Missionary

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 2 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Eucharist is the source a summit of our Catholic Faith. Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. We who know this are called to spread devotion to the Eucharist in our daily lives. This blogcast explores “Being a Eucharistic Missionary" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Patrick Laorden and read by Meghan Abando.

I did not have a chance to attend the Eucharistic Congress last month. However, I did have the pleasure of reading the book For the Life of the World: Invited to Eucharistic Mission by Bishop Andrew Cozzens and Tim Glemkowski. The book outlines four essential pillars to being a Eucharistic missionary: Eucharistic encounter, Eucharistic identity, Eucharistic life, and Eucharistic mission. On the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta, a great example of a Eucharistic missionary, let us seek her intercession to bear a Eucharistic presence in the world!

Eucharistic Encounter
The life of a Eucharistic missionary starts with an encounter. We are reminded of what Pope Benedict XVI said in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction,” (no. 1). Bishop Cozzens notes four essential elements to an encounter with Jesus: realizing that Jesus is God, experiencing one’s own unworthiness, discovery that one is intimately loved, and being invited to follow him in a new life. We see these elements unfold in St. Teresa’s own life when she encountered Jesus in the poor.

Eucharistic Identity
Our identity is essential to our mission. Bishop Cozzens noted that Jesus never had an identity crisis. Before Jesus began his public ministry, he submitted himself to God to be baptized. Bishop Cozzens highlights three essential principles to Eucharisic identity: relationship, identity, and mission. He writes, “This is the basic point: We were created by God to be in relationship, and from our relationship we know who we are — our identity. When we know who we are, then we know how we should act and what we should do — our mission,” (pg. 50). When St. Teresa encountered Jesus in the poor, she experienced a call within a call: to assume a new identity by leaving the Sisters of Loretto and founding the Missionaries of Charity.

Eucharistic Life
We are called to a Eucharistic life, to be in communion with Christ. Bishop Cozzens notes that this communion with Christ is how we mark ourselves as the Church. Fr. Roger Landry in a 2022 article in the National Catholic Register entitled, “The Eucharistic Life of St. Teresa of Calcutta,” noted how St. Teresa compared the Missionaries of Charity’s work to the Blessed Mother:

“Every Holy Communion fills us with Jesus and we must, with our Lady, go in haste to give him to others. For her, it was on her first Holy Communion day that Jesus came into her life and so for all of us, also. He made himself the Bread of Life so that we too, like Mary, become full of Jesus. We too, like her, should be in haste to give him to others. We too, like her, serve others.”

We receive Jesus in the Eucharist at Mass, and we are called to give him to others through a life of service. Bishop Cozzens explains that receiving Holy Communion is a covenantal act. “This is why we say ‘Amen,’ which is a covenantal act. To receive Holy Communion is to say: ‘I want to live in this covenant with you. I want to live in communion with you, Lord.’ This means I must also live in communion with the Church, Christ’s Body,” (pg. 62).

Eucharistic Mission
The Church, in her essence, is missionary. Bishop Cozzens notes that our mission was not invented or decided by us, rather given to us from Jesus. This mission is ad gentes or “to the nations”. The challenge today is that we no longer live in a Christian world. Pope Francis, in a 2019 address to the Roman Curia, said, “We are no longer living in a Christian world, because faith – especially in Europe, but also in a large part of the West – is no longer an evident presupposition of social life; indeed, faith is often rejected, derided, marginalized and ridiculed.”

We, who have experienced an encounter with Christ, whose identity has been revealed through this encounter, and who have been called to share in this Eucharistic life, are to be a beacon of light to those who have fallen away from their faith or have never experienced Christ. St. Teresa once said, “We must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world, not just to go for diplomas and degrees, this work and that work. We have been created in order to love and to be loved.” This is what it means to be a Eucharistic missionary.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!

Author:

Patrick Laorden serves as a Grants Associate for the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in Hartford, CT.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Eucharistic Revival: Year of Mission

Read and learn about Eucharistic Revival

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Knights of Columbus Chaplaincy with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 08/27/2025

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The Knights of Columbus awarded Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. the Blessed Michael McGivney Medal, which honors his longtime chaplaincy at The Catholic University of America. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about his role in founding the council and how he’s accompanied college men grow in faith.

The 2025 recipient of the Blessed Michael McGivney Medal is Pallottine Father Frank Donio, state chaplain of the District of Columbia, who received the medal from Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly during the annual Supreme Knight’s Awards Session held on Aug. 4, the eve of the 143rd Supreme Convention in Washington, D.C.

While an undergraduate student at CUA, Father Donio helped establish The Catholic University of America Council 9542 on campus in 1987. He has now served as the chaplain of that council for almost two decades, and also serves as faithful friar of James Cardinal Hickey Assembly 2534 in Washington, D.C.

As council chaplain, Father Donio has been a spiritual father to many young adults discerning their vocations, offering advice and encouragement to guide them toward God’s will and hosting a yearly discernment retreat for council members. Since Father Donio became chaplain, at least 20 men have become priests thanks to his influence and encouragement, including former members of Council 9542. Present and former council members testify to his unwavering dedication and profound impact on their understanding of the faith and their relationship with Christ.

Notes:

Read: Article on Blessed Michael McGivney Medal for Chaplaincy in the Knights of Columbus

Watch: Blessed Michael McGivney Award – Father Frank Donio, Chaplain to Catholic University Knights

Further Resources:

Listen to On Mission: The Knights of Columbus

Friends Help You Stay Catholic in College

Young Saints

Other episodes about Young Adults

Eucharistic Pilgrimages and Food for the Journey

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Eucharistic processions have been a tradition in the Catholic Church for countless years. Recently, the Church in the United States celebrated the National Eucharistic Congress, which culminated four national Eucharistic processions and pilgrimage routes. This blogcast explores “Pilgrimage and the Eucharist as Food for the Journey" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

As you may know, we are in the final phase of the National Eucharistic Revival, “a three-year initiative sponsored by the Bishops of the United States to inspire and prepare the People of God to be formed, healed, converted, united, and sent out to a hurting and hungry world through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – the source and summit of our Catholic faith”.

This initiative is a response to the Holy Father’s call for a “pastoral and missionary conversion which cannot leave things as they presently are” so that the Church in the United States might be “permanently in a state of mission” (Evangelii Gaudium, 25). This final phase known as the “Year of Mission” is a response to the preceding stages of diocesan and parish revival as well as the National Eucharistic Congress that was held July 17-21, 2024.

One beautiful expression of this missionary dimension of the Eucharistic Revival was the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that took place leading up to the National Eucharistic Congress. The first of its kind, and one of the largest Eucharistic processions in history, consisted of four routes beginning at the northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of the United States. The routes formed the shape of a cross as pilgrims journeyed with the Blessed Sacrament across the whole country, blessing over 6,000 miles of our nation.

Participants in the pilgrimage attended Mass every day of their journey and had regular evenings of reflection and adoration. After traveling for about two months, all four branches of the Pilgrimage met in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress. I was privileged to join a moment of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage along the northern route, known as the Marian route, which began at the headwaters of the Mississippi and wound its way through the midwestern United States.

As the pilgrimage passed through Notre Dame, IN over the course of a weekend, I was able to attend a couple of the specially planned events. One was a musical entitled “Behold God’s Love: A Eucharistic Musical,” which drew inspiration from mystery plays performed on the feast of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ) in the Middle Ages. These plays presented moments from salvation history. The other special event was Sunday Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart followed by a procession around the university’s campus, culminating in Benediction offered from the steps of the Main Building.

It was such a gift to join pilgrims, some of whom had been part of the route from the beginning, in a tangible manifestation of our life as “the pilgrim Church on earth”, the people of God on their way to their heavenly homeland. It provided an opportunity to reflect in a special way on one of the many names with which we refer to the Eucharist, one that evokes a certain aspect of the “inexhaustible richness of this sacrament” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1328).

Viaticum, a Latin word that means provision for the journey, is a particularly fitting name to contemplate in the context of this pilgrimage, as the Eucharist is the spiritual food which sustains and nourishes us. Certainly, it was the source of sustenance for those making the cross-country journey over the course of several weeks. Yet this pilgrimage (and all pilgrimages) was undertaken to call to mind our common human condition as those marching onward “ ‘following the narrow way of the cross,’ toward the heavenly banquet” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1344), when we can all be seated at the table of the Kingdom of God.

The Eucharist as viaticum gives us the graces we need for each day as we advance along our earthly pilgrimage. Each step of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage reminds us that our entire lives and every place in which we find ourselves can be holy, consecrated by the presence of our Lord. When we receive the Lord in the Eucharist and accept the call to be sent forth on mission to every part of the world, we experience “a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1090).

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, whether or not you were able to join it, shows a visible bond of communion that assures “the unity of the pilgrim Church” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 815) and reminds us that we do not have to journey to far-off holy places to go on mission. Every place our feet touch can be holy ground if, as we tread it, we seek to draw ever closer to our Eucharistic Lord, who longs to make himself present to us and to all, not only in the Mass, but in every moment.

Author:

Fatima Monterrubio Cruess is the Resource Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center. In this role, she assists in the creation and use of the Center's content and resources in both English and Spanish.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission podcast Catholic Feast Days App

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Discernment: Day to Day and Lifelong

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 5 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Discernment is a prayerful process by which we come to understand God’s will in our lives for a particular decision. This blogcast explores “Discernment: Day to Day and Lifelong" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Christian Bordak-Roseman and read by Meg Ferguson.

The popularity of the word discernment seems to have skyrocketed in Catholic circles in recent years. Discernment has always been linked to discerning one’s lifelong vocation to married, single, or religious life. Discernment has also been linked—especially recently—to more short-term decisions such as what to study in college, what job to accept, and even more mundane choices within one’s daily life. Many times, young people—myself included for many years in the past—want to tackle the question of lifelong discernment head on, determining their vocation as quickly as possible. This, however, cuts off the central aspect of discernment which is a long-term personal relationship with God. Instead of looking at discernment from the top down, one must examine their daily life, decisions, and prayer life to allow God to show them the path to their lifelong vocation.

When I was in college, I was racked by pressure to determine my lifelong vocation to either married, single, or religious life. At the time, I understood that the heart of discernment was taking decisions to God in my prayer life, but all I could focus on was finding the result. In reality, the way to go about discernment is to maintain constant communication with God, to consistently acknowledge His Holy Presence in your life and bring your day-to-day life into your prayers. God presents Himself to us through innumerable ways on any given day, and a cornerstone of prayer is noticing Him there. If, however, you were like me in college worrying about the final result instead of an actionable next step, it is easy to miss God and lose out on quality discernment.

It is only through regular prayer that God can reveal Himself clearly to us. Prayer has the power to make sense of the chaos that rules our lives in the twenty-first century. A meditation or Examen in the morning or evening can lead one to see God’s personal actions daily and enable us to bring God into our lives more actively. Retreats—whether a day-long, weekend long, or self-paced at-home retreats—can allow us to break down longer stints of our lives, see God’s presence, and reorient us for larger decisions that might be facing us.

Once I realized that my larger vocation questions were not going to be answered unless I discerned daily, it allowed me to become more attuned with God and deepen my prayer life. I began to see how God was strengthening me as a boyfriend, fiancé, and now husband to support and be supported by my now wife. Additionally, by focusing my prayer on the daily actions of my studying and student-teaching internships and being the best teacher I could be, I was able to see how God works in and through me in my career. This realization enabled me to be confident in a career decision that was not something I would have considered when I was beginning my undergraduate experience. As many have said before, God rarely comes to us in beatific visions with clear instructions on how to live our lives for Him. Instead, Jesus comes to us through people and events around us, hoping to guide us along the way of life. Discernment is looking for trail markers that Jesus leaves for us; we are looking to understand the roadmap He laid out for us.

Author:

Christian Bordak-Roseman serves as a Religion Teacher at St. John's College High School in Washington DC. He received his Bachelor of Arts in History, minoring in Theology, and a Master of Arts in Secondary Education at The Catholic University of America. Informed by the Lasallian charism of St. John's and the Pallottine charism of the Catholic Apostolate Center, Christian works to witness Christ's mission of love by living as an apostle at school as a teacher and at home as a husband.

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Discernment

On Mission: Spiritual Growth During Collegiate Years

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

Discernment Resources

Young People as Promises of Hope During the Jubilee of Young People with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 07/30/2025

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Youth and young adults are beacons of hope and signs of hope in our world, according to Pope Leo XIV in his video message to young people gathered at Rate Field, Chicago. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how young people hope in Christ and can inspire others to hope in Christ as well as we celebrate the Jubilee of Youth in Rome this week.

The Jubilee of Youth is underway in Rome where young adults are invited to the Eternal City to partake in spiritual events, pilgrimage, and community with other faith-filled young adults. The Vatican estimates over 1 million youth and young adults will make the pilgrimage to Rome to partake in special Jubilee events and Mass.

Pope Leo XIV said of young people in his address at Rate Field:

“To, once again, the young people who are gathered here, I’d like to say that you are the promise of hope for so many of us. The world looks to you as you look around yourselves and say: we need you, we want you to come together to share with us in this common mission, as Church and in society, of announcing a message of true hope and of promoting peace, promoting harmony, among all peoples

We have to look beyond our own - if you will - egotistical ways. We have to look for ways of coming together and promoting a message of hope. Saint Augustine says to us that if we want the world to be a better place, we have to begin with ourselves, we have to begin with our own lives, our own hearts (cfr Speech 311; Comment on St John’s Gospel, Homily 77).

And so, in this sense, as you gather together as a faith community, as you celebrate in the Archdiocese of Chicago, as you offer your own experience of joy and of hope, you can find out, you can discover that you, too, are indeed beacons of hope. That light, that perhaps on the horizon is not very easy to see, and yet, as we grow in our unity, as we come together in communion, we can discover that that light will grow brighter and brighter. That light which is indeed our faith in Jesus Christ. And we can become that message of hope, to promote peace and unity throughout our world.”

Notes:

Listen to On Mission: Jubilee Year

Young Saints

Other episodes about Young Adults

View Synod on the Young People Resources

Pope Leo XIV Resources

The Guarantee of Suffering

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Suffering is present in our days manifesting itself in small, daily sufferings or in larger more profound experiences such as chronic illness. With the grace Christ offers us through his passion, death, and resurrection, suffering takes on a new, sanctifying meaning whereby we . This blogcast explores “The Guarantee of Suffering" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written and read by Brian Rhude.

There are a few guarantees in this life. Some say it is death and taxes. Purdue basketball fans, such as myself, will add Matt Painter. But there is another guarantee in life, and it is one that is as uncomfortable and taboo as death: suffering. Death, taxes, Matt Painter, and suffering.

The suffering we think of most often is typically connected to death - the suffering of a cancer patient or of someone who has been in a tragic accident. This suffering is very real, but also extraordinary. I do not mean that this suffering is somehow alien to the human experience; it is deeply real and personal to those who experience it and their loved ones, but that it is truly extra (outside of the) ordinary. Ordinary suffering comes in many forms: the lack of sleep felt by new parents, the inability to pay one’s bills after being laid off, the end of a relationship that seemed to be perfect, the inexplicable change in direction from the Lord after following a path that seemed ordained by that same God. These, and countless other examples, are the suffering of the day-to-day life of the human person.

There is a human tendency to compare suffering. “Well, their suffering seems so much worse than mine, so mine must be insignificant, and my response to my suffering is somehow overblown or distorted.” But this reaction is what is distorted. Suffering is, as I said at the start of this blog, guaranteed in life. That is a pretty undesirable guarantee. All we have to do is look out into the world, or just rewatch the movie of our own lives to find some sort of suffering, whether great or “small.” The question is not if we will suffer, but how we handle suffering and what it does in our lives.

I am personally unable to understand how one can endure suffering without some sort of conception of God, and more specifically a personal relationship with the God who became man and who suffered and died for us. It is just that relationship that has gotten me through the traumatic death of my father just over five years ago and the daily suffering that is thrown my way. Suffering can easily make a strong person crumble, so the first thing we should do is realize that we are not strong, but weak. We are the sick that Jesus professes need a physician in the Gospel of Matthew. The physician is the only one who can prescribe the medication of grace needed to help us through our suffering. The grace is dispensed to us not through pills or syringes but through prayer. It is only through constant prayer, which is the reception of the transformative love of God, that suffering has meaning and can be endured. Sr. Ruth Burrows says in her book Essence of Prayer that God’s touch in our lives, “however lightly, means I suffer,” (Burrow, 38). Prayer opens us up to the fact that we are nothing, we are weak, we are in great need and, “it is then that I really experience that I need Jesus and everything depends on my living this out, letting go of the controls, handing them over to him and accepting to have no holiness, no achievement of my own, to be before God as nothing,” (ibid, 39).

This is the bottom line of suffering. It is not gratuitous, meaningless, or completely nonsensical; it is the process of being stripped of all of our egotistical and self-seeking tendencies that leave us closed off to God’s healing touch. Patient endurance of the suffering we experience is the way that we are prepared for life with God. How do we know this? Because Jesus Christ took on human form and lived in perfect obedience as the Apostle to the Eternal Father. Jesus’ life found its highest fulfillment in obedient suffering and sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the Pillar, on the road to Calvary, and on the Cross. In his suffering, Christ took on all of ours - from the suffering of a broken heart to the suffering of death - and brought them meaning. In fact, it was the signs of his suffering that he kept after his resurrection as trophies of his victory over death. It was these same signs of suffering, Jesus’ wounds, that proved the resurrection to Thomas.

Our wounds, our suffering, participate in the suffering and wounds of Christ. Thomas experienced the Risen Christ in His wounds, and we too experience Him in our wounds. Suffering is a guarantee, but it does not end as pain- it leads us to victory, to intimacy with God, and brings us to God as empty vessels for him to fill with his glory.

Author:

Resources:

Listen to On Mission: Talking to Children About Suffering

Browse Self Care Resources

Read the Ad Infinitum blog

150 Years of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Procession with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 07/16/2025

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The Our Lady of Mt. Carmel procession through the streets of Hammonton, New Jersey, celebrates the 150th anniversary with a Canonical Coronation from the Pope will be bestowed upon the statue a Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how the procession impacted his family and the people who attend it.

The 150th anniversary of the procession in honor of the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Hammonton, New Jersey, is the longest continuous Italian festival in the United States. The image of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel there will have a canonical coronation on the feast day, July 16th. A Mass celebrates the special event as well as the annual procession of saints through the streets. The Pallottines served the parish that was called St. Joseph from 1901-2004. The diocese merged three parishes into one and renamed the parish, St. Mary of Mt. Carmel. The other image of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel that has a canonical crown is at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in New York (1904) which is the first church of the Pallottines in the United States. The Pallottines still serve there there.

A canonical coronation is a formal act by the Pope, expressed through a papal bull, to crown a venerated image of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or St. Joseph. This act acknowledges the image's local and universal significance within the Catholic Church. This is a rare honor for the church and our diocese.

In the United States, only four Marian images have received this honor:

Our Lady of Prompt Succor: Crowned on November 10, 1895, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Crowned on July 10, 1904, in New York City, New York.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception: Crowned on August 22, 2013, in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Our Lady of La Leche: Crowned on October 10, 2021, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine in Florida.

The Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel celebrates the tradition that a Carmelite friar, St. Simon Stock, received a vision of the Blessed Mother presenting him with the Brown Scapular. Today, the scapular forms a part of the habit of Carmelite friars and sisters. Lay faithful who wear the scapular do so as both a sign of devotion to the Blessed Mother and as a promise to imitate her example as the perfect follower of Christ.

Listen to Pallottine Fathers and Brothers to learn more

Learn more about Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Visit the Canonical Coronation website

View the other images in the procession

Ready Summertime is a Time for Processions

Blogcast: Saints Louis and Zelie: Helping Your Spouse Get to Heaven

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 8 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Saints Louis and Zelie: Helping Your Spouse Get to Heaven” written by Annie Harton and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

In this blog post, Annie shares how one of marriage’s goals is to get the other spouse to Heaven and how Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, embodied that.

Neither Zelie nor Louis felt called to marriage before they met. They both felt a strong pull to religious life. Louis wanted to become a monk and Zelie wanted to become a religious sister. Louis was turned away because he had trouble learning Latin and Zelie was turned away for respiratory problems. The two of them met and immediately fell in love. They married 3 months later, but still felt convicted to live a life of abstinence since God was their deepest love. After a few years of marriage, a spiritual director encouraged them to consummate their marriage and this led to giving birth to nine children. Four children died in infancy, the remaining five entered religious life and became Saints themselves. During the canonization Mass Pope Francis said, “The holy spouses Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (Zelie) practiced Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters, among whom was Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.”

There is so much to share about this faith-filled couple, so I encourage you to read more about them on your own time. They are the patron saints of illness, mental illness, marriage, parenting, and widowers. I hope that something in their story will give you hope and encouragement in your own life. The same wedding vows have been used in the Church since Medieval times so these nineteenth century lovebirds said the same words we hear at Catholic weddings today: “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

In the marriage prep classes I teach, I often point out to the couples that compatible means “to suffer with.” Author Jason Evert adds, “If you are not willing to suffer with someone until death do you part, then you are not compatible.” Engagement is usually just focused on planning a wedding party rather than discerning a life together. Feasting only has meaning when it’s accompanied with fasting. You can’t have the Resurrection without the Passion. Our Lord loves love. He IS Love! The Bible begins with a marriage in Genesis and ends with a marriage in Revelation. Right in the middle of the Bible is Song of Songs. The Sacrament of Marriage is a representation of the love between Christ and His Beloved Bride – the Church. The Catechism of the Church explains the grace that is in the sacrament of Matrimony:

“By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God.” This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple’s love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they “help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.” CCC 1641

As we celebrate the feast of Sts. Zelie and Louis, let us remember how marriage sanctifies us while not defining us. In my book Single Truth: You are more than your relationship status, I write that “marriage is an assist and not the goal.” In the recent Gospel, Jesus challenged us to always put Him first and to love Him most (Matthew 10:37). If you’re single, are you idolizing marriage and expecting it to make you happier than you are right now? If you’re married, how are you helping your spouse get to heaven?

St. Zelie and St. Louis, pray for us!

Author:

Annie Harton is a proud alumna of Saint Mary’s College and the University of Notre Dame. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist, author, and speaker. Her self-published book, Single Truth: You Are More than Your Relationship Status, inspired her to start a business called You Are More. She specializes in helping singles and couples explore how they’re more than their diagnoses, their pasts, their jobs, and their relationship statuses while also reminding them that God is more than any problem they bring Him. You can find out more about Annie and inquire about working with her at youaremore.org and annieharton.com

Canonical Coronation for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Statue with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 07/02/2025

Wed, 2 Jul 2025 19:43:35 +0000

A Canonical Coronation from the Pope is being bestowed upon the statue a Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of a procession in her honor that goes through the streets of Hammonton, New Jersey. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about how the procession impacted his family and the people who attend it.

In the United States, only four Marian images have received this honor:

Our Lady of Prompt Succor: Crowned on November 10, 1895, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Crowned on July 10, 1904, in New York City, New York.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception: Crowned on August 22, 2013, in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Our Lady of La Leche: Crowned on October 10, 2021, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine in Florida.

Notes:

Listen to Pallottine Fathers and Brothers to learn more

Learn more about Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Visit the Canonical Coronation website

View the other images in the procession

Ready Summertime is a Time for Processions

Daily Catholic Feast Days App with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Driving Home the Faith 07/01/2025

Wed, 2 Jul 2025 19:23:03 +0000

The Catholic Feast Days App provides daily notifications for the proper feast day. These holy men and women provide us examples of how we can live our life for Christ. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment from Driving Home the Faith on Sacred Heart Radio, about what people can learn while in the Catholic Feast Days App.

Download the app on the App Store or on the Google Play Store to receive notifications and explore new saints. The app features profiles of saints and blesseds, special devotions in the church including Marian devotions, and other important events in the liturgical calendar. For each feast, you will find a short biography or description, the patronage of the saint, a short video, and various tags about the time period, vocation, and country of the saint.

Related On Mission episodes:

Young Saints

The 12 Apostles

Bl. Carlo Acutis

From the Ad Infinitum blog:

Blogcast: Everything Is Yours

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Everything Is Yours" written and read by Brian Rhude.

In this blog post, reflects on the Suscipe prayer that reminds us that all that we possess is a gift from God and we have the ability to return it so he can do with it as he wills.

Among the many great things that St. Ignatius gave the Church including the Society itself, which has produced many great Saints, and the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius also gave us a prayer called the Suscipe. As short and simple of a prayer as the Suscipe is, it is equally as powerful. Essential to Ignatius’ spirituality is the fact that all human beings are creatures created by God and are in need of his great mercy and love and that everything we experience in our lives is a gift from God. The Suscipe is, in my estimation, the perfect product of this essential factor of Ignatius’ spirituality. Ignatius’ prayer goes like this:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding,

and my entire will, All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.

As creatures, everything that we are and everything that we have is from God, our creator. Our liberty, memory, understanding, will, possessions, gifts, and talents — every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. The problem is that we, as humans, tend to think that we have done all the good things in our lives. While we certainly have to cooperate with God’s grace, all things are still reliant on his grace. Everything in this world will eventually pass away. Our good looks, quick wit, great intellect, ability to play an instrument, cook great food, or hit a golf ball 350 yards will pass away at some point in our lives. What do we do when we can no longer rely on our physical or mental ability? We can certainly shrivel up into a proverbial ball and pout that our life is over. But life in Christ leads us another direction, the direction of the Suscipe. This direction points us to grace and the necessity of grace in our lives. Even when all the other good things in our lives are gone, God’s grace will remain. God’s grace will sustain us when nothing else can and will be there when everything else fades away. Let’s have the courage to rely solely on God’s grace which is all that we need.

Author:

Brian Rhude is the Project Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center where he works in developing Center programming, assists in updating and creating new resources on the Center's website, collaborates on the development of social media content, and provides other services and collaborates including participation at and facilitation of various events and conferences. Along with his work for the Catholic Apostolate Center, Brian is the Assistant Director of Summer Programs and Formation for the Lay Apostolate for the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America.

Priesthood and Union with Christ with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 06/11/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Priesthood is a Vocation in the Catholic Church that men are united to Christ the Head and make present his healing work through the Sacraments. Priests are connected to the people they serve and particularly connected through Christ. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, in his reflection on his Vocation story and practical advice for newly ordained priests.

“Today is a day of great joy for the Church and for each of you who are being ordained as priests — together with your families, friends and companions in your years of formation. As the Rite of Ordination emphasizes in many places, the relationship between what we celebrate today and the People of God is fundamental. The depth, greatness and even duration of this divine joy that we now share are directly proportional to the bonds that exist and will deepen between you, who are being ordained, and the people from which you come, of which you remain a part and to which you are sent. I will dwell on this aspect, always keeping in mind that the identity of a priest depends on union with Christ, the Eternal High Priest.” - Pope Leo XIV, Homily for Mass of priestly ordination May 31, 2025.

Notes:

View Vocational Discernment Resources

Read Pope Leo’s Homily from Ordination Mass

Visit Pope Leo XIV resource page

On Mission podcast: Holy Orders

Blogcast: Prepare Yourself for Temptation

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Prepare Yourself for Temptation" written by Fr. Yaroslav Drahan, SAC and read by Tom Carani.

In this blog post, Fr. Yaroslav offers advice for us to prepare to encounter temptation in our lives. If we are prepared, we can better overcome temptation.

The first purpose of trials we will find further in the Book of Sirach. The author of this book writes: “Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation” (Sir 2:4-5). These are awfully hard words, but they state two simple truths: for God, we are like gold, and we are dirty. In other words, we are very valuable to God, but we need to be cleaned. Consequently, the trial is like the fire that cleans us. St. Peter has a similar idea: “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” He is speaking about the faith that is tested by fire. Therefore, we can come to the conclusion that our faith, hope, love, and intentions must be tested in order to make us better. We need to be cleansed from our weaknesses and sins, and after that, we will shine as gold.

The second purpose of trials is to bring us closer to God. We can understand this better when we read the Bible attentively. The Holy Bible has thousands of examples where someone had gotten in trouble and he or she looked for help from God. Among multiple examples, I would like to share just one which is important for me. It is from Psalm 57: “Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me. In you I seek refuge. In the shadow of your wings I seek refuge till harm pass by” (Ps 57:1). The author of this psalm knows that God can help him, so in the time of trial he is not hopeless, even though it seems terrible: “I lie in the midst of lions that greedily devour the sons of men; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords” (Ps 57:4). Times of trial become for him a time when he wants to be nearer to God. Moreover, he is certain that he will receive help: “He will send [help] from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample upon me. God will send forth his steadfast love and faithfulness!” (Ps 57:4). These words are really helpful for me because they give me hope that God is not far away from me.

In conclusion, I know that we can find explanations for why temptations and trials are in our lives. The most important lesson is not to give up and to keep being near to God in that time.

Author:

Fr. Yaroslav Drahan, SAC is a Pallottine Priest from Ukraine.

Pentecost and the Blessed Virgin Mary and Hope with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 05/28/2025

Wed, 28 May 2025 17:12:43 +0000

Pentecost celebrates the moment the Holy Spirit descended upon the Blessed Mother Mary and the disciples in the Upper Room, giving them the courage to proclaim the Gospel to all they encountered. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church and Mary’s is known as the Mother of the Church. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, in his reflection on Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year, Spes Non Confundit.

24. Hope finds its supreme witness in the Mother of God. In the Blessed Virgin, we see that hope is not naive optimism but a gift of grace amid the realities of life. Like every mother, whenever Mary looked at her Son, she thought of his future. Surely she kept pondering in her heart the words spoken to her in the Temple by the elderly Simeon: “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed, so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Lk 2:34-35). At the foot of the cross, she witnessed the passion and death of Jesus, her innocent son. Overwhelmed with grief, she nonetheless renewed her “fiat”, never abandoning her hope and trust in God. In this way, Mary cooperated for our sake in the fulfilment of all that her Son had foretold in announcing that he would have to “undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mk 8:31). In the travail of that sorrow, offered in love, Mary became our Mother, the Mother of Hope. It is not by chance that popular piety continues to invoke the Blessed Virgin as Stella Maris, a title that bespeaks the sure hope that, amid the tempests of this life, the Mother of God comes to our aid, sustains us and encourages us to persevere in hope and trust.

In this regard, I would note that the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is preparing to celebrate, in 2031, the fifth centenary of Our Lady’s first apparition. Through Juan Diego, the Mother of God brought a revolutionary message of hope that she continues to bring to every pilgrim and all the faithful: “Am I not here, who am your Mother?” [20] That message continues to touch hearts in the many Marian shrines throughout the world, where countless pilgrims commend to the holy Mother of God their cares, their sorrows and their hopes. During the Jubilee Year, may these shrines be sacred places of welcome and privileged spaces for the rebirth of hope. I encourage all pilgrims to Rome to spend time in prayer in the Marian shrines of the City, in order to venerate the Blessed Mother and to implore her protection. I am confident that everyone, especially the suffering and those most in need, will come to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children and who, for the holy people of God, is “a sign of certain hope and comfort”. [21] (from Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year, Spes Non Confundit)

Notes:

Read Spes Non Confundit here

Visit Pope Leo XIV resource page

View Pope Francis Resources

View conclave resources here

Blogcast: Summertime is a Time for Processions

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 27 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Summertime is a Time for Processions” written by Pat Fricchione and read by Amy Cardin.

In this blog post, Pat share the joy he received when he attends a processions. He enjoys the history and faith that has existed in communities for over 100 years, celebrating St. Ubaldo, St. George, and St. Anthony.

Each of the celebrations has a few core elements that all processions have. Processions are about faith and community. Processions help increase our faith by publically displaying various statues and images. It is a form of evangelization in the streets. At the same time, they help build community by calling all those together for a common cause. They reinforce not only our proud heritage and traditions, but also our faith. They promote our faith being celebrated together. Processions are also about the individuals' participation. Attending a procession invites us to feel that we are a part of the community and reinforces our own faith. When I go to procession, for example, I not only enjoy the fanfare, but am also reminded that my faith is connected to those around me.

I encourage you to seek out processions and bring your friends and family. Pray, eat, and enjoy each other's company. Processions can be beneficial for every group that continues the practice, not just the Italian American community. Ours just happen to have a bit more tomato sauce and wine than most! As the summer goes on, I look forward to many more processions and I invite you to go out and either attend or partake in a procession.

Author:

Pat Fricchione is a collaborator with the Catholic Apostolate Center.

Mary at the Foot of the Cross and Hope with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 05/14/2025

Wed, 14 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Mary stood at the foot of the cross as her son, Jesus Christ, died in front of her. Despite this great anguish she experienced, she offers us an example of hope that God provides and will always prevail. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, in his reflection on Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year, Spes Non Confundit.

Notes:

Read Spes Non Confundit here

View Pope Francis Resources

View conclave resources here

Blogcast: St. Philip Neri: Patron Saint of JOY!

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 13 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “St. Philip Neri: Patron Saint of JOY!" written by Annie Harton and read by Brian Rhude.

In this blog post, Annie reminds us of our call to exude joy in our daily lives following the example of St. Philip Neri.

In the last days leading up to His passion, Jesus said, “So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (Jn 16:22). In the wild times we live in, joy sometimes can be hard to find. Discouragement and confusion are often tools of the devil as he tries to distract us from this promise of Christ: joy can ALWAYS be ours. Jesus used the most unimaginable instrument of torture as the awesome instrument of salvation. On Good Friday, the Devil thought he won. On Easter Sunday, God turned the Cross into a gift.

If you want to confuse the devil, be joyful. When St. Paul was imprisoned in Rome, one could think his ministry would cease. Instead of giving into discouragement, St. Paul wrote the Epistle of Joy to the people of Philippi thanking them for the blessing that they were to him and encouraging them in their faith.

St. Paul stared death in the face a number of times before his beheading in Rome, but we don’t have to have these dramatic experiences to embrace our mortality. St. Philip suggests that we “prepare for death and live each day as if it were our last. Fill up days with goodness and don’t let them be squandered.” When asked what time it was on his deathbed, St. Philip said, “It’s eight… in an hour it’ll be nine, then ten, eleven, and midnight.” His companions responded by giggling before going to sleep. His legacy even in his last moments is joy!

How can we be apostles of joy today?

St. Philip suggests, “Have all the fun you want, but just don’t offend God.” He also suggests, “Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if He wants anything of you, He will fit you for the work and give you strength.”

St. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:4-9).

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with an abundance of the spiritual fruit of joy! We pray for the intercession of St. Philip and St. Paul to show us how to radiate joy no matter the circumstances around us.

Author:

The Annunciation and Hope with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 05/07/2025

Wed, 7 May 2025 15:59:29 +0000

The Annunciation, where the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ was incarnated, is a prime example of how Mary knew to trust God and place her hope in him. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, in his reflection on Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year, Spes Non Confundit.

Notes:

Read Spes Non Confundit here

View Pope Francis Resources

View conclave resources here

Blogcast: Celebrating the Easter Season

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Celebrating the Easter Season” written and read by Monica Thom Konschnik.

In this blog post, Monica shares some of the ways she celebrates the 50 day long Easter Season.

During these celebrations, which I now carry on with my own family, there was always food. My grandma was an excellent cook, a talent which she passed on to her children. We shared dishes from our Polish heritage, meals filled with delicious home-cooking, including fried chicken, mashed potatoes, or food brought in from one of our favorite local restaurants. The food was always plentiful, and the conversation and laughter, particularly from my grandma, was often as comforting as the food.

As we hear in the story of the Road to Emmaus during the Easter season, Jesus is walking along with two of his apostles who do not recognize that it is him. It is not until he breaks bread with them that they recognize that he is truly risen. There is a unique beauty in sharing a meal with those we love. Meals together nourish us physically, but also spiritually and emotionally. Spending time with those we love and celebrating being able to be together is a gift, a gift that, just a few years ago, seemed like something we would not be able to have again. It is important to take time to acknowledge the gift of being together and celebrate the sacrifices we all make in order to do so.

As we continue through the Easter season, I encourage you to find reasons to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, especially with those around us. Share a meal, make an invitation to a friend to join you for Mass, pray together, experience the beauty of nature in spring, or simply enjoy time spent with a friend or a loved one or a stranger. We can experience the joy of the Resurrection in a more profound way when we are able to do so with others.

Author:

Monica is the Director of Administration for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Additionally, she is the Administrator for the Pallottine Seminary at Green Hill.

Resurrection and Hope with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 04/16/2025

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 16:45:18 +0000

The Resurrection is a reality that we experience today in the here and now. It is not just something that happened in the past. We can have hope in Jesus Christ. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, in his reflection on Pope Francis’ homily from the Easter Vigil, 2024. The Resurrection gives us great hope, this is what we celebrate at Easter.

‘Brothers and sisters, Jesus is our Pasch. He is the One who brings us from darkness into light, who is bound to us forever, who rescues us from the abyss of sin and death, and draws us into the radiant realm of forgiveness and eternal life. Brothers and sisters, let us look up to him! Let us welcome Jesus, the God of life, into our lives, and today once again say “yes” to him. Then no stone will block the way to our hearts, no tomb will suppress the joy of life, no failure will doom us to despair. Brothers and sisters, let us lift our eyes to him and ask that the power of his resurrection may roll away the heavy stones that weigh down our souls. Let us lift our eyes to him, the Risen Lord, and press forward in the certainty that, against the obscure backdrop of our failed hopes and our deaths, the eternal life that he came to bring is even now present in our midst.

Sister, brother, let your heart burst with jubilation on this night, this holy night! Together let us sing of Jesus’ resurrection: “Sing to him, everything sing to him: rivers and plains, deserts and mountains … Sing to the Lord of life, risen from the tomb, more brilliant than a thousand suns. All peoples beset by evil and plagued by injustice, all peoples displaced and devastated: on this holy night cast aside your songs of sadness and despair. The Man of Sorrows is no longer in prison: he has opened a breach in the wall; he is hastening to meet you. In the darkness, let an unexpected shout of joy resound: He is alive; he is risen! And you, my brothers and sisters, small and great ... you who are weary of life, who feel unworthy to sing… let a new flame be kindled in your heart, let new vitality be heard in your voice. It is the Pasch of the Lord, brothers and sisters; it is the feast of the living” (J-Y. QUELLEC, Dieu face nord, Ottignies, 1998, 85-86).” (From Easter Vigil homily by Pope Francis, 2024)

Notes:

Read Pope Francis’ Homily Here

On Mission: Easter Vigil and Easter Traditions

Blogcast: Journeying Through Holy Week

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In this blog post, Sarah shares some insights into the last week of Jesus’ life, Holy Week, and looks forward to the celebration of Easter.

Jesus knew what he was about to face on the Cross; he knew about his eventual Death and Resurrection. Yet, he knew his work before those events was not done; he had to continue to preach to the apostles. In hindsight, probably no one would’ve expected him to do that; he was facing death! Nowadays, people will say, “If you knew you only had one week left before you died, what would you do?” The usual answers are things like going on a fancy vacation, winning the lottery, and completing items on one’s bucket list, but the reality is that most of us don’t know when our time will come. On the contrary, Jesus did know what his fate would be when he entered Jerusalem. He knew the importance of his death on the Cross, and he knew it was important for him not to stray from his intentions. The strength shown by Jesus in this Last Supper is one that few could’ve shown, and it is important for us to recognize as we continue through Holy Week.

As we finish up our Lenten season, I hope that you all have taken some time to deepen your relationship with Christ and reflect on the importance of the season in your own heart. May these last few days of Lent guide you through some of the darkest days of our Church into the glory of the Resurrection. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter celebration!

Author:

Sarah Harrigan is the Manager of Communications and Special Programs for the Catholic Apostolate Center where she coordinates the promotions and logistics of various groups and visitors coming to our Green Hill facility. She also assists with the day-to-day operations of Green Hill and other administrative duties and is responsible for the creation and publication of our Center newsletter.

Son Rise Morning Show 04/09/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on The Crucifix, Well-Spring of Hope

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 9 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

"One image remained fixed in the minds of the disciples: the cross. That is where everything ended. That is where the end of everything was centered. But in a little while, they would discover a new beginning right there, in the cross. Dear brothers and sisters, this is how God’s hope germinates. It is born and reborn in the black holes of our disappointed expectations — and hope, true hope, instead, never disappoints. Let us think precisely about the cross: out of the most terrible instrument of torture, God wrought the greatest sign of his love. Having become the tree of life, that wood of death reminds us that God’s beginnings often begin with our endings. Thus, he loves to work wonders. So today, let us look at the tree of the cross so that hope might germinate in us — that everyday virtue, that silent, humble virtue, but also that virtue that keeps us on our feet, that helps us move forward. It is not possible to live without hope. Let us think: Where is my hope? Today, let us look at the tree of the cross so that hope may germinate in us … that we may be healed of our sadness. And how many sad people there are! When I used to be able to go out to the streets — I cannot do it now because they do not allow me — but when I could go out to the streets in another diocese, I used to like watching people’s faces. How many sad faces! Sad people, people talking to themselves, people walking alone with their phones, but without peace, without hope. And where is your hope today? It takes a bit of hope to be healed from the sadness that makes us ill, to be healed from the bitterness with which we pollute the Church and the world. Brothers and sisters, let us look at the crucifix. And what do we see? We see Jesus naked, Jesus stripped, Jesus wounded, Jesus tormented. Is it the end of everything? That is where our hope is." (from “The Crucifix, well-spring of hope, Pope Francis, 2023).

In the Catholic Church, the concept of Jubilee or ‘Holy Year’ was used to declare special years for forgiveness and reconciliation. The first Jubilee was declared by Pope Boniface VIII on 22nd February 1300 (Feast of the Chair of St. Peter), to mark the beginning of that century. He later recommended it occurring every 100 years. This year the Church celebrates the Jubilee: Pilgrims of Hope.

Son Rise Morning Show 04/02/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Judgement as a Setting for Learning and Practicing Hope

Wed, 2 Apr 2025 14:53:50 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. reflects on the “Judgement as a Setting for Learning and Practicing Hope” section of Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI.

41. At the conclusion of the central section of the Church's great Credo—the part that recounts the mystery of Christ, from his eternal birth of the Father and his temporal birth of the Virgin Mary, through his Cross and Resurrection to the second coming—we find the phrase: “he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”. From the earliest times, the prospect of the Judgement has influenced Christians in their daily living as a criterion by which to order their present life, as a summons to their conscience, and at the same time as hope in God's justice. Faith in Christ has never looked merely backwards or merely upwards, but always also forwards to the hour of justice that the Lord repeatedly proclaimed. This looking ahead has given Christianity its importance for the present moment. In the arrangement of Christian sacred buildings, which were intended to make visible the historic and cosmic breadth of faith in Christ, it became customary to depict the Lord returning as a king—the symbol of hope—at the east end; while the west wall normally portrayed the Last Judgement as a symbol of our responsibility for our lives—a scene which followed and accompanied the faithful as they went out to resume their daily routine. As the iconography of the Last Judgement developed, however, more and more prominence was given to its ominous and frightening aspects, which obviously held more fascination for artists than the splendour of hope, often all too well concealed beneath the horrors. (From Spe Salvi, Pope Bendict XVI, 2007.)

Notes:

Blogcast: Pressing in While in the Desert: Getting Over the Mid-Lent Slump

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 1 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Pressing in While in the Desert: Getting Over the Mid-Lent Slump" written by Danielle Schmitz and read by Meghan Abando.

In this blog post, Danielle shares some advice to rekindle our Lenten fervor as the long penitential season continues.

When we find ourselves in “the mid-Lent slump,” we need to remind ourselves of why we committed to Lent in the first place. When we are able to remember this “why,” we are given new strength to continue into the desert, to press in with Jesus into the discomfort, leaning on Him for strength, because we realize we aren’t alone in the desert. All of this, however, can be very difficult without practical steps to return to Jesus in the desert. Here are some that I have found to be most helpful when Lent becomes difficult.

Consciously make the action in prayer to repent for falling away from your Lenten commitments and “reset them” with Jesus. Explicitly write out your Lenten commitments again. This step of “resetting” gives you a clean slate moving forward in Lent, so you feel less tempted to fall back into whatever your previous situation had been.

Find your “why” in Lent. What is the reason that you chose each of your Lenten commitments? What do you hope to gain with them or in what way do you hope to grow with them? When you become tempted to fall away from your commitments, these “whys” will give you a reason to keep going.

Build your Lenten commitments into your daily schedule. While the commitments may start out as obligatory this way, as you gain consistency in your practice of them, you will find joy in doing so and will desire to complete them each day.

Have an accountability partner. Find someone you trust who can walk with you throughout Lent, checking in to make sure you are staying faithful to your commitments. But more importantly, this person can be someone who you can turn to when things get difficult for support and encouragement.

Most importantly, as you press into Lent in the midst of the “slump,” remember the Lord’s unending mercy and love for you. As it says in Joel 2, God desires for us to return to Him with contrite hearts so that He can pour out His mercy and grace onto us. When you find yourself struggling in Lent, turn back to Him in all His kindness, and ask Him to walk with you and give you the strength you need to continue following Him into the desert.

Author:

Danielle Schmitz is a Communications Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where she assists in the updating and creation of social media content for new and ongoing projects at the Center.

Danielle is a student at the Catholic University of America studying Marketing and Theology. Originally from San Jose, California, Danielle is currently studying abroad in Gaming, Austria with Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Son Rise Morning Show 03/19/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Action and Suffering as Settings for Learning Hope

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. reflects on the “Action and Suffering as Settings for Learning Hope” section of Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI.

35. All serious and upright human conduct is hope in action. This is so first of all in the sense that we thereby strive to realize our lesser and greater hopes, to complete this or that task which is important for our onward journey, or we work towards a brighter and more humane world so as to open doors into the future. Yet our daily efforts in pursuing our own lives and in working for the world's future either tire us or turn into fanaticism, unless we are enlightened by the radiance of the great hope that cannot be destroyed even by small-scale failures or by a breakdown in matters of historic importance. If we cannot hope for more than is effectively attainable at any given time, or more than is promised by political or economic authorities, our lives will soon be without hope. It is important to know that I can always continue to hope, even if in my own life, or the historical period in which I am living, there seems to be nothing left to hope for. Only the great certitude of hope that my own life and history in general, despite all failures, are held firm by the indestructible power of Love, and that this gives them their meaning and importance, only this kind of hope can then give the courage to act and to persevere. Certainly we cannot “build” the Kingdom of God by our own efforts—what we build will always be the kingdom of man with all the limitations proper to our human nature. (From Spe Salvi, Pope Bendict XVI, 2007.)

Notes:

Blogcast: Make Time and Be Open

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Make Time and Be Open” written and read by Krissy Pierno.v

In this blog post, Krissy shares her practices for Lent and how she can make the most of it to draw closer to Christ.

Thinking back to my first questions, I still am going to find it difficult to be in quiet with God and not just find time but MAKE time for Christ. I really think that’s the difference: when we only have moments here and there to give, we’re not at peace. When we make time for Christ—schedule it into a calendar or create a time of the day for just us and God—we will feel and find his blessings that much more easily.

My challenge for you is to schedule time for God each week in Lent. Priorities will still be important and life will still be hectic and busy, but we can only sit with Christ in the desert for forty days. I wouldn’t want to miss that for anything in the world. My scheduled times with God for the next forty days will be: Tuesdays on my ride home from work, Saturday mornings for a few minutes before everyone is awake, Friday mornings on my way into work, and Sundays during the Gospel and homily when I can think and reflect on the Word in Scripture. I know I can achieve these four times each week, and I know it’s not too much for my to-do list. I’ve even added them to my calendar so I can’t forget.

Author:

Krissy Pierno is a teacher for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Son Rise Morning Show 03/05/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Prayer as a School of Hope

Wed, 5 Mar 2025 17:16:55 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. reflects on the “Prayer as a School of Hope” section of Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI.

32. A first essential setting for learning hope is prayer. When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me. When I can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, I can always talk to God. When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, he can help me[25]. When I have been plunged into complete solitude ...; if I pray I am never totally alone. The late Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, a prisoner for thirteen years, nine of them spent in solitary confinement, has left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope. During thirteen years in jail, in a situation of seemingly utter hopelessness, the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope—to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude. (From Spe Salvi, Pope Bendict XVI, 2007.)

Notes:

Blogcast: Preparing for Lent

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 4 Mar 2025 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Preparing for Lent” written and read by Sarah Harrigan.

In this blog post, Sarah shares some of her practices for Lent and how they help draw her closer to Christ.

While these can sometimes seem similar to giving something up (i.e. only getting takeout once a week), I challenge you to reframe your thought process regarding these goals. Instead of thinking of them as a negative—giving something up—think of them as adding some sort of value to your life - after all, by offering these acts to God, they are enabling you to participate in Christ’s redemptive sacrifice, grow in self-control, and form beneficial new habits. This has been something that I have really struggled with and had to pray over. It has been hard to get out of the negative mindset and focus on transforming myself—mentally, physically, and spiritually—over the course of the Lenten season.

However you prepare, I hope that you will go into this holy season with a prayerful attitude and allow yourself to experience change over the course of Lent. I encourage you to find ways to experience the season in an unfamiliar way, to explore new traditions and embrace the holiness of Lent. As we, as a Church, prepare for this Lenten season that will begin on Ash Wednesday, I invite you to take a look at our Lenten and Easter Resource Page. This resource page has many wonderful resources, such as podcasts, webinars, our newly-published “Lenten Activities For Youth and Young Adults” guide, and our “Introduction to Lent: A Time to Draw Closer to the Risen Lord” guide, which has more ideas for practices that can help you enter into the prayerful and transformative spirit of this Lenten season.

Author:

Son Rise Morning Show 02/26/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on The True Shape of Christian Hope

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 05:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. reflects on the “The True Shape of Christian Hope” section of Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI.

Notes:

Read the Bull of Indiction here

Blogcast: St. Anthony, Pray for Us

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “St. Anthony, Pray for Us” written and read by Krissy Pierno.

In this blog post, Krissy shares some of the history of St. Anthony, how he became the patron of lost things and how to incorporate devotion to him in everyday life.

St. Anthony of Padua has been characterized as a humble and positive man, a man of incredible penance and zeal, full of courage to preach, and considered a “man of the people.” His preaching was regarded so highly that he was made a Doctor of the Church in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. The Church particularly urges us to imitate Anthony’s “love of the word of God and his prayerful efforts to understand and apply it to the situations of everyday life”, found here. In some ways, his ability to meet his fellow apostles in their own faith journeys reminds me of St. Vincent Pallotti, a priest who was another humble saint who preached and served in the many streets of Rome. Pallotti’s life was dedicated to accompanying the faithful and helping them live out the Gospel in their everyday lives. He once said, “What God demands of you is love, gratitude, and cooperation,” and I think St. Anthony would agree with him on that.

In this new year, let us put on the life of Christ as St. Anthony did. Let us share the Gospel with others simply by being a witness to the love we feel in Christ. Our message and our actions can feel lost in the hustle and bustle. We can lose ourselves in the busyness and in the daily tasks, but in 2023, let’s really take notice of what’s missing in our lives and pray that St. Anthony’s intercession can help us find anything we’ve lost.

Author:

Krissy Pierno is a teacher for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Son Rise Morning Show 02/05/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Appeals for Hope

Wed, 5 Feb 2025 16:15:32 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. reflects on the “Appeals for Hope” section of the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year by Pope Francis.

16. Echoing the age-old message of the prophets, the Jubilee reminds us that the goods of the earth are not destined for a privileged few, but for everyone. The rich must be generous and not avert their eyes from the faces of their brothers and sisters in need. Here I think especially of those who lack water and food: hunger is a scandal, an open wound on the body of our humanity, and it summons all of us to a serious examination of conscience. I renew my appeal that “with the money spent on weapons and other military expenditures, let us establish a global fund that can finally put an end to hunger and favour development in the most impoverished countries, so that their citizens will not resort to violent or illusory situations, or have to leave their countries in order to seek a more dignified life”. [8]

Another heartfelt appeal that I would make in light of the coming Jubilee is directed to the more affluent nations. I ask that they acknowledge the gravity of so many of their past decisions and determine to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them. More than a question of generosity, this is a matter of justice. It is made all the more serious today by a new form of injustice which we increasingly recognize, namely, that “a true ‘ecological debt’ exists, particularly between the global North and South, connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time”. [9] As sacred Scripture teaches, the earth is the Lord’s and all of us dwell in it as “aliens and tenants” ( Lev 25:23). If we really wish to prepare a path to peace in our world, let us commit ourselves to remedying the remote causes of injustice, settling unjust and unpayable debts, and feeding the hungry. (taken from Spes non confundit – Bull of Indiction).

Notes:

Read the Bull of Indiction here

Blogcast: Learning Lessons of Prayer and Penance from Our Lady of Lourdes

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 4 Feb 2025 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Learning Lessons of Prayer and Penance from Our Lady of Lourdes” written by Dana Edwards Szigeti and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

In this blog post, Dana shares some of her insights she learned by attending a virtual pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes, France and how our Lady calls us to prayer and penance.

Prayer is transformative and plays a huge part in helping get us through our earthly sufferings. Choosing love helps make sacrifice endurable. St. Bernadette taught us that suffering passes, but having suffered remains eternally. The physical and emotional sacrifices of this world are temporary compared to the glory of everlasting life in heaven with God.

St. Bernadette famously said, “One who loves does not notice their trials, or perhaps more accurately, is able to love them. Love without measure.” At first, this not noticing of trials seems idealistic. But then I realized that our trials are made more bearable because of our love for another. I think of how mothers go through physical pain and exhaustion for their newborn babies, or how a father stays up at night with a sick child. I think of how husbands and wives sacrifice individual wants for the needs of each other. I think of how a friend puts their own struggles aside to help another friend going through a deep, rough patch.

We can look to Mary and Jesus as examples of how to love while enduring sacrifice. “She spoke to me as one person to another,” said St. Bernadette of Mary. This conversational nature of Mary and St. Bernadette’s relationship shows us that we can easily speak to her and ask for her prayerful intercession as our mother.

At Mary’s appearances to St. Bernadette, she revealed herself to be the Immaculate Conception. By allowing God to forgive us of our sins and conduct his work inside us, we are becoming more “immaculate” witnesses to God in the world. Mary emphasized the need for penance and prayer, not just for ourselves, but for the healing of all.

Author:

Dana Edwards Szigeti currently resides in Orlando, Florida, where she works as a senior communications representative for a local company. She moved to the city after getting married in May, and is a parishioner of Most Precious Blood Catholic Church.

Son Rise Morning Show 01/29/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Signs of Hope

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 05:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. reflects on the “Signs of Hope” section of the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year by Pope Francis.

7. In addition to finding hope in God’s grace, we are also called to discover hope in the signs of the times that the Lord gives us. As the Second Vatican Council observed: “In every age, the Church has the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. In this way, in language adapted to every generation, she can respond to people’s persistent questions about the meaning of this present life and of the life to come, and how one is related to the other”. [4] We need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence. The signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God’s saving presence, ought to become signs of hope. (taken from Spes non confundit – Bull of Indiction).

Notes:

Read the Bull of Indiction here

Blogcast: Do I Follow?

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Do I Follow?" written by Fr. Andrew P. St. Hilaire and read by Brian Rhude.

Title:

Blogcast: Do I Follow?

Description:

This blogcast explores “Do I Follow?" written by Fr. Andrew P. St. Hilaire and read by Brian Rhude.

In this blog post, Fr. Andrew reflects on St. Andrew’s following of Christ and our own call to follow Christ.

This year’s theme for the 2023 New York Encounter beautifully illustrates our current situation. To paraphrase, the theme highlights that the last few years have strengthened within each of us a desire for authentic community, a community that is truly interdependent. The uncertainty of the past few years (and the feeling of our inadequacy to face said uncertainty) have intensified our desire to be seen, accepted, and affirmed by someone in the flesh. We yearn for the presence of someone in our life who is not scandalized or embarrassed by our brokenness and sins. We desire the presence of someone who understands our life with certainty and accompanies us throughout it. We long for a presence that truly sees us and unconditionally loves us.

This is why Andrew followed Jesus along the road. For the first time, Andrew experienced this presence that saw him, a presence that understood his own life better than he did, a presence that filled this need. This is why Andrew was able to respond with such simplicity and certainty—a simplicity and certainty which would seem absurd to any outsider (think about the absurdity of following someone along the road whom you have barely met!). But the exceptional presence of Christ—the fulfillment of his desire to be seen and loved—draws out this unquestionable attraction and clarity in Andrew.

The season of Advent can draw out this unquestionable attraction and clarity within each one of us. This beautiful yet short liturgical season proposes a time to reawaken this desire and see with renewed eyes the exceptionality of Christ. In our longing to be seen, known, and loved, Advent proposes the coming of the only presence that can fill this need.

Advent gives us, if you will, a space “underneath” in which we can listen close to the song of our heart.

Author:

Fr. Andrew P. St. Hilaire is a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA. He currently serves as the Director of Campus Ministry at Bloomsburg University and is a collaborator for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

Son Rise Morning Show 01/15/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Anchored in Hope

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 16:12:05 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. reflects on the “Anchored in Hope” section of the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year by Pope Francis.

18. Hope, together with faith and charity, makes up the triptych of the “theological virtues” that express the heart of the Christian life (cf. 1 Cor 13:13; 1 Thess 1:3). In their inseparable unity, hope is the virtue that, so to speak, gives inward direction and purpose to the life of believers. For this reason, the Apostle Paul encourages us to “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, and persevere in prayer” (Rom 12:12). Surely we need to “abound in hope” (cf. Rom 15:13), so that we may bear credible and attractive witness to the faith and love that dwell in our hearts; that our faith may be joyful and our charity enthusiastic; and that each of us may be able to offer a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed, in the knowledge that, in the Spirit of Jesus, these can become, for those who receive them, rich seeds of hope. Yet what is the basis of our hope? To understand this, let us stop and reflect on “the reasons for our hope” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15) (taken from Spes non confundit – Bull of Indiction).

Notes:

Son Rise Morning Show 01/08/2025: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Jubilee of Hope

Wed, 8 Jan 2025 17:07:01 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series about the Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope.

A pilgrimage is a spiritual journey and travel of a person to a holy place. Pilgrimages are distinct from a vacation or a trip and are an analogy of the pursuit of Heaven on the Earthly journey and are means by which the faithful experience God in a unique way through a departure, travel, a visit to a holy or devotional site, and the return to one’s everyday life, having been transformed.

The Holy Father has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year, something which happens every 25 years. The theme for Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope,” and it is a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis.

The 2025 Jubilee officially opened on December 24, 2024 at 7pm, with the rite of Opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter by the Holy Father, who then presided over the celebration of the Night Mass of the Lord's Birth inside the Basilica.

Notes:

Learn more about Advent here

Read Ad Infinitum blog posts on Advent

Blogcast: Look Up, Set Out, and Give

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 7 Jan 2025 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Look Up, Set Out, and Give" written by Kate Fowler and read by Tom Carani.

In this blog post, Kate recalls the example of the Magi and encourages us to keep our head held up and our eyes on our goal of deeper relationship with Christ.

This Incarnation is awe-inspiring. So awe-inspiring, in fact, that it even draws strangers. The Messiah foretold was long-awaited by the Chosen People of God—the Israelites. And yet, how many do we see at the birth of our Lord? The Visitation of the Magi foretells the inclusion of the entire world in God’s plan of salvation. He has come not only to redeem Jews, but Gentiles—peoples of every land and nation. As Paul wrote in Sunday’s second reading, “the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

What can we learn from the magi? In his homily on the Feast of the Epiphany last year, Pope Francis boiled it down to 3 things:

To look up and see the star

To set out

To give freely

Let us imitate the magi in our lives of discipleship. They were not complacent, but so observant that they were able to recognize God’s sign: the star. “The Magi were not content with just getting by, with keeping afloat,” Pope Francis said last year. “They understood that to truly live, we need a lofty goal and we need to keep looking up.” They were vigilant, ready to go when the time came. And their hearts were receptive, disposed to the signs of the times. From there, they set out on a journey which would lead them to Christ himself. This journey required effort, planning, and sacrifice. And finally, they came bearing costly gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They met the generosity of God by reciprocating generosity. Pope Francis continued, “To give freely, for the Lord’s sake, without expecting anything in return: this is the sure sign that we have found Jesus.”

As we reflect on the significance of the Feast of the Epiphany, let us look to the example of the magi in our lives of discipleship. Let us look up beyond the distractions of the world in order to see God’s star. Let us take the risk of setting out on our journey closer to Christ with joy. And let us give generously to a world which needs the generous love and mercy of the Christ-child.

Question for Reflection: What are some things in our life that might distract us from seeing God in the everyday?

Author:

Kate Fowler is a staff member for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Her work includes: editing posts and resources for the Center, and co-hosting the OnMission podcast.

Blogcast: Ready Our Hearts

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 24 Dec 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Ready Our Hearts" written and read by Fr. Frank S. Donio, S.A.C.

In this blog post, Fr. Frank encourages us to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ at Christmas time.

Christmas approaches. We are nearly through our Advent waiting. What has this time been for us? As we enter the joyful season of celebration of the Incarnation, we have an opportunity to embrace the humble simplicity of the scene. Only the shepherds were made aware on that night and came to adore. As St. Vincent Pallotti notes, it was as God wanted it to be.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the instructions and signs given to the shepherds, allowed himself to be found as a child wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger” (OOCC, II, 66).

Eventually, those with faith in him came to know him as Emmanuel, God is with us. We know him. We believe in him. We witness him to others. Christ is with us. May we proclaim him as the angels did to the shepherds!

Please know that the prayers of the Catholic Apostolate Center team are with you at Christmas and always.

May you have a blessed Christmas!

Author:

Fr. Frank S. Donio, S.A.C., D.Min. is Founding Director of the Catholic Apostolate Center and a member of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers and Brothers). He is also Executive Director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men of the United States (CMSM).

Son Rise Morning Show 12/18/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Pilgrimages in the Jubilee Year

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 05:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series about the Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope.

The Holy Father has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year, something which happens every 25 years. The theme for Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope,” and it will be a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis.

The 2025 Jubilee will officially open on December 24, 2024 at 7pm, with the rite of Opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter by the Holy Father, who will then preside over the celebration of the Night Mass of the Lord's Birth inside the Basilica.

Notes:

Learn more about Advent here

Read Ad Infinitum blog posts on Advent

Blogcast: Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" written and read by Jonathan Sitko.

In this blog post, Jonathan reflects on the popular Advent hymn and it’s connection to the Nativity of Christ.

As a brief refresher, it is a song whose lyrics are based on the Divine Liturgy of St. James and has been used as a hymn in Greek since around the third or fourth century. Speaking about the awesome power of Christ and his gift to us through the Eucharist in vanquishing the powers of hell and bringing eternal light, this hymn was revitalized during the Oxford Movement of the 19th Century and adapted to English. For Catholics, we believe in the Real Presence, so our understanding and awe hopefully go much deeper when sung with lyrics such as:

“King of kings, yet born of Mary,

As of old on earth He stood,

Lord of lords, in human vesture,

In the body and the blood;

He will give to all the faithful

His own self for heav'nly food.”

For me, this song about Christ Jesus descending and giving of his own life and blood for us – simply because he loves us – is a powerful and calming reminder of what Advent is really about. It is not just about Christmas, and the gift giving, or even just the celebration of Christ’s birth. His birth is not what saved humanity. It was his sacrificial death and gift of the Eucharist that provides us that opportunity to join him in heaven for eternity as fulfillment of the covenant between God and his people. In a season with some of the darkest and coldest days for us in America, a song like this helps us remember that even in our darkest moments, Christ is there as a hopeful light. While the season of Advent is wrapping up, I invite you to take a few moments during your busy season to reflect on the power and awesome love of God’s gift to us, and the preparations we need to make for his return.

Author:

Jonathan Sitko is the Director of Programs for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where he focuses on managing and implementing programmatic elements of the Center. His work also includes coordinating relationships with the Center’s affiliates and collaborating organizations, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, St. Joseph’s College Online, and SLIconnect – an online formation ministry at St. Luke’s Institute. He also manages program development for any Center-focused programs and production, including webinars and videos, websites and online resources, podcasts and other audio productions, and events.

Son Rise Morning Show 12/04/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Pilgrims and Pilgrimages

Wed, 4 Dec 2024 16:39:10 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series about the Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope.

Notes:

Learn more about Advent here

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Son Rise Morning Show 11/27/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Year of Jubilee

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. starts a series about the Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope.

Notes:

Learn more about Advent here

Read Ad Infinitum blog posts on Advent

Blogcast: Embracing Advent

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Embracing Advent" written by Helena Romano and read by Amy Cardin

In this blog post, Helena shares how the Advent season stands apart from Christmas and helps prepare our hearts and souls for the coming of Christ and this period of preparation can even lend itself to a more exciting Christmas.

When we experience Advent in this way, the anticipation for Christmas builds with each passing week. As Christmas Day draws closer, we start baking and freezing the Christmas cookies to be eaten during Christmastide and to be given as gifts at Christmas parties. I take time to plan out special activities for us to do during the twelve days of Christmas, or special meals I know everyone will enjoy during that time. We pray the O Antiphons. We make or buy gifts for our loved ones, and we talk about how giving gifts to our loved ones is a reflection of the great gift of Jesus, who was given to us on Christmas Day.

In this way, when we finally decorate the house on Christmas Eve, we are all practically bouncing with excitement—and not just about presents, but about the miracle of Christ’s birth. Our children’s—and our own—sense of wonder is bolstered and preserved by our not celebrating too early. By steeping ourselves in the history of the first Christmas and by maintaining that same sense of watchful hoping and waiting, we can more fully appreciate the wonder of the arrival of the promised Messiah.

Author:

Helena Romano is an Editing Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

Son Rise Morning Show 11/20/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on The Eucharist and the Second Coming

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 16:51:28 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series connecting Advent to the Eucharist and focuses on the connection between the Eucharist and Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time.

"The Eucharist is also “A pledge of future glory.” A beautiful ejaculatory prayer, composed by the great St. Thomas Aquinas, and soon adopted by the Church, provides a catechetical summary of the Eucharist. It reads as follows: “O Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of his passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.” It would behoove us to commit this prayerful ejaculation to memory, as it wonderfully, and simply, sums up the most salient catechetical tenets concerning the Eucharistic doctrine. We are, however, chiefly concerned here with the final thought contained in this prayer. For, Christ pledges to “raise up on the last day” those who “eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood.” The Sacred Liturgy is an earthly foretaste of the heavenly Banquet, the wedding feast of the Lamb, spoken of in the book of Revelation. Thus, the coming of Christ in the Eucharist takes on an eschatological significance, as each Eucharistic celebration pre-figures the second coming of Christ—that eschatological reality for which the human heart ardently longs, as we pray with the Church: Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!" - https://www.hprweb.com/2012/06/the-holy-eucharist-central-sacrament-pre-figured-in-the-first-passover/

Christmas is the "most wonderful time of the year”: trees are trimmed, presents wrapped, and the chilly air signals the coming season of festive warmth. But did you know we're not really ready for Christmas without first observing a "little Lent?" Advent is one of the highlights of our liturgical year. Every year, at the end of the summer, I begin to yearn for colder days. Then autumn rolls around with the beautiful changing leaves, pumpkin pies, and the days seem to go by quicker and quicker (no thanks to Daylight Saving Time!). Then, just after Thanksgiving, we run right into Advent. Each year, it feels like we are sprinting to get to the holiday season and run right through Christmas and New Years. This year, though, I want to be more intentional about celebrating the joy of Advent and run an Advent Marathon, instead of my usual sprint.

Notes:

Learn more about Advent here

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Blogcast: Finding Time to be Thankful

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Finding Time to be Thankful” written and read by Sarah Harrigan.

In this blog post, Sarah shares some of the joys and benefits of keeping the things that we are grateful for at the forefront of our minds.

In prayer, I have found myself trying to be more present in the moment, more thankful, and more reflective in my thoughts. I try to write down the moments when I find myself needing grace and the moments when I am thankful for the most mundane things, and then I keep a record of them either in a physical journal or on the Notes app on my phone. When going into prayer, I like to call on this list and let it inspire my prayer of thanksgiving for these moments. I also like to look at this list when I’m feeling down or upset, as it helps me to refocus on the positive moments in my life.

Gratitude does not need to be a big thing that only happens once a year. It can be practiced daily through prayer and throughout our daily activities. Finding five minutes a day to practice gratitude exercises, work on gratitude journaling, or call a loved one can fill our hearts with joy this Thanksgiving season and can be implemented throughout the year to keep our spirits high.

Author:

Son Rise Morning Show 11/06/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on St. Joseph and the Eucharist

Wed, 6 Nov 2024 17:10:54 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series connecting Advent to the Eucharist and focuses on the connection between the Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, and the Eucharist.

Fr. Frank connects St. Joseph to the Eucharist and how he adored the Lord Jesus incarnate in the womb of Mary and beyond. Like St. Joseph, we are called to adore Jesus in the Eucharist and bring others to have encounters with the living Christ.

Notes:

Learn more about Advent here

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Son Rise Morning Show 10/30/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Eucharist

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 17:10:59 +0000

Fr. Frank makes the connection to Blessed Virgin Mary and the Eucharist. We are called to take Mary as our mother and she invites us to do whatever Jesus tells us. We find Christ in the Eucharist and we are to serve others as Mary did after receiving Jesus in the Annunciation.

Notes:

Learn more about Advent here

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Blogcast: The Musical Tradition of All Souls' Day

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Musical Tradition of All Souls' Day” written by Emily Lomnitzer and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

In this blog post, Emily shares some of the history behind All Souls’ Day’s most famous musical compositions, for example, by Mozart, Verdi, or Andrew Lloyd Weber.

Moving forward in history, we see some of the greatest composers creating masterworks called “requiems.” In these, the special prayers for Masses for the dead mentioned above as well as the prayers that are sung at ordinary Masses (like the “Kyrie”) are set to music. Usually they were written for choir as well as orchestra or organ, some requiring hundreds of musicians. Some of the most famous requiems are Mozart’s, Verdi’s, and Fauré’s. You may hear selections of these at All Souls’ Day Masses, or at special concerts dedicated to the feast, or during the season of Lent. Listening to recordings of them is also a wonderful supplement to your prayers during this time.

One of the most famous pieces of music within the tradition of All Souls’ Day is the “Pie Jesu.” Again originating from the prayers of the Mass for the Dead, the text reads, “Pious Lord Jesus, give them rest. Pious Lord Jesus, give them everlasting rest.” This prayer has become one of the most frequent inspirations for performances and composers, as the prayer itself is so simple and beautiful. There are so many beautiful versions, including one—among the most popular—composed by Andrew Lloyd Weber, the composer of The Phantom of the Opera.

Whatever your taste in sacred music, there is much to be gleaned from the vast stores of music history with regard to All Souls’ Day. For a thousand years, composers have taken to the page to help us better pray for our deceased loved ones. This year, why not find a requiem that you haven’t heard before, or listen to Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Pie Jesu”? Ask God to help you to pray for the souls of your loved ones through this music as millions of people have done before you and will continue to do as long as music lives.

Author:

Emily Lomnitzer is a young professional. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree from The Catholic University of America.

Son Rise Morning Show 10/23/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on St. John the Baptist (John 1:29) - "Behold the Lamb of God."

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 16:45:02 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses begins a new series connecting Advent to the Eucharist and focuses on Christ as the Lamb of God in the Eucharist.

Fr. Frank makes the connection to what the priest says when showing the Eucharist: “Behold the Lamb of God”, the Sacrifice of the Christ the Lamb of God for us, and the Mass as a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, dying for our sins.

Notes:

Read about St. John the Baptist here

Learn more about Advent here

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

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Blogcast: St. Andrew: What We Can Learn From The "Hidden Apostle" In Evangelization

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “St. Andrew: What We Can Learn From The "Hidden Apostle" In Evangelization" written by Danielle Schmitz and read by Meghan Abando.

In this blog post, Danielle shares about the model of St. Andrew and how he brought St. Peter to Jesus. We are called to bring others to Jesus so that they can fulfill the mission God has in mind for them.

As we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Andrew the Apostle, I am always reminded of the hidden nature of St. Andrew’s ministry. As seen in the passage from the Gospel of St. John above, Andrew is one of the first two apostles called by Jesus. Yet, we see very little of the rest of St. Andrew’s specific ministry as an apostle outside of his crucial role in bringing St. Peter, his brother, to Christ. This action taken by St. Andrew – his ‘yes’ to Jesus’ mission – was crucial to the conversion of the rock of our Church, and requires greater reflection to see how just like St. Andrew, we are called to a hidden, simple, and apostolic life that leads to the raising up the next leaders of the Church.

Like all things in the Christian life, St. Andrew’s life changed when he met Jesus and was called to follow Him. Earlier in the first chapter of John, St. Andrew leaves behind everything to follow Jesus, recognizing Him as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Similarly, we in living the Christian life have all experienced that moment when we heard Jesus calling us into relationship and adventure with Him, and responded enthusiastically to that call, leaving behind the ways of the world to follow Christ. After being called, we see that St. Andrew helped to bring other people to Christ – he didn’t want to keep the good news that he had found to himself. Not only did St. Andrew want to bring his brother Peter to Jesus, but he recognized that Peter had a mission in the Church as well, and he rejoiced in what God wanted to do with the life and talents of his brother.

In stepping out in the apostolic life, the first step in evangelization is to go out and share the good news with those we encounter. However, the second, and I believe more important step, is to recognize gifts in others that can help to build up the kingdom, and calling those people to use their gifts for God’s will. This kind of evangelization is very hidden – no one knows the people who helped to build up the great saints of the Church – and yet this ministry is so crucial. Evangelizing and accompanying, as St. Andrew exemplifies, allows us to rejoice in God’s movement in the world, and allows others to fulfill the fullness of their personal vocation. Who in your life has been given gifts that can be used to build up the kingdom on earth? Take a step of boldness and guide them towards the Lord so that their gifts can be used for the greater glory of God. With the intercession of St. Andrew, let us pray that the Lord will give us the grace to live out the last line of the Litany of Humility fully: “That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it.” St. Andrew, the hidden apostle, pray for us!

Author:

Danielle Schmitz is a Communications Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where she assists in the updating and creation of social media content for new and ongoing projects at the Center.

St. Andrew:

St. Andrew was one of the Twelve Apostles and brother to St. Peter. Born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, Andrew was one of the first disciples of Jesus. Per Christian tradition, he went on to preach the Gospel in the region that is now Greece and Turkey. He was martyred by crucifixion in Patras; it is believed that he requested that his cross be made in the shape of an X because he thought he was unworthy to be killed on the same style of cross that Jesus had died upon. Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen because of his shared profession with his brother. Pope Benedict XVI called Andrew the “Apostle of the Greek world” and called on imagery of brotherhood between Peter and Andrew and Western and Eastern Churches.

Son Rise Morning Show 10/02/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Men Religious - Apostolic and Contemplative

Wed, 2 Oct 2024 16:20:58 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses Male Religious communities and the difference between Apostolic and Contemplative communities.

Apostolic communities are characterized by their work of charity in the world. They are sent out to care for those who are suffering and witness Christ. The contemplative communities emphasize the need to pray for the world and growing in a deeper relationship with God through their prayer.

“The religious state is a public and complete state of consecrated life….religious observe the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. They bind themselves to observe these by means of vows, which are either perpetual or temporary but renewed when they expire (can. 607.2). These vows are always public vows, i.e. recognized as such by the Church (can. 1192.1). This religious state requires fraternal life in community and also a degree of separation from the world in conformity with the character and purpose of the individual institute (can. 607.2 and 607.3).” Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; See also Code of Canon Law, 607.2

“The life consecrated through the profession of the evangelical counsels [chastity, poverty, and obedience] is a stable form of living by which the faithful, following Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit, are totally dedicated to God who is loved most of all…” – Code of Canon Law, 573.1

Notes:

Learn more about religious life here

Explore contemplative men's communities

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

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Blogcast: St. Therese and the Power of Intercession

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 1 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “St. Therese and the Power of Intercession" written by Danielle Schmitz and read by Meghan Abando.

In this blog post, Danielle shares the intercessory power of St. Therese of Lisieux and how we are called to intercede for those in our lives, like St. Therese.

St. Therese realized that our prayer has power because it is the cry of children to their Father, a Father who can’t resist saying “yes” to His children. She saw prayer not as bargaining with God, but as uniting her will and desires to God’s and asking that the same happen for whoever she was interceding for. Approaching prayer in this way radically changes the way that we intercede for others. We can step out and ask for prayer boldly and with confidence, because we can trust that the prayers will help bring about God’s will in our lives, not our own.

Another key part of St. Therese’s model for intercession is that she saw intercession not as her own work, but as God’s work. St. Therese called her spirituality “the little way,” and it involves recognizing our own weakness and littleness before God and asking Him to sanctify us and bring us closer to Him through our littleness. One of the most fundamental keys to intercession is believing in the power of our prayers despite our littleness and imperfection. To understand the power of our prayer, we need to understand that God delights in us and desires to use us in our littleness. St. Therese explains that when we become little, we make room for God to work. If we apply this same principle to intercessory prayer, we see that no matter how small or simple the prayer, God wants to use it for His greater glory. God doesn’t ask us for a big complicated prayer but for the honest prayer of our hearts, no matter its size.

Intercessory prayer is one of the most important parts of Catholic life, but often it can be overlooked. Looking at the model of St. Therese and her little way, we can learn that intercessory prayer is a beautiful part of our lives. Further, we see that it can make a real, tangible difference in the natural and supernatural realities around us when we offer our prayers with full confidence in God’s providence despite our littleness. St. Therese, pray for us, and teach us how to intercede like you!

Author:

Danielle Schmitz is a Communications Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where she assists in the updating and creation of social media content for new and ongoing projects at the Center.

St. Therese of Lisieux:

Famous for her autobiography, Story of a Soul, St. Therese of Lisieux was a 19th century French saint and a Doctor of the Church. She became a Carmelite nun in 1887 at the age of fifteen, though her life was cut short by tuberculosis at the age of 24. She embodied the power of prayer and, as a result, became a patron saint of missionaries, despite her status as a cloistered nun. Seeing herself as the “little flower of Jesus”, she famously quipped: "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses." Those with a devotion to St. Therese often report that roses appear when they ask for her intercession or guidance. St. Therese’s parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, are also saints.

Son Rise Morning Show 09/25/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Women Religious - Apostolic and Contemplative Religious

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:58:51 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses Women Religious with a focus on Apostolic and Contemplative Religious communities.

Apostolic religious life is a form of consecrated life within the Church wherein the members profess vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience within a congregation or community approved by the Church. Shared community life is an integral part of this form of consecrated life. In professing vows and living within community, the members individually and as a whole witness to a life of communion with Christ, the Church, and one another.

The mystery of the contemplative life is woven tightly with the mystery of the Incarnation. This mystery finds an especially vivid expression in the life of a cloistered nun, when a woman chooses to spend her whole life within the walls of a monastery, hidden from the world for the sake of intimacy with God. The cloister is a shocking thing, and sometimes non-Christians (and Christians!) are scandalized by it. But even more shocking is the idea that an infinite God chose to take on a finite human nature, to confine Himself within the limits of the created world, which, to Him, must have seemed far, far smaller than the bounds of a cloistered monastery!

Notes:

Learn more about Apostolic Religious Life here.

Explore Contemplative Communities here.

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

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Blogcast: The Power of a Name

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Power of a Name" written by Erin Donn and read by Tom Carani.

In this blog post, Erin reflects on the first title the child Jesus gave to Mary: Mom.

When we speak Mary’s name and call out to her as our spiritual mom, we are fulfilling St. Francis de Sales' words to “run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.” We can give ourselves to Mary, like Jesus did, and she will in turn bring us closer to God. In the repetition of these Marian prayers and hymns we spiritually speak our mother Mary’s name and ask for her help from the depths of our hearts.

Just like our earthly mothers cherish the little gifts we give and imperfect efforts we make, Mary graciously receives and multiplies everything we call out to her from our heart. Mary doesn’t need us to come to her with perfect devotion, but with an honest desire to grow closer to Jesus through her. Day after day, we can speak her most holy name and call on her assistance with the confidence that she will come to our aid.

As we honor the Most Holy Name of Mary, we pray the Lord will enkindle in us a deeper trust and devotion to His mother. Let us speak Mary’s name with love and devotion, trusting in the power of her intercession and mediation for us. Mama Mary, pray for us!

Author:

Erin Donn serves as the parish missionary at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington, DC.

Son Rise Morning Show 09/11/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Consecrated Virgins and Hermits

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 15:50:22 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses Consecrated Virgins and Hermits.

Consecrated virgins and hermits are officially recognized by the Church and the local Bishop. They devote their lives to prayer, penance, and intercession for the Church and the people of God. This is a particular Vocation discerned by the individual and the Church. The vocation of a hermit became most popular among early Christians, who, inspired by Old Testament saints such as Elijah and John the Baptist, desired to live a life set apart and therefore withdrew into the desert in order to live lives of prayer and penance. But the vocation is still a recognized calling in the Church today, and is about so much more than seemingly-odd ascetic practices and isolation.

The consecrated virgin remains in the secular state, providing completely for her own material needs, medical care, and retirement. At no time is the diocese financially responsible for her. The consecrated virgin does not wear habit or veil, nor use the title "Sister," nor write "OCV" after her name. She witnesses subtly, but publicly and powerfully, by her virginal life given exclusively to Jesus Christ. Consecrated virgins today wear their ring, but their comportment, modesty in dress, simplicity in lifestyle all betoken their living of the evangelical counsels: poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Notes:

Learn more about Consecrated Virgins here

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

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Son Rise Morning Show 09/04/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Secular Institutes

Wed, 4 Sep 2024 16:27:28 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses Secular Institutes in the United States.

(from the United States Conference of Secular Institutes): We are a sign of the Church that loves to be among the people! Members of secular institutes are “in the world and not of the world, but for the world.” We live in whatever providential circumstances God gives us, but we wholly consecrate our lives to God through the evangelical counsels of poverty, obedience, and celibate-chastity. We are the newest vocation in the Catholic Church, and many say we are the vocation of the new millennium. Each secular institute bears the unique charism of its founders and traditions, and each celebrates its “communion” by annual retreats, meetings, common daily prayer, and friendships that evolve quite naturally from living a similar life in God despite differences in profession or work in the world. A web of connectedness grows over time, linking the members to one another inextricably. For all consecrated seculars, the vocation undergirds all they undertake because it becomes the essence of what they are in God’s eye.

On February 2, 1947, Pope Pius XII gave official approval to secular institutes as an original form of consecrated life within the Catholic Church. Members have the special mission “to work for the sanctification of the world from within” (Provida Mater Ecclesia).

Members of secular institutes belong to consecrated life. They profess a life of poverty, chastity and obedience, the evangelical counsels, so named because Jesus gave us this advice for happiness in the Gospels.

Poverty: means that we do not rely on material possessions for our happiness, but trust in God to provide what we need. We free ourselves from the excess baggage of worrying about accumulating money or possessions.

Chastity: is built on love, respect and concern for everyone we encounter. We are free from the exclusive love that marriage requires so that we can share our love more fully with many people.

Obedience: requires that we be available to do whatever God may ask of us. Obedience frees us from personal ambition.

Everyone should follow this advice, but consecrated persons make public promises to God and the Church to make this their full time career. Their main ministry is not a job; their main ministry is love

Members of secular institutes: where are they?

They are in the marketplace, tilling a field, in the home anywhere, everywhere who live fully for Christ. They are the heartbeat of the Church in everyday life. Consecrated seculars live like their co-workers, but their hearts belong first to the Lord who called them to total commitment and who sustains them in their jobs where they bring their love of the Lord to others.

Notes:

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

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Blogcast: The Practice of Wonder

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 3 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Practice of Wonder” written by Erin Donn and read by Tom Carani.

In this blog post, Erin encourages us to recognize the beauty and wonder that can be found all around us.

One of my favorite things about children is the sense of wonder that they naturally possess. Despite the ordinariness and repetition of their days, their lives are marked by wonder. As children go through the simple events that make up their days, they are able to see the awesome newness all around them: a colorful beetle in the garden, a new color made when mixing paints, sounding out a new word for the first time. It is true that as adults there may be fewer things for us to discover and learn; we've figured out how most things work and generally know what to expect from an event or situation. But, what if we still let ourselves be open to the wonder around us and approached situations with more curiosity? When we have conversations with friends, we can marvel at their goodness and how God is working in their lives. When we take the dog for a walk, we can leave our phone at home and soak in the sights and sounds around us. We can take time to cultivate a hobby or learn a new skill. These events might not be novel, but they can offer us an opportunity to slow down and see what newness God may be speaking into them.

This sense of wonder can be cultivated in our spiritual lives, too. God wants us to wonder at Him, to be captivated by Him, to enter the mystery of His presence among us. The great mysteries of the Church aren’t matters to be solved or rationally understood; rather, they are truths meant to be pondered ever more deeply. What better disposition than one of wonder with which to enter into these mysteries? We can give our “rapt attention” and “astonishment” to Jesus’ True Presence in the Eucharist or to contemplating the ways God has worked in the lives of people throughout scripture. Like children encountering the newness right in front of them, we can ask God to fill us with a spirit of wonder when we go to pray or experience the sacraments. In this way He can transform the parts of our spiritual lives that may just feel routine and ordinary into moving encounters of His perpetual newness.

Author:

Erin Donn serves as the parish missionary at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington, DC.

Blogcast: The Mother and Head

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Mother and Head” written by Victor David and read by John Cardillo.

In this blog post, Patrick reflects on his high school Mass experiences and the communion among mankind and God himself.

The full name of this particular church is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran. What a mouthful! The Lateran Basilica is one of the “major or papal basilicas,” the four highest-ranking churches in Roman Catholicism, due to their historical significance. The other three are St. Peter’s in the Vatican, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major. St. John Lateran (as it is commonly known) is the oldest of the four, the oldest public church in Rome, and houses the cathedra (seat) of the pope in his capacity as the Bishop of Rome. Because it houses the cathedra, the basilica is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. It is also the sole holder of the title “archbasilica,” demonstrating its ranking above every other church in the world.

An inscription on the façade of the building says, “Sacrosancta Lateranensis ecclesia omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput.” Translated, it means, “The Most Holy Lateran Church, mother and head of all the churches in the city and the world.” Today’s feast day celebrates not only the physical structure itself, but also what it symbolizes. As the seat of the Holy Father, it reminds our hearts and minds of the fidelity we show to the successor of St. Peter, an expression of unity that binds together all the faithful. Moreover, the physical edifice of the church calls to mind what the Catechism states, “The Church is the Body of Christ” (CCC 805). While the Lateran Basilica itself is a magnificent building, housing priceless works of art, in the end it is just a hollow shell. The faithful who enter it, pray in it, and celebrate the Eucharist inside it are what truly bring it to life and bring its purpose to fulfillment.

On this feast day, let us pray. Let us pray for the Holy Father, that he may continue to lead the faithful entrusted to his care. And let us pray for the Church, that her members may always work in unity to bring about Christ’s kingdom on earth.

Author:

Victor David is a Collaborator with the Catholic Apostolate Center and is a staff member at The Catholic University of America, his alma mater, in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Catholic University Knights of Columbus.

Son Rise Morning Show 08/07/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on The Art of Mentorship

Wed, 7 Aug 2024 16:39:24 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the new resource, The Art of Mentorship, available now on the Catholic Apostolate Center website.

The Art of Mentorship is a free resource from the Catholic Apostolate Center to help those who are Young Adults learn the best processes and practices of mentorship. In it are helpful and practical tips on how to identify and work with a mentor in a spiritually fulfilling and joy filled journey. Whether you are seeking a mentor for a short or long time, finding someone to help young adults grow into their lifelong vocation is something all who believe in accompaniment will find valuable.

The Art of Accompaniment: Theological, Spiritual, and Practical Elements of Building a More Relational Church, is also a resource from the Catholic Apostolate Center which assists in the development of true accompaniment within the Church Today. Building on the Church's rich history of accompaniment, The Art of Accompaniment makes theological and practical elements come to life and easily attainable.

Notes:

Learn more about The Art of Mentorship

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

Read Christus Vivit

Read Ad Infinitum blog posts on Accompaniment and Mentorship

Blogcast: Reflections from One Week in Rome

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 6 Aug 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Reflections from One Week in Rome” written and read by Sarah Harrigan.

In this blog post, Sarah reflects on her travel experiences while in Rome for a leadership program where she encountered members of the Church from around the world.

Each day, we began with morning prayer, and we were encouraged to volunteer to share a prayer exercise with the group. One of my favorites was learning and participating in the Taize prayer. I have always enjoyed prayer through music, but I had never experienced this meditation technique. It was very calming and helped me to put my focus on the Lord. We ended each day with evening prayer followed by dinner, which we ate together as a group. Sharing meals together as a group and telling stories from our own experiences and backgrounds really helped to strengthen our bond as a group. Every meal was filled with inquisitive insight, laughter, and joy (as well as delicious home cooked Italian food!). I had never lived in a community before; I had lived in a dorm for several years in college, but I had never experienced community life like this. It was such a great experience! Everyone was so welcoming, warm, friendly, and always went out of their way to help one another. Whether it was helping me carry my suitcase to the fourth floor, filling up my glass at dinner, or lending me a bus ticket, I was struck by the selflessness of others.

In reflection, I experienced so much growth during this one week abroad. I grew in my confidence of solo travel, I grew in my professional life by learning various leadership skills, I grew in my personal life from meeting so many people of different cultural backgrounds, and I grew in my spiritual life through our studies of the saints. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to attend the Summer Leadership Development Program and will continue to grow from the experience for years to come.

Author:

Webinar: Marriage Accompaniment - Tips and Suggestions for successful models of marriage accompaniment

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 14:14:47 +0000

In our final webinar of this three part series, Dr. Steven Serafin provides suggestions for successful models of marriage ministry. How to identify models that might work for you, as well as provide some insights in ways to grow your marriage ministry into a sustainable and successful one for your community. Follow us: - The Catholic Apostolate Center - The Center's podcast website - Instagram - Facebook - Apple Podcasts - Spotify Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Chosen to be in Communion

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Chosen to be in Communion" written by Annie Harton and read by Amy Cardin.

In this blog post, Annie reflects on her experience as an extra for the tv series, The Chosen.

One word that describes this show and the phenomenon that it’s generated is communion. During this Eucharistic Revival, it’s critical to draw our attention to the one-ness that Jesus desires for His Church:

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” John 17:20-21

As a TV show, The Chosen has attracted viewers of all backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs. The focus on the historical Jesus unites people because we can all share the experience of being human. In between takes on the hot Utah set, I sat in the air-conditioned tent with hundreds of background volunteers from around the world. Some lived down the street and others flew across oceans to come together for this experience. I met people from all denominations and know that not all were even believers. They were just intrigued by the community that has formed around the show.

During the last day of filming last week, the cast was required to strike in union with the Screen Actors Guild. Since the show itself is independent from Hollywood, production could continue with the background actors. It was strange to be on set without Jesus and the disciples, but it reminded me of the quote from St. Teresa of Avila: “Christ has no body now but ours, no feet but ours.” My fellow background actors embraced this opportunity to carry the load on set for the cast who were missing us since they stayed home. While “TV actor Jesus” (Jonathan Roumie) was not visible, I believed that Jesus Christ was indeed present. At Mass, we may not see the historical Jesus with our eyes or hear him with our ears. And yet, the priest stands in persona Christi so Christ’s Word can be heard and His Body and Blood received.

Author:

Blogcast: The Visitation: A Model for Walking with Women

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 9 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Visitation: A Model for Walking with Women” written and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

In this blog post, Fatima shares how the example of Mary’s visitation to her cousin Elizabeth is a way to accompany women in our communities.

I invite you to celebrate this feast day by imitating the example of Mary and taking the initiative to reach out to a woman in your community.

While this may involve going a bit outside our comfort zone, each of us, no matter where we are in life, can offer this much-needed kinship. We don’t have to be in the same boat as a woman in need or know her pain or experience firsthand. We are simply called to walk alongside her, providing support, friendship, and encouragement. Accompaniment does not mean taking on or attempting to fix someone’s problems. It means a willingness to listen, to be truly present to another, to offer reassurance, closeness, and compassion.

Reaching out to a woman in your community can take many forms, from working to enact systemic change (such as advocating for paid parental leave or working to ensure access to healthcare) to just grabbing a cup of coffee with a mom you know.

Other concrete ideas for living out the spirit of the Visitation include offering to babysit, donating to or volunteering with a local pregnancy center, starting or joining a mom’s group at your parish, organizing a diaper drive, or making a meal for a family. You may consider getting involved with Walking with Moms in Need, the Church’s nationwide initiative that helps Catholics form parish teams to identify resources in their local area and connect pregnant and parenting mothers with support and services.

For a woman struggling in her fertility journey, just lending an ear, offering to accompany her to a doctor’s appointment, or putting her in touch with someone else who has been there can make a huge difference.

In every gesture of closeness, we will find ourselves enriched and accompanied in return. May we strive to emulate authentically the spirit of the Visitation, so that every woman can come to feel the profound embrace of kinship!

Author:

Son Rise Morning Show 07/03/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Send: Knowing and Living Being Sent Forth from the Eucharist to the World

Wed, 3 Jul 2024 16:18:55 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on the Eucharistic Revival and discusses how we are all called to evangelize and help others come to know Christ more personally with inspiration from what Jesus says: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19).

The National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year initiative sponsored by the Bishops of the United States to inspire and prepare the People of God to be formed, healed, converted, united, and sent out to a hurting and hungry world through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – the source and summit of our Catholic faith. The Revival officially launched in June 2022, and its milestone event will be a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, IN, from July 17-21, 2024. The National Eucharistic Revival and National Eucharistic Congress are a direct response to the Holy Father’s call for a “pastoral and missionary conversion which cannot leave things as they presently are” so that the Church in the United States might be “permanently in a state of mission” (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 25).

This eucharistic movement seeks to bring together clergy, religious, laity, apostolates, movements, and parish and diocesan leaders to spur momentum, collaboration, and lasting impact for the renewal of the Catholic Church in the U.S. over the next three years. Each year will have a strategic focus for formation and missionary discipleship.

Living as Missionary Disciples: A Resource for Evangelization serves as a road map for leaders and provides principles of evangelization and missionary discipleship, with resources designed for pastoral leaders to develop, enhance, and review their own local strategies to create an evangelizing parish.

Notes:

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about the Eucharistic Revival

Son Rise Morning Show 06/26/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Community: Participating Fully in the Body of Christ, the Church, Especially at Mass

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 14:59:32 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on the Eucharistic Revival and discusses how we are called to a life of community with Christ, his Church, and how we are to participate in the Mass as the Body of Christ with inspiration from John 15:4.

Notes:

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about the Eucharistic Revival

Blogcast: The Eucharist is Not About Us, But it Also Is

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Eucharist is Not About Us, But it Also Is” written by Patrick Hyland and read by John Cardillo.

In this blog post, Patrick reflects on his high school Mass experiences and the communion among mankind and God himself.

Considering this, I’d like to suggest three different levels on which we might view the Mass. At the end of the day, these are all describing the same Eucharistic mystery, but it may help us to truly appreciate what is going on when we go to Church. First, we witness up close the eternal worship of the Son given to the Father through the Holy Spirit. The powerful, mysterious, life-giving love of the Trinity is on display, which is quite simply mind-blowing. The God who spoke the stars into existence and took on flesh to save us has come close to show us His inner life. Secondly, we don’t simply watch all of this happen, but we actually get to receive it. This happens through the proclamation of the Scriptures, where we receive God’s word, and then through the reception of the Eucharist, where Jesus’s flesh and blood mingle with ours, and we receive the very life, love, and peace which we witness in the Trinity. Thirdly, we are gifted with the ability to experience all of this not just on our own, but alongside our brothers and sisters. Jesus came not just to reconcile humanity with God, but also to reconcile us with one another and with ourselves. So there is a level where God is relating to God, a level where God is relating to me, and finally a level where God is relating to all of us together, and we relate to one another.

So next time you go to Mass, ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to truly see the different layers of divine activity at play in the Eucharistic celebration. Ask for the grace to see that Mass is more than just a gathering of believers. Ask for the grace to see God’s jealous love poured out for you as an individual in the Eucharist. Ask for the grace to see how the Eucharist unites us as the Church. The Eucharist is not about us, but it also is. God desperately desires to draw us into His love and communion as one Church, and in the Eucharist, He has given us an incredible gift which does just that. May we let Him draw us in.

Author:

Son Rise Morning Show 06/19/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompany: Walking with Others and Helping Them Toward Christ in the Eucharist

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:14:15 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on the Eucharistic Revival and discusses how we can accompany others on their journey to encounter Christ in the Eucharist with a focus on the call of St. Matthew, a tax collector, as read in Matthew 9:9.

Notes:

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about the Eucharistic Revival

Marriage Accompaniment - Trends in Formation for Couples and Strategies to Achieve Lifelong Marriages

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 19:31:46 +0000

Continuing with May's presentation, join Steven Serafin and guest from his Marriage Formation project to discuss current trends in formation, as well as some best practices on ways to achieve success in marriage ministry.

Son Rise Morning Show 06/12/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Encounter: Drawing Others into an Encounter with Christ in the Eucharist

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 14:34:36 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on the Eucharistic Revival and discusses encountering Christ in the Eucharist and helping others encounter Jesus Christ.

Notes:

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about the Eucharistic Revival

Blogcast: Finding Freedom in the Eucharist

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Finding Freedom in the Eucharist," written and read by Danielle Schmitz.

In this blog post, Danielle discusses the freedom and love one can encounter by receiving Christ in the Eucharist and spending time visiting with him in Adoration.

“Dear young people, the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist. Only He gives the fullness of life to humanity!” – Pope Benedict XVI

All of us, including You and I, are all seen by the Father as His beloved daughters and sons, and He desires to show us that truth and the love He holds for us in a real, tangible way through the Eucharist. Every time we receive Jesus into our bodies, every time we spend time gazing into His face in adoration, we give Him the opportunity to remind us of how unconditionally loved we are, how we belong with Him and nothing else. These truths give us the freedom to not fear what waits in the world, nor fear the chains of sin or worldliness. They help us recognize that there is no fear in the perfect love we experience living in Jesus Christ, and the only thing we have to worry about is following His will. When the world is not something to fear, we can recognize creation as the gift that it is and receive what the Lord has waiting for us.

The next time you go to Mass or adoration, recognize that Love Incarnate is entering you in order to prove just how far He’ll go to show that you belong with Him. Allow that truth of His unconditional love and your belonging in it to shape the way you live your life, embracing the freedom He has won and given to us.

Author:

Danielle Schmitz is a Communications Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where she assists in the updating and creation of social media content for new and ongoing projects at the Center.

Webinar: Disaffiliation, Belonging, and Belief

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 4 Jun 2024 14:49:59 +0000

Disaffiliation and lack of participation are significant issues impacting Catholic college campuses, parishes, and many other ministries nationwide. Discover the latest information, trends, and data aimed at increasing awareness and generating ideas to address and enhance these situations within our ministries. Join us for a presentation titled "Disaffiliation, Belonging, and Belief" by Founding Director, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. This presentation, which Fr. Donio previously delivered at the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) in 2023.

Son Rise Morning Show 05/29/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Eucharistic Revival, Congress, Missionary Sending

Wed, 29 May 2024 17:02:30 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. introduces a series on the Eucharistic Revival and Missionary Discipleship.

Notes:

Click to view Living as Missionary Discipleship Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about the Eucharistic Revival

Blogcast: The Importance of Retreat Spaces

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 28 May 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Importance of Retreat Spaces” written and read by Sarah Harrigan.

In this blog post, Sarah reflects on the spaces and places that she has experienced during different retreats she attended and how they impact the experience.

Here at the Pallottine Seminary at Green Hill, we offer a full events facility for day events and can accommodate groups (smaller than thirty-five adults) for retreats, board meetings, or other similar group meeting needs. Additionally, there is a chapel for Mass, prayer, and adoration, a dining room for group meals, and several outdoor locations for break out groups or just to walk around our manicured fourteen acre landscaping. Just walking around Green Hill is such a relaxing experience; it is so quiet and serene, and such an enjoyable place to visit. Green Hill is even fully equipped with an audio / visual studio! Here, guests can record podcasts, film videos, and even host webinars from our studio space, which includes a teleprompter, lighting, microphones, and other items you may need. Our dedicated meeting space, the Queen of Apostles Room, was recently renovated to include a brand-new camera, microphone, and speaker system allowing for ease of use for events with virtual participants. Truly, most any amenity you may need for your group, you can find here. It is our hope that Green Hill can help to facilitate all your needs and enhance any retreat or group meeting experience.

Retreats have the ability to be an experience that can be both connective and solitary. Through retreats, I found my spiritual life growing not just through my own words and thoughts, but through those of whom I was journeying with. We hope that Green Hill can be the backdrop for your next group meeting space and facilitate all the meaningful conversations to come for you and your ministry.

Author:

Webinar: Marriage Accompaniment - Why is post marriage couple formation important?

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 22 May 2024 15:04:26 +0000

The first in a 3 part series of webinars by Dr. Steven Serafin discussing his work in continuing marriage ministry. In his studies and work, he has learned of the importance of ministry and supporting couples post marriage preparation as a way to continue lifelong and holy marriages. Please join him in this presentation to discuss the reasons for this and some considerations for couples in ministry.

Dr. Steven Serafin is currently the Pastoral Associate of St. Bartholomew’s in Scotch Plains, NJ, where he leads an initiative called the Emmaus Coalition of Life Long Formation. He is the creator of Endure: Marriage Enrichment Initiative through Faith and Family Life Catholic Ministries. He graduated from Catholic University with a Doctor in Ministry in 2022, he has received a M.A in Theology with a focus in Evangelization and Catechesis from The University of Notre Dame’s Echo program and a B.A from Catholic University with a minor in Finance and Management. He has served in a number of ministerial positions: Associate Director for Catechesis for the Archdiocese of Newark, Director of Faith Formation, Campus Minister, and Teacher. His treatise focused on Accompanying the Next Generation of Newlyweds: A Parish Model for Perfecting the Love of Marriage Through a Peer Collaborative Dialogue.

Son Rise Morning Show 05/15/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on God, the Holy Spirit - Sending of Apostles

Fri, 17 May 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the sending of the Holy Spirit and the sending of the apostles.

Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus and 10 days after his ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13.

The timing of these feasts is also where Catholics get the concept of the novena — nine days of prayer — because in Acts 1, Mary and the Apostles prayed together “continuously” for nine days after the Ascension leading up to Pentecost. Traditionally, the Church prays the novena to the Holy Spirit in the days before Pentecost.

The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word “pentecoste,” meaning 50th.

Notes:

Click to view Resources

Learn more about Mary, Queen of Apostles

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about Lent, Easter and Pentecost

Son Rise Morning Show 05/08/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Mary, Queen of Apostles - Model of Christian Life, Intercessor, Mother, Queen

Wed, 15 May 2024 13:45:45 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Queen of Apostles. The focus is on her as model of Christian life, as intercessor, mother, and queen. They also talk about the feast day itself (Saturday before Pentecost).

"The perfect example of this type of spiritual and apostolic life is the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles, who while leading the life common to all here on earth, one filled with family concerns and labors, was always intimately united with her Son and in an entirely unique way cooperated in the work of the Savior. Having now been assumed into heaven, with her maternal charity she cares for these brothers of her Son who are still on their earthly pilgrimage and remain involved in dangers and difficulties until they are led into the happy fatherland. All should devoutly venerate her and commend their life and apostolate to her maternal care."

(Apostolicam Actuositatem, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, 4)

The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word “pentecoste,” meaning 50th.

Notes:

Click to view Resources

Learn more about Mary, Queen of Apostles

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about Lent, Easter and Pentecost

Blogcast: St. Kateri Tekakwitha: Lily of the Mohawks

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 14 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “St. Kateri Tekakwitha: Lily of the Mohawks," written by Pat Fricchione and read by Sarah Harrigan.

“St. Kateri Tekakwitha: Lily of the Mohawks," by Pat Fricchione. In this Blogcast, Pat Fricchione, the author, describes the life of a World Youth Day Krakow patron Saint, St. Kateri Tekakwitha. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, was born in 1656 to a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother in modern upstate New York. She contracted smallpox in her youth, which led to poor eyesight. She learned about the Christian faith from Jesuit Father Jacques de Lamberville and received Baptism and First Holy Communion on Christmas day at the age of 21. She died on April 17, 1680 at the age of 24 and Pope Benedict XVI canonized her on October 21, 2012, made her patron of the environment, and her feast day is July 14. Pat Fricchione concludes his blog post with a reminder of the need to care for our common home as explained in Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’.

To learn more about St. Kateri Tekakwitha, click here.
For more information on World Youth Day 2016, click here.

Sarah Harrigan:

Pat Fricchione:

Pat Fricchione is a collaborator with the Catholic Apostolate Center.

Follow us:

Blogcasts are produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources and podcasts. Listen to Fr. Frank’s weekly reflections, episodes of On Mission, and recent blogcasts.

Son Rise Morning Show 05/01/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Upper Room or Cenacle - Time of Forming in Prayer

Wed, 1 May 2024 15:38:13 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. the Upper Room, or Cenacle, and the formation in prayer the disciples undertook in this room.

The upper room is the place the disciples came together in the time leading up to Pentecost and is also the location of the Last Supper.

The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word “pentecoste,” meaning 50th.

Notes:

Click to view Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about Lent, Easter and Pentecost

Blogcast: Journeying with Christ in College

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Journeying with Christ in College," written by Christian Bordak-Roseman and read by Patrick Hyland.

“Journeying with Christ in College,” by Christian Bordak-Roseman. In his blog post, Christian describes how he grew in his faith and in relationship with Christ while he studied at university. He specifically recalls his experience of being accompanied by student ministers on campus. They are student who, while receiving a degree themselves, participate in ministry and help other students acclimate to university life and help students encounter Christ. Christian found more spiritual growth in spiritual direction and when he became a student minister himself. His time as a student minister during the COVID-19 pandemic was not without challenge, but he embraced the challenge and was still able to grow and help others to grow as well.

Links:

Click here to view the COVID-19 Resource Page.

View the Art of Accompaniment and Living as Missionary Disciples resource pages.

Listen to On Mission episodes about accompaniment, spiritual direction, and spiritual growth while in college.

Contributors:

Christian Bordak-Roseman is a Program Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where he assists with new and ongoing projects for the Center. Christian is a student at The Catholic University of America seeking his Bachelor's degree in History and his Master’s degree in Secondary Education. He also works with the Campus Ministry Office at the Catholic University as a Student Minister.

Patrick Hyland is a program associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center where he assists with new and existing resources on the Center’s website and contributes to the Center’s marketing and consultancy efforts.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Patrick is a junior at The Catholic University of America pursuing a double major in Operations Management and Theology. On campus, Patrick is involved with the Office of Campus Ministry, planning events and accompanying undergraduate students as a Student Minister. Additionally, Patrick loves music, playing drums for various groups and working as a freelance DJ for weddings and other private events.

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Son Rise Morning Show 04/24/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Ascension - Mission Given

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 10:36:16 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. begins a mini-series about the path from Easter to Pentecost.

The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word “pentecoste,” meaning 50th.

Notes:

Click to view Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about Lent, Easter and Pentecost

Blogcast: What is My Life? - Reflections on Motherhood

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “What is My Life? - Reflections on Motherhood," written and read by Kate Fowler.

“What is My Life? - Reflections on Motherhood,” by Kate Fowler.

To read St. John Paul II’s Letter to Women, click here.

Author:

Kate Fowler is the Blog Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Her work includes: coordinating our Ad Infinitum blog, editing posts and resources for the Center, and co-hosting the OnMission podcast.

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“Finding Faith in a New Parish,” by Christian Bordak-Roseman

Son Rise Morning Show 04/10/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Joy of Easter

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:02:08 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the joy of Easter and the peace we receive from Jesus Christ.

Joy

“Holy joy and spiritual cheerfulness are distinctive characteristics of true servants of the Lord.” ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Listen to the previous installments on Solitude, Sacrifice, Selflessness, Solitude, Self-Denial, Suffering, and Surrender

Lent is a special time to fast, increase prayer, and increase our almsgiving. Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. The Easter Vigil is the "Mother of All Vigils" and Easter Sunday is the greatest of all Sundays. The season of Easter is the most important of all liturgical times, which Catholics celebrate as the Lord's resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. The octave of Easter comprises the eight days which stretch from the first to the second Sunday. It is a way of prolonging the joy of the initial day. There are 50 days of Easter from the first Sunday to Pentecost. It is characterized, above all, by the joy of glorified life and the victory over death expressed most fully in the great resounding cry of the Christian: Alleluia! All faith flows from faith in the resurrection: "If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith." (1 Cor 15:14)

Notes:

Click to view Resources

Read Ad Infinitum Blog Posts about Lent or Easter

Blogcast: Finding Faith in a New Parish

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 2 Apr 2024 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Finding Faith in a New Parish," written by Christian Bordak-Roseman and read by Chris Pierno.

To read Evangelii Gaudium, click here.

Author:

Reader:

Chris Pierno: With the Center since 2011, Chris Pierno is the Catholic Apostolate Center's Manager of Marketing & Consulting. In this role, he oversees the Center's marketing program and coordination of consulting services. He also supports the staff in areas of graphic design, advancement, public relations, administration, and strategic planning for the Center. Chris also is a co-host for the Center's premier podcast, OnMission.

He holds a master's degree in management, and a bachelor's degree in politics, with a minor in theology from The Catholic University of America. Chris also serves as President of the University's Alumni Association. In addition to his work for the Center, Chris is the Director of Operations at the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. He has also worked in marketing and fundraising, specializing in faith-based copywriting and design for both non-profit and higher education clients. In his free-time, Chris volunteers with the Knights of Columbus, where he holds several positions including State Deputy for the District of Columbia, Former District Deputy, and Past Grand Knight. He and his wife have a young son named Vincent, named in honor of St. Vincent Pallotti.

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Son Rise Morning Show 03/27/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Surrender

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses surrendering our will and desires so that we can unite ourselves more closely to Christ.

Surrender

“You must long for food as you long for the cross and long for the cross as you long for food.” ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Listen to the previous installments on Sacrifice, Selflessness, Solitude or on Self-Denial

Notes:

Click to view Lenten Resources

Son Rise Morning Show 03/20/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Suffering

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:26:03 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses suffering as seen by St. Vincent Pallotti as a time where God is particularly close.

Suffering

“Remember, God is found in suffering.” ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Listen to the previous installments on Sacrifice, Selflessness, Solitude or on Self-Denial

Notes:

Click to view Lenten Resources

Blogcast: From Servants to Servitude—Aloysius Gonzaga

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “From Servants to Servitude—Aloysius Gonzaga," written by Alex Cranstoun and read by Patrick Hyland.

“From Servants to Servitude—Aloysius Gonzaga,” by Alex Cranstoun. In his blog post, Alex describes the great witness of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, for whom the famous basketball school, Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, is named, and how he desired to spread the Gospel to far and away lands. However, St. Aloysius Gonzaga missioned in Rome, caring for the sick and the dying. Alex reflects that we do not need to go far to witness the love of Christ. We can care for those in our family, in our home, our neighborhood and greater community.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born as the eldest of seven children to an aristocratic family in Italy. At a young age, St. Gonzaga developed a deep spiritual life including devotions such as the Little Office of Our Lady and the psalms. After studying in Florence, St. Gonzaga returned to his hometown and received his first communion from the future St. Charles Borromeo. After receiving his first communion, he read a book on Jesuit spirituality and felt convicted to become a missionary. He joined the Jesuits and life an austere life. He died while still a scholastic.

Links:

Click here to learn more about St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

Learn more about other favorite saints.

Listen to On Mission episodes about accompaniment and corporal works of mercy.

Contributors:

Alex Cranstoun is the Production Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

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Blogcast: Encountering God in the Ordinary

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 5 Mar 2024 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Encountering God in the Ordinary," written by Conor Boland and read by Monica Thom Konschnik.

“Encountering God in the Ordinary,” by Conor Boland.

To learn more about seeing God in the ordinary, please visit our Prayer Resources page by clicking here.

Author:

Conor Boland is an undergraduate and Student Minister at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

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Son Rise Morning Show 02/28/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Sacrifice in Lent

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 18:02:22 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses St. Vincent Pallotti’s view of sacrifice and how our lives are to be lived for Christ and for others.

Sacrifice

“Through the spirit of sacrifice, one must live perfectly dead to the world and to himself, so that he may possess those spiritual dispositions which make him say: ‘The life I now live is not my own, it is Christ living in me.’” ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Listen to the previous installments on Selflessness, Solitude or on Self-Denial

Notes:

Click to view Lenten Resources

Son Rise Morning Show 02/21/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Selflessness in Lent

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 16:01:37 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses St. Vincent Pallotti’s view of selflessness and cooperating with God’s grace to reform our lives.

Selflessness

“My God, destroy me completely; do everything in me. My God, absorb me, destroy me, reform me, be all in me, now and forever.” ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Listen to a previous installment on Solitude or on Self-Denial

Notes:

Click to view Lenten Resources

Blogcast: Persevering through the “Gray” Moments with Christ

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Persevering through the “Gray” Moments with Christ" written by Christian Bordak-Roseman and read by Tom Carani.

“Persevering through the ‘Gray’ Moments with Christ,” written by Christian Bordak-Roseman and read by Tom Carani.

In his blog post, Christian discusses that different life situations or transitions can lead to one feeling isolated or alone in relation with God and Jesus Christ. However, Christian reminds us that many Saints have experienced similar feelings, for example, St. Mother Teresa, whose feast day is September 5th and is patron saint of World Youth Day, and St. John of the Cross, whose feast day is December 14th and is the patron saint of mystics and contemplatives. These feelings of spiritual drought and doubting is referred to as the dark night of the soul. With these and other Saints as models, we are to trust in this dark night of the soul and persevere through it, knowing the Christ is with us through the midst of it and bright flows the river of God.

Links:

View St. Mother Teresa’s and St John of the Cross’ bios and other information on the Feast Day Site.

Listen to On Mission episodes about Self-Care, All Saints Day, Anointing of the Sick, Funerals, and Spirituality and Prayer Through Religious Charism.

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Son Rise Morning Show 02/14/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Self-Denial in Lent

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:15:04 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses St. Vincent Pallotti’s view of self-denial as a means of growing closer to God and the Saints.

Self-Denial

“I intend always to offer the Lord the negation of my will, united and offered together with that of all the just, the saints, Mary, and Jesus.” ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Listen to the previous installment on Solitude

Notes:

Click to view Lenten Resources

Son Rise Morning Show 02/07/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Solitude in Lent

Thu, 8 Feb 2024 14:28:13 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses St. Vincent Pallotti’s prioritization of solitude as a means of communicating with God and meditating on the mysteries of salvation.

Solitude

“For forty days and forty nights, Jesus prayed and fasted. He nevertheless condescended to teach us the practice of solitude, in order to speak to God alone.” ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Lent is quickly approaching and is a special time to fast, increase prayer, and increase our almsgiving. Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.

Notes:

Click to view Lenten Resources

Blogcast: Men of Purpose

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 6 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Men of Purpose," written and read by Krissy Pierno.

"Men of Purpose,” written by Krissy Pierno, is a reflection on the example of men Krissy has found inspiration from and how those men, who united their efforts to Jesus Christ and the Faith, have developed an unwavering faith in the Lord and can be a bedrock for the community around them amidst their daily tasks.

Krissy Pierno:

Krissy Pierno is a teacher for the Archdiocese of Washington.

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Blogcast: Living Sickness in the Presence of God

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Living Sickness in the Presence of God," written by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess and read by Patrick Hyland.

“Living Sickness in the Presence of God,” by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess. In her blog post, Fatima describes how there is a temptation in the midst of sickness to fall into despair, anguish, or self-absorption. However, whether it be common colds, Covid-19, or cancer, God offers us the grace, if we are open to that grace, we can turn that suffering into that contributes to the good of the People of God. Fatima draws the inspiration for this reflection from the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

St. Paul was known originally as Saul and was an opponent of the early Church. He persecuted Jews who believed in Jesus as the savior. Jesus stopped Saul from persecuting Christians and called him to his side, baptizing him with water and later with the blood of martyrdom. The account of the conversion of Saint Paul (Acts 9: 1-5) serves as an inspiration for those who criticize the Church. Through the example of Paul, Jesus touched the heart of the one who persecuted his people and can also touch ours.

Links:

Click here to learn more about the Conversion of St. Paul.

Learn more about other favorite saints.

To visit our COVID-19 Resource Page, please click here.

Listen to On Mission episodes about suffering, anointing of the sick, mental health, and funerals.

Contributors:

Fatima Monterrubio Cruess is the Resource Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

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Son Rise Morning Show 01/10/2024: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Ordinary Time

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 19:48:43 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses Ordinary Time.

Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. This time, between Christmas and Lent, is particularly suited to meditate on Christ’s public ministry and as a means to prepare for Lent, including considering what one’s Lenten resolutions will be. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

Blogcast: Not by Blood, but by Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 9 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Not by Blood, but by Love," written by Tyler Lomnitzer and read by Victor David.

"Not by Blood, but by Love,” written by Tyler Lomnitzer.

Tyler describes his ancestry coming from his grandfather who was left on a convent door step and was adopted into a family and Tyler reflects on the love that family showed to his grandfather and compares that to the Church.

Author:

Tyler Lomnitzer is Membership Engagement Manager for the Knights of Columbus. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from The Catholic University of America.

Victor David:

Victor David is the Interim Director of Residence Life at Catholic University. Originally from Joliet, Illinois, he graduated from Catholic University in 2014 with a B.A. in Politics, and in 2017 with his M.S. in Management. He is an avid fan of Downton Abbey, ABBA, Disney, and the Great British Bake Off. Victor and his wife, Greta, a fellow Catholic alum, enjoy exploring the city, travelling, and spending time with friends and family.

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Blogcasts are produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources and podcasts. Listen to Fr. Frank’s weekly reflections, episodes of On Mission, and recent blogcasts.

Blogcast: What A Wonderful World

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “What A Wonderful World," written and read by Kate Fowler.

"What A Wonderful World,” by Kate Fowler.

Author:

Kate Fowler is a staff member for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Her work includes: coordinating our Ad Infinitum blog, editing posts and resources for the Center, and co-hosting the On Mission podcast.

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Son Rise Morning Show 12/20/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Hope During Advent

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 18:34:41 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses themes of Advent from St. Vincent Pallotti, specifically Hope in Christ.

Hope

"My Jesus, whoever does not love cannot live. May all the love of eternity and, if possible, of infinite eternities, be mine in every instance, for all eternity. My Jesus, my firm hope in you is my omnipotence." ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

View Advent resources provided by the Catholic Apostolate Center. The season of Advent is the Church’s liturgical season of preparation for Christmas. It is often referred to as “the Little Lent”. Advent begins on the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew, November 30th, and continues for four weeks and concludes with midnight Mass on Christmas. Families prepare for Christmas in advent in a variety of ways, such as setting up and Advent wreath on the dining room table or using a Jesse tree. One can also use the season to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance and observe silence as a means of preparing for Christmas.

Notes:

Son Rise Morning Show 12/13/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Joy During Advent

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 16:02:27 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses themes of Advent from St. Vincent Pallotti, specifically true joy from the Lord.

"Holy cheerfulness is a precious fruit of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and is thus the mark of a true servant of the Lord. So, in face, in looks, in reciprocal remarks and in a special way towards strangers, all must radiate holy cheerfulness and joy. It must be remembered that, if this characteristic is lacking, they will lead few people to God because they will not encourage many to feel enthusiastic about following Our Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, their example of cheerfulness and joy will help people to understand that the following of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the basis of a life of true happiness." ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Notes:

Blogcast: Bittersweetness

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Bittersweetness," written and read by Krissy Pierno.

Summer transitions and switching jobs can be moments of stress and one may have the tendency to ignore any difficult emotions. “Bittersweetness,” written by Krissy Pierno, describes the phenomena of God’s grace allowing one to fully experience the sorrows during times of transition and in different seasons of life, which provides a unique “flavor” in our lives.

Krissy Pierno:

Krissy Pierno was a teacher for the Archdiocese of Washington.

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Son Rise Morning Show 12/05/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Prayer During Advent

Tue, 5 Dec 2023 15:19:47 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses themes of Advent from St. Vincent Pallotti, specifically prayer.

"Continue to pray with perseverance, often and as well as you possibly can. Do not worry if you fail to find any consolation. Persevere and act with confidence! You will receive the fruits without being conscious of them." ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Notes:

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Presentation: Hope For the Holidays: Finding Light at the Darkest Times of the Year

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 18:57:04 +0000

The time of Advent and Christmas can be a period of hope and love, but it can also be a period of loneliness, sadness, or even overwhelming for those in the middle of it.

Paul Jarzembowski, author of Hope for the Holidays, discusses his book and ways to help minister to those who need the love of God shown to them during this prayerful and hopeful time.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 11/29/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Silence During Advent

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 17:38:32 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses themes of Advent from St. Vincent Pallotti, specifically silence.

Silence

"The Incarnate Word, infinite Wisdom, to teach us the practice of silence, was born for us in the seclusion of a stable, in the still silence of the night as a little baby, which like all infants, could not speak. Therefore, we must understand that silence observed in order to converse more intimately with God, is a gift of God." ~ St. Vincent Pallotti

Notes:

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 11/22/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Advent Resources

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 17:27:16 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses Advent resources provided by the Catholic Apostolate Center.

The season of Advent is the Church’s liturgical season of preparation for Christmas. It is often referred to as “the Little Lent”. Advent begins on the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Andrew, November 30th, and continues for four weeks and concludes with midnight Mass on Christmas. Families prepare for Christmas in advent in a variety of ways, such as setting up and Advent wreath on the dining room table or using a Jesse tree. One can also use the season to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance and observe silence as a means of preparing for Christmas.

Prayer for Vocations (USCCB)

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Living the Liturgical Year at Home

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 05:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Living the Liturgical Year at Home," written and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

“Living the Liturgical Year at Home,” by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess. In her blog and with the onset of Advent, the beginning of a new Liturgical Year, approaching, Fatima gives ideas and advice for celebrating the important days and feast within your own family. These celebrations could be for liturgical feasts in the Church’s calendar, like saint feast days or anniversaries of sacraments, like Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation. She also recommends accompanying your celebration with prayers specific to the celebration.

Click here to learn more about your favorite saints.

Click here to listen to the On Mission episode about Introducing the Faith to Young Children.

Listen to another blogcast about the Wedding Feast at Cana by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

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Blogcast: Our Spiritual Love Story

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Our Spiritual Love Story," written by Susan A. Fowler and read by Monica Thom Konschnik.

“Our Spiritual Love Story,” by Susan A. Fowler.

Author:

Susan A. Fowler was born and raised in Maryland and has been a lifelong Catholic actively involved in parish ministries for over 43 years. She has been married for 42 years, raised 6 children with her husband, and currently resides in Georgia.

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Son Rise Morning Show 11/08/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Vocation Awareness Week

Wed, 8 Nov 2023 15:31:07 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses vocations awareness week, focusing on the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life. We are called to pray for vocations, but also to encourage those who are considering a vocation.

National Vocation Awareness Week, celebrated November 5-11, 2023, is an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations. NVAW began in 1976 when the U. S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year for NVAW. In 1997, this celebration was moved to coincide with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which falls on January 13 in 2013. Beginning in 2014, NVAW was moved to the first full week of November.

Notes:

Art of Accompaniment Resources

Listen to the first part of the St. Vincent Pallotti series: on Apostolates and the Mission of the Laity

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Living Faith Through Missionary Discipleship

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Living Faith Through Missionary Discipleship," written and read by Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.

“Living Faith Through Missionary Discipleship,” by Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.

In his blog post, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses how the baptized provide a profound witness to Jesus Christ through their actions as missionary disciples. Young people, in particular, have a unique witness that can guide others along the path of faith. Fr. Frank discusses the need missionary disciples have to be accompanied by other missionary disciples. To assist in accompaning young adults, the Catholic Apostolate Center provides an online course, Introduction to Young Adult Ministry Course.

Links:

Click here to view the Center’s E-Formation Platforms.

View the Art of Accompaniment and Living as Missionary Disciples resource pages.

Listen to On Mission episodes about accompaniment, spiritual direction, and eformation.

Contributors:

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Son Rise Morning Show 10/18/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Ministry in the Church

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 18:11:46 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the role of ministers and ministries within the Catholic Church and the differences between them and apostolates.

Fr. Frank continues a two-part series on the difference between apostolate and ministry. Pope St. John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962 and the Second Vatican Council affirmed the mission of the Laity to work collaboratively with religious and clergy of the Church to evangelize and spread the Gospel in our daily lives. The laity are called to bring faith, healing, and God’s mercy to others.

Notes:

Listen to the first part of this series: on Apostolates and the Mission of the Laity

Listen to the Series on St. Vincent Pallotti

View Lay Ministry and Apostolate Resources

View Living as Missionary Disciples Resources

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Learning from a Life of Grace

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Learning from a Life of Grace," written by Alyce Shields and read by Greta David.

“Learning from a Life of Grace,” by Alyce Shields.

Author:

Alyce Shields is a teacher in Washington, D.C.

Reader:

Greta grew up in Miami, FL and currently lives in Maryland. In May 2017, Greta completed her B.A. in Theology & Religious Studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. In December 2019, Greta completed her M.Ed. in College Student Personnel Administration at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. In addition to her role at the Center, Greta works at Catholic University as the Assistant Director for Campus Events in the Office of Campus Activities.

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Son Rise Morning Show 10/11/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Apostolates and the Mission of the Laity

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 17:15:02 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the mission of the laity to be apostles by bringing the Faith into our daily lives and evangelize.

Fr. Frank begins a two-part series on the difference between Apostolates and ministries. Pope St. John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962 and the Second Vatican Council affirmed the mission of the Laity to work collaboratively with religious and clergy of the Church to evangelize and spread the Gospel in our daily lives. The laity are called to bring faith, healing, and God’s mercy to others.

Listen to the Series on St. Vincent Pallotti

View Lay Ministry and Apostolate Resources

View Living as Missionary Disciples Resources

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Saint Francis of Assisi and a True Love of Creation

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 3 Oct 2023 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Saint Francis of Assisi and a True Love of Creation," written by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess and read by Tom Carani.

“Saint Francis of Assisi and a True Love of Creation," written by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess and read by Tom Carani.

In her blog post, Fatima discusses that St. Francis is commonly looked on as a person who simply loved animals. However, as described by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’: on care for our common home, St. Francis, the founder of the Franciscan Order and his feast day is October 4th, is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. We are called by Pope Francis, with St. Francis as our model, to care for and respect our common home and care for our neighbors who are exploited by consumerism and the throw away culture. Laudato Si’ offers the examples of food waste while many go hungry, fishing communities harmed by the pollution of water and depletion of fishing reserves, the change in sea levels forcing impoverished coastal populations to migrate, as well as “the premature death of many of the poor, in conflicts sparked by the shortage of resources” (Laudato Si’, 48).

Links:

View St. Francis’ bio and other information on the Feast Day Site.

View the Pope Francis Portal, and Laudato Si’ resource pages.

Listen to On Mission episodes about Laudato Si’, All Saints Day, and Spirituality and Prayer Through Religious Charism.

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Son Rise Morning Show 09/27/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Legacy of St. Vincent Pallotti

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:13:16 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on the life and spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti, the founder of the Pallottines and speaks about the lasting legacy and impact of St. Vincent Pallotti’s work in today’s world.

St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850), a priest of the Diocese of Rome, founded in 1835 an association of lay people, religious, and clergy called the Union of Catholic Apostolate to assist the Church’s missionary work, revive the faith of Catholics, and engage in universal charity. From that association grew religious communities of men and women, including the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers and Brothers). Pallotti believed that all are called to be apostles of Jesus Christ in the Church and in the world.

You can listen to the first installment here.

Listen to the second installment here about Pallotti’s works of mercy.

Listen to the third installment about Pallotti as a mystic.

Catholic Apostolate Center St. Vincent Pallotti Portal

You can listen to the first installment here.

Watch the What is a Saint? video

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 09/20/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on St. Vincent Pallotti as a Mystic

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 17:17:07 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on the life and spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti, the founder of the Pallottines and speaks about Pallotti’s mystical experiences in a unique way because he was so active in his apostleship.

Listen to the second installment here about Pallotti’s works of mercy.

Catholic Apostolate Center St. Vincent Pallotti Portal

You can listen to the first installment here.

Watch the What is a Saint? video

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: St. Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity, and a Visit to France

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “St. Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity, and a Visit to France," written by Dana Edwards Szigeti and read by Rachel Dugan Wood.

“St. Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity, and a Visit to France," by Dana Edwards Szigeti. In her blog, Dana describes her moving journey through France where she discovered the tombs of St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Catherine Laboure. She reflects on the charitable works these Saints conducted and inspired others to perform and the religious group these saints formed: Daughters of Charity.

Click here to learn more about your favorite saints including St. Vincent de Paul and St. Catherine Laboure.

Click here to listen to the On Mission episode about Retreats.

Listen to another blogcast.

Dana Edwards Szigeti currently resides in Orlando, Florida, where she works as a senior communications representative for a local company. She moved to the city after getting married in May, and has been getting involved within her local parish community, Most Precious Blood Catholic Church.

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Son Rise Morning Show 09/13/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on St. Vincent Pallotti and the Works of Mercy

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 15:39:58 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on the life and spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti, the founder of the Pallottines and speaks about the charitable works of mercy that Pallotti emphasized in his lifetime and how all Catholics are called to engage in those works today.

Notes:

Catholic Apostolate Center St. Vincent Pallotti Portal

Catholic Apostolate Center St. Vincent Pallotti Portal

Watch the What is a Saint? video

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 09/06/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Life and Spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti

Wed, 6 Sep 2023 16:11:19 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. begins a series on the life and spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti, the founder of the Pallottines.

Notes:

Maintaining Prayer Routines During Summer Vacation

Watch the What is a Saint? video

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: A Heart Which Sees

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 5 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “A Heart Which Sees," written and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

"A Heart Which Sees,” by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess. In this Blogcast, Fatima Monterrubio Cruess describes in her blog post the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose feast day is September 15th, and the Seven Sorrows Our Lady Endured. The Seven Sorrows are: The First is Simeon's prophecy that speaks of a sword that will pierce her heart (see Lk 2:35). The second sorrow is the flight to Egypt to save her Son's life (see Mt 2:13-23). The third sorrow, those three days of anguish when the boy remained in the temple (see Lk 2:41-50). The fourth sorrow, when Our Lady meets Jesus on the way to Calvary (see Jn 19:25). The fifth sorrow of Our Lady is the death of Jesus, seeing her Son there, crucified, naked, dying. The sixth sorrow, Jesus’ descent from the cross, dead, when she takes Him in her arms as she held Him in her arms more than thirty years before in Bethlehem. The seventh sorrow is Jesus’ burial. Fatima also invites us to pray with the Stabat Mater.

Click here to learn more about Our Lady of Sorrows.

Click here to listen to the On Mission episode about Marian Apparitions.

Listen to another blogcast about the Wedding Feast at Cana by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

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Son Rise Morning Show 08/23/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on College Transitions

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 16:58:28 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the transition students, military, and young adults generally undertake at the beginning of a new semester or new job and the decisions regarding faith they may make.

The young adult years are a time when people begin to branch out and may make new, more profound decisions for the first time. During these years of transition, young adults may embrace the Faith or step away. To foster spiritual growth in these seasons of life, Fr. Frank advises that students and young adults alike attend Sunday Mass on a regular basis and engaging with the local faith community.

Notes:

On Mission: Spiritual Growth During Collegiate Years

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Prayer and Catechesis.

Resources on Vocation Discernment.

Living as Missionary Disciples Resources.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Learning and Life in the Liturgy

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Learning and Life in the Liturgy," written by Braden Lynch and read by Victor David.

“Learning and Life in the Liturgy” by Braden Lynch.

Author:

Braden Lynch is a religion teacher at Pallotti High School (Laurel, MD) and former Summer Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

Victor David:

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Blogcast: Communicating Like Chrysostom: Growing Your Skills in Speaking for the New Evangelization

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 8 Aug 2023 04:00:00 +0000

“Communicating Like Chrysostom,” by Fr. Evan Ponton and read by Tom Carani.

In his blog post, Fr. Evan Ponton discusses practical tips for individuals looking to grow in their communication and public speaking skills as a means of evangelization like St. John Chrysostom, the patron Saint of preachers, orators, and speakers and his feast day is September 13. To help improve public speaking, Fr. Evan proposes four exercises: 1. Know your who, what, and why; 2. record and review your delivery; 3. examine how other eloquent public speakers deliver their speeches; and 4. be comfortable with yourself and your personal style.

Links:

View St. John Chrysostom bio and other information on the Feast Day Site.

View the Art of Accompaniment, New Evangelization, and Living as Missionary Disciples resource pages.

Listen to On Mission episodes about accompaniment, providing witness, and all Saints day

Contributors:

Tom Carani

Fr. Evan Ponton

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Son Rise Morning Show 07/26/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Pillar of Advocacy in Called to the Joy of Love

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 21:07:34 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the Pillar of Advocacy in Called to the Joy of Love. Advocacy in the public square seeks to advance the truths of the human person, of marriage, and of the family enlightened by faith, reason, and two-thousand years of human experience.

The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitiaaddressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Called to the Joy of Love is meant for the marriage and family life directors in dioceses and is focused on the reality of family life today and how the Church can assist those who are to be married, those who are married, and those who are growing their family. The four pillars of this document are: prayer and relationship with Christ, formation, accompaniment, and advocacy within the public square.

Notes:

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

Listen to the seventh installment about accompanying couples who are separated or divorced

Listen to the eighth installment about accompanying parents as they raise children.

Listen to the ninth installment about accompanying couples who experience infertility.

Listen to the tenth installment about single adults.

Listen to the eleventh installment on accompanying widows and widowers.

Listen to the twelfth installment on grandparents.

Listen to the thirteenth insallment on complex or difficult situations.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

ReadAmoris Laetitia by Pope Francis here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Become What you Behold

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Become What You Behold," written and read by Kate Fowler.

"Become What You Behold,” by Kate Fowler.

Author:

Kate Fowler is the Blog Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Her work includes: coordinating our Ad Infinitum blog, editing posts and resources for the Center, and co-hosting the On Mission podcast.

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Son Rise Morning Show 07/19/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Complex or Difficult Situations

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:45:45 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses accompanying couples and families who experience complex or difficult situations: from addiction and violence to accompanying military families as in Called to the Joy of Love. The Church may not have the expertise in these issues, so it is important to refer families to professionals.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

Listen to the seventh installment about accompanying couples who are separated or divorced

Listen to the eighth installment about accompanying parents as they raise children.

Listen to the ninth installment about accompanying couples who experience infertility.

Listen to the tenth installment about single adults.

Listen to the eleventh installment on accompanying widows and widowers.

Listen to the twelfth installment on grandparents.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 07/12/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompaniment of Grandparents, Elderly, and Caregivers

Wed, 12 Jul 2023 04:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the need to accompany grandparents and the elderly as a vital link between generations as in Called to the Joy of Love. This is particularly relevant as the Feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, is on July 26th and the World Day for Grandparents and Elderly, established by Pope Francis, is the Fourth Sunday of July, this year it is on July 30th.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

Listen to the seventh installment about accompanying couples who are separated or divorced

Listen to the eighth installment about accompanying parents as they raise children.

Listen to the ninth installment about accompanying couples who experience infertility.

Listen to the tenth installment about single adults.

Listen to the eleventh installment on accompanying widows and widowers.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: A Cross to Bear

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “A Cross to Bear," written and read by Sarah Harrigan.

“A Cross to Bear,” by Sarah Harrigan. In this blogcast, Sarah Harrigan describes her devotion to St. Padre Pio, born Francesco Forgione and also known as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest and stigmatist who endured immense pain from his stigmata, the wounds crucifixion of Christ, and how that was followed by humiliation from peers and investigation from doctors while he lived at San Giovanni Rotondo. He died on September 23rd, 1968 at the age of 81 and he was canonized by Pope John Paul II and Padre Pio’s feast day is September 23rd.

Sarah Harrigan:

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Son Rise Morning Show 07/05/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompanying Widows and Widowers

Wed, 5 Jul 2023 15:14:43 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the need to accompany widows and widowers, especially those in our community and parish through their difficult time as in Called to the Joy of Love. The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitiaaddressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Notes:

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

Listen to the seventh installment about accompanying couples who are separated or divorced

Listen to the eighth installment about accompanying parents as they raise children.

Listen to the ninth installment about accompanying couples who experience infertility.

Listen to the tenth installment about single adults.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 06/28/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompanying Single Adults

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 19:08:34 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses single adults in Called to the Joy of Love. The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitiaaddressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

Listen to the seventh installment about accompanying couples who are separated or divorced

Listen to the eighth installment about accompanying parents as they raise children.

Listen to the ninth installment about accompanying couples who experience infertility.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Loving Our Elderly

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 12:00:00 +0000

“Loving Our Elderly,” by Braden Lynch. In his blog post, Braden describes the need and responsibility we all have to care for our grandparents, the elderly, sick, and dying in our lives, especially in light of Pope Francis’ establishment of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Braden specifically reflects on his grandmother and he growing dependence on her family members and how this was a time for the family to grow in love. He invites us to enter into these moments and draw upon the grace of our Lord and use it to grow in love.

The international World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly was established by Pope Francis in 2021 and is celebrated on the 4th Sunday in July near the liturgical memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus and the parents of the Virgin Mary, which is celebrated on July 26th. Some ideas for celebrating grandparents day include: writing a card, calling them on the phone, spending the day with them, share a meal.

Links:

Click here to view the Center’s Pope Francis Portal.
For more information on World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, click here.

Click here to learn about the grandparents of Jesus, Sts. Joachim and Anne.

Contributors:

Braden Lynch is a Summer Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

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Son Rise Morning Show 06/21/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompanying Couples Who Experience Infertility

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 17:58:09 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show with Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the importance of accompanying couples who experience infertility in Called to the Joy of Love and the possibility of adoption and foster care. The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitiaaddressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

Listen to the seventh installment about accompanying couples who are separated or divorced

Listen to the eighth installment about accompanying parents as they raise children.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 06/14/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompanying Parents as They Raise and Educate Children

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 14:04:01 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show with Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the accompaniment of parents as they raise and educate their children in Called to the Joy of Love. The parents are considered the primary educators of the children with the assistance of the godparents from the sacrament of baptism. The education of the children in the Faith needs to begin within the home, day in and day out. The Church’s role is to assist and accompany the parents. The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

Listen to the seventh installment about accompanying couples who are separated or divorced

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: The Sacred Heart of Jesus: Image of God's Infinite Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “The Sacred Heart of Jesus: Image of God's Infinite Love," written by Braden Lynch and read by Brian Rhude.

“The Sacred Heart of Jesus: Image of God’s Infinite Love,” by Braden Lynch and read by Brian Rhude. In his blog, Braden reflects on how the image of the Sacred Heart is a perfect reflection of how God loves us infinitely. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is the patron Saint of devotees to the Sacred Heart. The Church celebrates devotion to the Sacred Heart in the month of June. The Sacred Heart is depicted as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, encircled by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross, and bleeding.

Click here to learn more about your favorite saints including St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.

Click here to listen to the On Mission episode about First Friday Devotions.

Listen to another blogcast by Brian Rhude, Anima Christi.

Braden Lynch:

Braden Lynch is a summer associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, assisting with various projects for the Center, and with day-to-day operations at our Green Hill facility.

Braden received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the Catholic University of America in 2019.

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Son Rise Morning Show 06/07/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompanying Couples Who are Separated or Divorced

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 7 Jun 2023 16:49:35 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show with Sacred Heart Radio, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses couples who are separated or divorced in Called to the Joy of Love and the need for the whole community to accompany them. The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

Listen to the sixth installment here on accompanying married couples through times of crisis.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 05/31/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompanying Married Couples in Crisis

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 31 May 2023 15:33:41 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses accompaniment of Married Couples in Crisis through each unique situation with both spiritual and professional counseling resources. The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Listen to the second installment here on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Listen to the third installment here on prayerful formation for marriage.

Listen to the fourth installment here on accompaniment through marriage preparation.

Listen to the fifth installment here on accompanying married couples in the early years of marriage.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Blogcast: Summer Reading - Catholic Style

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 30 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Summer Reading - Catholic Style," written by Tyler Lomnitzer and read by Rachel Dugan Wood.

“Summer Reading - Catholic Style," written by Tyler Lomnitzer. Tyler describes what seven Catholic books he is reading this summer to nourish his soul during his free time.

Tyler Lomnitzer:

Tyler Lomnitzer is Membership Engagement Manager for the Knights of Columbus. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from The Catholic University of America.

Rachel Dugan Wood:

Rachel Dugan Wood is an Editing Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center, where she assists with the creation, editing, and updating of content on the Center’s website, as well as collaborating on various Center projects.

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Son Rise Morning Show 05/24/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompanying Married Couples in the Early Years of Marriage

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 24 May 2023 19:17:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the need to accompany newly married couples through the early years of marriage and the need to draw upon the graces of the sacrament. The USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Listen to the second installment here.

Listen to the third installment here.

Listen to the fourth installment here.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 05/17/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Accompaniment Through Marriage Preparation in Called to the Joy of Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 17 May 2023 19:13:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses accompaniment through marriage preparation and the importance of formation and education surrounding marriage and family life in the USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love. Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

Called to the Joy of Love is meant for the marriage and family life directors in dioceses and is focused on the reality of family life today and how the Church can assist those who are to be married, those who are married, and those who are growing their family. The four pillars of this document are: prayer and relationship with Christ, formation, accompaniment, and advocacy within the public square.

Listen to the second installment here.

Listen to the third installment here.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Blogcast: Starlight

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 16 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Starlight," written by William Clemens and read by Greta David.

"Starlight,” by William Clemens.

Author:

William Clemens is an Undergraduate Student of Theology & Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Reader:

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Son Rise Morning Show 05/10/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Prayerful Formation for Marriage

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 10 May 2023 19:10:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the second pillar of the USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love: Prayer and Relationship with Christ. Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015. Called to the Joy of Love is meant for the marriage and family life directors in dioceses and is focused on the reality of family life today and how the Church can assist those who are to be married, those who are married, and those who are growing their family. The four pillars of this document are: prayer and relationship with Christ, formation, accompaniment, and advocacy within the public square.

View Catholic postolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Listen to the first installment in the Called to the Joy of Love miniseries here.

Presentation: Discussing the Parish Handbook for the Eucharistic Revival

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Fri, 5 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

In this webinar, Joel Stepanek and David Spesia discuss the newly published Parish Handbook for the Parish Year of the Eucharistic Revival and explore some of the themes of the parish year. Follow us: - The Catholic Apostolate Center - The Center's podcast website - Instagram - Facebook - Apple Podcasts - Spotify Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 05/03/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Prayer and Relationship with Christ in Called to the Joy of Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 3 May 2023 19:06:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the first pillar of the USCCB document Called to the Joy of Love: Prayer and Relationship with Christ. Called to the Joy of Love is the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

View Catholic postolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

Blogcast: When the Wine Runs Short

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 2 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “When the Wine Runs Short," written and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess.

“When the Wine Runs Short,” written by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess, describes the continuous need of God’s grace to persevere through the hardships in marriage and to more fully experience the joys of marriage, viewing it all with a perspective on the Wedding at Cana where Jesus provides superior wine in overabundance (John 2:1-11).

Fatima Monterrubio Cruess:

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In Infinite Ways 9: Julie Bradley

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Mon, 1 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000

In this episode of In Infinite Ways, Brian Rhude chats with Julie Bradley, Director of Evangelization and Parish Formation at St. Paul Catholic Church in Cranston, Rhode Island, to discuss her journey to become a leader in her parish, which began as a question from her pastor.

Click here to view the St. Paul Catholic Church’s website.

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Son Rise Morning Show 04/19/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Called to the Joy of Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (sacred heart radio) — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 12:01:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the USCCB document, Called to the Joy of Love, the national pastoral framework for marriage and family life ministry, which came out in 2021 and is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia addressing the pastoral care of families, following the Synods on the Family in 2014 and 2015.

View Catholic Apostolate Center resources on Marriage and Family Life Here.

ReadAmoris Laetitia by Pope Francis here

Blogcast: Anima Christi

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Anima Christi," written and read by Brian Rhude.

“Anima Christi,” written by Brian Rhude.

Brian Rhude:

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Son Rise Morning Show 04/05/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Sacred Paschal Triduum

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 5 Apr 2023 14:50:14 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the Sacred Paschal Triduum, the three most solemn, holiest days of the Church year, beginning on Holy Thursday, continuing with Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, and concluding with Evening Prayer II on Easter Sunday. Fr. Frank discusses the liturgies of the triduum, including: the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Commemoration of the Passion of the Lord, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday.

On Holy Thursday, there may be a Chrism Mass celebrated at the Cathedral where the sacred sacramental oils are blessed for the next year and there is a Mass in the evening with the Mandatum, the washing of the feet as Jesus did, followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament to an altar of repose where the faithful can pray with Christ.

On Good Friday, the church buildings are stripped bare, like Jesus was on the way to Calvary, and the Blessed Sacrament is not present. A Liturgy of the Word is celebrated followed by Communion and veneration of the Holy Cross.

Next, on Holy Saturday, the bells are quiet as the Church prepares for the Easter Vigil where the Paschal Candle is blessed and the Exultet is sung, followed by the return of the Alleluia. The faithful will renew their Baptismal vows and prepare for the Resurrection of the Lord.

Finally, Easter Sunday Mass is celebrated where again the faithful will renew their Baptismal vows. The Sacred Paschal Triduum then concludes with Evening Prayer II on Easter Evening.

To learn more about the Triduum and the Easter Season visit the Catholic Apostolate Center’s resource page here.

Blogcast: Evangelizing at Work

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 4 Apr 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Evangelizing at work," written and read by Chris Pierno.

“Evangelizing at Work,” by Chris Pierno

For more resources on becoming an active agent of evangelization, please click here.

Author:

With the Center since 2011, Chris Pierno is the Catholic Apostolate Center's Manager of Marketing & Consulting. In this role, he oversees the Center's marketing program and coordination of consulting services. He also supports the staff in areas of graphic design, advancement, public relations, administration, and strategic planning for the Center. Chris also is a co-host for the Center's premier podcast, OnMission. He and his wife have a young son named Vincent, named in honor of St. Vincent Pallotti.

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In Infinite Ways 8: Chris Pierno

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Mon, 3 Apr 2023 12:00:00 +0000

In this episode of In Infinite Ways, Jonathan Sitko is joined by long time friend and colleague, Chris Pierno, Manager of Marketing and Consulting at the Catholic Apostolate Center, Director of Operations for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, and State Deputy for the Knights of Columbus in the District of Columbia, to discuss his experiences of working in both secular organizations and for the Church and how he enjoys developing talents to spread the Gospel.

Click here to learn more about Chris Pierno.

Chris Pierno is also a host of On Mission.

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Blogcast: Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Will of God

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Will of God," written by Fr. Evan Ponton and read by Chris Pierno.

"Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Will of God," by Fr. Evan Ponton.

This blogcast was read by Chris Pierno.

Author:

Fr. Evan Ponton is a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (Class of 2020). He currently serves as Associate Pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Severna Park, MD.

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Son Rise Morning Show 03/15/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Charity of the Knights of Columbus

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 20:22:04 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the global Catholic fraternal organization, founded by Blessed Michael McGivney in 1882, the Knights of Columbus, in which Catholic men, lay and religious, can become members and put their faith into action through fraternal events, faith based events, and charitable works in the parish or in the larger communities. Fr. Frank emphasizes how Knights are called to be evangelizers, particularly through the foundational principal of charity.

To learn more about the Knights of Columbus, click here.

Blogcast: Rejoice in the Lord

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 7 Mar 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Rejoice in the Lord," written and read by Monica Thom Konschnik.

"Rejoice in the Lord," by Monica Thom Konschnik.

Author:

Monica is the Director of Administration for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Additionally, she is the Administrator for the Pallottine Seminary at Green Hill.

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In Infinite Ways 7: Sarah Yaklic

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Mon, 6 Mar 2023 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of In Infinite Ways, Brian Rhude chats with Sarah Yaklic, the Chief Digital Officer in the Diocese of Los Angeles, who offers a unique perspective working in proximity to Hollywood, to discuss the important role creative, high quality Catholic media has in healing our culture and evangelizating on the web and other media outlets.

Click here to view the Diocese of Los Angeles’ communications staff page.

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Son Rise Morning Show 03/01/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on a Deeper Conversion to Our Lord through Lent through Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 1 Mar 2023 19:00:21 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the traditional Lenten practices that the Catholic Church encourages its members to do: prayer, how we communicate with God; fasting, ridding of the things that are not aligned with Christ; and almsgiving, how we show love of neighbor. These disciplines, taken up from the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday until its conclusion at Easter, are a means by which an individual deepens their conversion to Christ by focusing their attention on God and on neighbor.

To learn more about Lent and view resources, click here.

Blogcast: Hope: The Thing with Feathers

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "Hope: The Thing with Feathers," written and read by Brian Rhude.

“Hope: The Things with Feathers,” by Brian Rhude.

For more resources to accompany you during your Lenten journey, please click here.

Author:

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Son Rise Morning Show 02/15/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Ecclesia in America and the Laity’s Role in Evangelization

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 15:59:02 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. concludes the series on Saint John Paul II’s 1999 apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, addressing the Church in the Americas. Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the sixth chapter about “the new evangelization” and how lay people are especially called to proclaim “the Good News,” calling others to a deeper encounter with Christ.

Blogcast: A Dinner Orchestra

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 7 Feb 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "A Dinner Orchestra," written and read by Kate Fowler.

"A Dinner Orchestra," by Kate Fowler.

For more resources on Marriage and Family, please click here.

Author:

Kate Fowler is the Blog Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center. She received her Master's in Leadership for the New Evangelization from the Augustine Institute.

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In Infinite Ways 6: Steven Serafin

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Mon, 6 Feb 2023 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of the In Infinite Ways podcast, host, Jonathan Sitko, is joined by guest, Steven Serafin, to discuss Steven's journey in ministry and now his position as a Pastoral Associate at St. Bartholomew Parish in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

To learn more, visit the Catholic Apostolate Center website.

Son Rise Morning Show 02/01/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Ecclesia in America and Solidarity and Social Sins

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 1 Feb 2023 16:43:39 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on Saint John Paul II’s 1999 apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, addressing the Church in the Americas. Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the fifth chapter about “the path to solidarity” and how social sins and the culture of death are contrary to the Gospel.

“St. Vincent Pallotti, Model for College Ministry,” by Christian Bordak-Roseman.

Blogcast: St. Vincent Pallotti, Model for College Ministry

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "St. Vincent Pallotti, Model for College Ministry," written by Christian Bordak-Roseman and read by Brian Rhude.

This blogcast episode was read by Brian Rhude.

For more resources on St. Vincent Pallotti on our Feast Day site, click here.
To view our Pallotti Portal, click here.
For more resources on Lay Ecclesial Ministry, click here.

Author:

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Son Rise Morning Show 01/18/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Ecclesia in America and the Role of the Laity

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 17:30:42 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on Saint John Paul II’s 1999 apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, addressing the Church in the Americas. Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the fourth chapter about “the path to communion” and the role of the laity.

Presentation: A Vision for Eucharistic Missionaries and a Preview of the Parish Year of the Revival

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 05:00:00 +0000

A Vision for Eucharistic Missionaries and a Preview of the Parish Year of the Revival. Follow us: - The Catholic Apostolate Center - The Center's podcast website - Instagram - Facebook - Apple Podcasts - Spotify Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 01/11/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Ecclesia in America and Ongoing Conversion

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 18:20:58 +0000

"Starting the New Year with the Saints," by Jonathan Harrison.

Blogcast: Starting the New Year with the Saints

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Starting the New Year with the Saints," written by Jonathan Harrison and read by Joseph Arbie.

This blogcast was read by Joseph Arbie.

To learn more about the saints, visit our Catholic Feast Days Website by clicking here.

To view a calendar of the feast days in January, and each month, click here.

Author:

Jonathan Harrison is a Program Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center and a graduate of The Catholic University of America with degrees in biochemistry and theology and a certificate in pastoral ministry. He is pursuing post-baccalaureate biomedical research with the hopes of a career in biomedical research.

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Son Rise Morning Show 01/04/2023: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Remembering Pope Benedict XVI and His Encounter with Christ’s Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 4 Jan 2023 20:44:53 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. remembers Pope Benedict XVI’s emphasis on a personal encounter with Christ and his love, particularly in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est “God is Love”, as the Church mourns his passing at the age of 95.

To visit the Pope Benedict XVI Portal, please click here to visit the Catholic Apostolate Center Website.

In Infinite Ways 5: Susan Timoney

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Mon, 2 Jan 2023 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of In Infinite Ways, Brian Rhude chats with Dr. Susan Timoney, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, to discuss how she was slowly prepared by the Lord to take her role at Catholic University from a young age and her formative time with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

Click here to learn more about the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America.

Click here to listen to learn more about the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

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Blogcast: On Arguing with Charity

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "On Arguing with Charity," written by Helena Romano and read by Kate Fowler.

"On Arguing with Charity," by Helena Romano.

This blogcast was read by Kate Fowler.

Author:

Helena Romano is Editing Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center.

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Son Rise Morning Show 12/21/2022: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Christmas Charity

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 18:34:01 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses the need to exercise the virtue of Charity with those God has put into our lives: family, friends, and neighbors in this Christmas season.

Click here to visit the Advent and Christmas Resources page.

Blogcast: Lessons Learned from Our Catholic Marriage Preparation

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "Lessons Learned from Our Catholic Marriage Preparation," written by Dana Edwards Szigeti and read by Krissy Pierno.

"Lessons Learned from Our Catholic Marriage Preparation" by Dana Edwards Szigeti.

This blogcast was read by Krissy Pierno.

Author:

Dana Edwards Szigeti currently resides in Orlando, Florida, where she works as a senior communications representative for a local company. She moved to the city after getting married in May, and has been getting involved within her local parish community, Most Precious Blood Catholic Church.

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In Infinite Ways 4: Mike Tenney

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Mon, 5 Dec 2022 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of In Infinite Ways, Brian Rhude chats with Mike Tenney, host of the podcast, Pop Culture Catechism, and Brian’s high school religion teacher, to discuss his journey to hosting a Catholic podcast and how pop culture can be utilized as an affective starting place for evangelization and catechesis.

Click here to listen to Pop Culture Catechism with Mike Tenney.

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"Same Lady, Different Dress," by Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.

Blogcast: Same Lady, Different Dress

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “Same Lady, Different Dress," written and read by Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.

The Catholic Apostolate Center is a ministry of the Immaculate Conception Province of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers and Brothers). The Pallottines and the Center staff will remember you in special prayer on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

Author:

Fr. Frank S. Donio, S.A.C., D.Min. is Director of the Catholic Apostolate Center and a member of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers and Brothers). He is also Interim Executive Director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men of the United States (CMSM).

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Blogcast: “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”: Proclaiming Christ’s Challenging Call to Love

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 13:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “'Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it': Proclaiming Christ’s Challenging Call to Love," written by Rachel Dugan Wood and read by Greta David.

“'Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it': Proclaiming Christ’s Challenging Call to Love," by Rachel Dugan Wood.

This blogcast was read by Greta David.

Author:

Rachel Dugan Wood was a Summer Intern for the Catholic Apostolate Center. Rachel graduated summa cum laude from The Catholic University of America in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a second major in theology.

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Son Rise Morning Show 11/09/2022: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Saint John Paul II on Globalization and Media

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 16:00:00 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on Saint John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America. Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. discusses Saint John Paul II’s understanding of globalization and media proliferation as both benefits and concerns of being able to live the Gospel and how this understanding carries on through Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

In Infinite Ways 3: Monica Thom Konschnik

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Mon, 7 Nov 2022 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of the In Infinite Ways podcast, Jonathan Sitko is joined by Monica Thom Konschnik, Director of Administration for the Catholic Apostolate Center, to discuss Monica's journey from wanting to work in the for-profit sector and how her experience with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps encouraged her to work for the Church.

To learn more, visit the Catholic Apostolate Center website.

Read more about Monica Thom Konschnik here.

Son Rise Morning Show 11/02/2022: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Catholics Advocating for Human Rights

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 2 Nov 2022 15:40:54 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on Saint John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, and discusses the section about growing respect for human rights and the rights of Catholic citizens to advocate for the poor and suffering.

To read Ecclesia in America, click here to access it via the Vatican’s website.

Blogcast: How Do You Remember?

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 1 Nov 2022 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores “How Do You Remember?" written by Alyce Shields and read by Joseph Arbie.

"How Do You Remember?" by Alyce Shields.

This blogcast was read by Joseph Arbie.

Author:

Alyce Shields is a teacher in Washington, D.C.

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Son Rise Morning Show 10/19/2022: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on the Christianity in America

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 15:43:22 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on Saint John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, and discusses the second chapter about encountering Jesus Christ in America today and how Christianity was received in the Americas.

To read Ecclesia in America, click here to access it via the Vatican’s website.

Blogcast: Reflections From a Rocking Chair With My Baby in My Arms

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "Reflections From a Rocking Chair With My Baby in My Arms," written and read by Tom Carani.

"Reflections From a Rocking Chair With My Baby in My Arms," by Tom Carani

For more resources on Marriage and Family, please click here.

**This post was originally published on 4/28/2020.

Author:

Tom Carani is a Consultant for the Catholic Apostolate Center and a co-author of the Center's work The Art of Accompaniment: Theological, Spiritual, and Practical Elements of Building a More Relational Church.

Tom received a BA in Theology and Religious Studies from The Catholic University of America and an MA in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. He is also an alumnus of Notre Dame's Echo Program. He recently worked as a Director of Evangelization at a parish in the Diocese of Austin before moving to the Kansas City area with his wife and daughter.

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Presentation: Growing as Disciples: Resources for Catholics

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 20:11:46 +0000

As parishes re-focus after a long summer, they can generate a lot of spiritual growth through the idea of discipleship. Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C, and Fr. Frank DeSiano, CSP, provide a way to think about and exercise discipleship today. Using the evangelization document, Living as Missionary Disciples, they look at ways in which Catholics carry out discipleship and ways in which we can grow as disciples. This will be followed by a presentation of new resources for discipleship from the Catholic Apostolate Center and Paulist Evangelization Ministries. Follow us: - The Catholic Apostolate Center - The Center's podcast website - Instagram - Facebook - Apple Podcasts - Spotify Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

Son Rise Morning Show 10/12/2022: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Encountering Christ in Ecclesia in America

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 17:30:04 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. continues the series on Saint John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, and discusses the first chapter about encountering Christ and the call to bring others to encounter Christ.

To read Ecclesia in America, click here to access it via the Vatican’s website.

Son Rise Morning Show 10/05/2022: Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. on Pope John Paul II’s Ecclesia in America

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Wed, 5 Oct 2022 16:49:33 +0000

In this segment from the Son Rise Morning Show, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. introduces a new series on Saint John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, written following the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, which met in 1997.

To read Ecclesia in America, click here to access it via the Vatican’s website.

Blogcast: Learning from the Witness and Joy of St. Lawrence

admin@catholicapostolatecenter.org (Catholic Apostolate Center) — Tue, 4 Oct 2022 12:00:00 +0000

This blogcast explores "Learning from the Witness and Joy of St. Lawrence," written and read by Brian Rhude.

“Learning from the Witness and Joy of St. Lawrence” by Brian Rhude.

Author:

To learn more about St. Lawrence, please click here.

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