Corpus Christi Blog

While I gave a general overview of the Sacrament of Holy Orders in a previous series on the seven sacraments, which can be found on my website, I’ll cover it more in depth over the next few weeks. This sacrament is one that is ordered to the service of others for the purpose of the salvation of souls according to the mission of the Church at large (see CCC 1534). Unique to this sacrament is that there are three hierarchical degrees within it – episcopacy, presbyterate, and diaconate, which are more commonly referred to as bishops, priests, and deacons. Thus, this three-part series will highlight the characteristics proper to each degree.

October is when the Church encourages us to think about stewardship as a scripturally rooted principle of our Faith. Stewardship is the care of something that does not inherently belong to a person, but is instead entrusted to him. Since we know that everything we have comes from God, we, therefore, must care for those gifts in a way that brings Him glory. As we head into the final months of the year, it is a good time for us to pause for some introspection and reflect on how well we have been faithful stewards of God's gifts in the past year. Then, with thoughtful intention, we can look forward to how we might be better stewards of our gifts in the coming year.

Recall the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30), where a man leaves his possessions in the care of his servants "each according to his own ability." When he returns, he finds that some of his servants invested the talents entrusted to them, which, as a result, multiplied the man's wealth. One servant, however, buried his talent, which ultimately produced nothing but the anger of his master for being lazy and not even doing the bare minimum.

Typically, when we reflect on our shortcomings, regrets, and tendencies toward certain sins, we find solace in the mercy God extends to us, particularly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but also in a general sense. We are all aware of the brokenness of ourselves, our loved ones, and humanity as a whole. We recognize that without God's infinite mercy, there would be no hope for any of us, and our life on earth would be an exercise in futility. Trust in God's mercy is the very power by which we find the strength to stand up after every fall and keep moving forward, trying to improve with every step. However, one sin has been declared in all three synoptic gospels by Jesus himself as "unforgivable" – blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Today, we will unpack the unforgivable sin and how to avoid it.

As you know, we are in the midst of a period of Eucharistic revival, which has been called for by our bishops. Over the decades, we have seen a decline in the belief of the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and, as a result, a decline in reverence and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. As a natural consequence of this decline in belief and devotion, the value of Eucharistic adoration is often neglected.

There are great miracles, healings, and other graces to be received through devotion to the Blessed Sacrament in adoration. To this end, we will explore what Eucharistic adoration is and how we participate in a practical sense.

Tomorrow is the feast of the Guardian Angels. I wanted to take this opportunity to not only acknowledge them, but to also explain why and how they have a very special mission to help each of us to get to Heaven. Then, hopefully with this deeper understanding, each of us might be encouraged to deepen our relationship with our own personal guardian angel, who truly is a dear friend given to each of us by God.

In his book, Dominion, Catholic exorcist, Fr. Chad Ripperger, explores the intersection between spiritual warfare and human psychology. Being an exorcist as well as having earned a master’s degree in Thomistic studies, Fr. Ripperger has extensive and well-formed insight into the spiritual realm of the angels. While the book is hardly light reading, it is a useful resource regarding the angelic world, including a section devoted specifically to guardian angels, which is my primary reference for this piece.