Faith Above Fear

Twenty-two days into Lent and our twenty-second resolution is Reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily. Today's Gospel from Matthew 18:21–22 (NABRE) beautifully aligns with this devotion: “Then Peter approaching asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins [against me], how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’” After replying to Peter, Jesus tells the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, illustrating God's boundless mercy and our call to mirror it. The servant owed his master a “huge amount”—literally “ten thousand talents” in Greek, an unimaginable debt equivalent to about 200,000 years of wages for a day laborer, or roughly 24 billion U.S. dollars in modern terms for a worker making $50 an hour. When the king decided to settle accounts, he initially ordered the man and his family sold into slavery. The servant pleaded for time, promising repayment, and the king, moved with compassion, ...

When we talk about women, who springs most to mind? For many, if not all; it is undoubtedly their mothers, and they are absolutely right. Some might think of their sisters, partners, close relatives, friends, or those who have played a major role in their lives. It is therefore with great pleasure and deep gratitude that we appreciate women for all the roles they play in society especially in the upbringing of children. There is even a saying:  "Women are the real architects of society or the nation."  They are the first teachers of faith, morals, and discipline; they impart the best life lessons to their children, the core values upon which families, societies, and nations build and develop. However, this noble calling does not come without significant challenges. Women, both in the past and today, face immense difficulties: mistreatment, inequality, domestic violence, and every form of discrimination imaginable. As a result, many women grow up never experiencing...

Seventeen days into our Lenten journey, and today we turn to resolution number 17: Attending Masses more often. How often do you attend Mass? Do you truly grasp how significant it is? In the Catholic faith, attending Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation is required for every Christian, but going beyond that, seeking daily Mass whenever possible is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and our souls. Mass is the most important form of prayer on earth, for it is Calvary continued. It is the only form of prayer in which Jesus Christ, as He did some 2,000 years ago, sacrifices Himself again for the remission of our sins and our salvation but this time, He comes to us in the form of bread and wine, signifying His Body and Blood. Saint Maximilian Kolbe said, “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.” And Saint Padre Pio declared, “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy ...