Most Catholics are not good at saying "no". We believe that, as Americans, pleasure and self-indulgence is our birthright. But paradoxically, saying "no" is actually saying a generous "yes" to a greater good, to interior freedom, and to love. Christ teaches us that fasting is one of the keys to spiritual strength - why should we do it, and how should it best be done?

If one were to need a heart transplant, taking a painkiller would only mask the underlying problem. In the same way, putting on ashes is a useless mask without the underlying repentance that changes our lives. Yes, it is difficult and costly - but it is the only thing that will save us.

"The power of life and death are in the tongue," says the book of Proverbs. Indeed, our words have the power to give life or take it away, to build up or tear down. Let's look at some characteristics that should be found in the words of every Christian!

The "American way" is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, work hard, and make life happen by your own efforts. Then why is life so doggone difficult? Perhaps because we were never meant to face our challenges and crosses on our own, but rather with the strength of God.

We can find peace and strength by surrendering to God's will, finding a "holy indifference" to success or failure, poverty or riches. So long as we are deeply rooted in Him, all will be well!

When faced with the Lord's immense power and might, the proper response is awe and trembling. Isaiah was overwhelmed; Peter recognized his insignificance. But rather than being opposed, fear of the Lord directs us to properly love the Lord, as we seek to conform our life to His beautiful, holy will.

The two elderly saints in today's Gospel, Sts. Simeon and Anna, demonstrate perfectly the importance of perseverance. They prayed for the coming of the Messiah for decades; were faithful to fasting and sacrifice; were vigilant as they looked for Him; and stayed true to their vocations. We, too, are called to persevere in the Christian life, for only those who persevere will be able to win the crown of glory!

The little-known apparition of Our Lady of Buen Suceso, given to a Spanish nun in Ecuador in the early 1600s, is shocking in its predictions of many world events. Our Lady tells of the Dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption, which would not be revealed for another 200+ years, and speaks about serious corruption in the Church and in the world during the 20th Century. Looking back at this apparition, we can see how it has come true, and how we can respond to Our Lady's warnings and invitations to pray and hope for the Bride of Christ, the Church.

The Word of God has the power to change you! It is God's Spirit-breathed word, inspired and inerrant, bringing with it the power of God. How can we as Catholics read the Word? And how can we pray with it, so that God speaks His Word to us? Tune in to find out!

The most powerful form of prayer, of course, is the Mass, where it is Christ Who prays in and through His church. Tune in to find out how He is living and present in the Mass, the Sacraments, and in the daily Liturgy of the Hours which unites the Church in prayer, and how these rich encounters with God's grace can be accessed by the everyday Christian!

Jesus' first miracle is at the Wedding Feast of Cana. But changing water into wine was not a fun party trick, nor a desire to have a good time...it was a rich theological symbol that inaugurated the Kingdom of God, showed Christ as the true Bridegroom, and brought the Old Covenant to an end as it revealed the New. All that from a short miracle story? Yes! Tune in to unpack the richness of this passage and discover who Jesus is, who Mary is, and who we are called to be!