As the feast of the Immaculate Conception passes, we turn to Mary at this point in Advent. Her sinlessness, virginity, and virtue are especially important to us as we look to grow in holiness.

Our Lady has many things to teach us, but here are three things that come to mind as we meditate on the immaculate conception.

Snippet from the Show

Advent brings forth this image of the perfect family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) that few of us can relate to, but we forget the the family tree of the Holy Family is actually pretty messy.

If you go back in Scripture, there is a lot of sin and suffering in the lineage of Christ on earth. But God can use our broken family stories to bring about his salvation.

In this Advent season, let us pray and hope and invite Emmanuel into our lives.

Snippet from the Show

We know we should “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) but what does that look like from day-to-day? It’s one thing to practice gratitude one day a year, but let’s carry this practice in our families, workplaces, and communities.

Here are three ways to get in the habit of thanksgiving:

Snippet from the Show

The title of Jesus as Christ the King has been at the forefront lately with the release of Kanye’s album, Jesus is King. But Kanye isn’t the first to proclaim the kingship of Jesus. As we look forward to celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King this Sunday, let’s take a look at a couple of great martyrs who offered their lives up for Jesus Christ: St. José Luis Sánchez del Río and Blessed Miguel Pro.

St. José Luis Sánchez del Río was a fourteen-year-old boy who was tortured because he proclaimed Christ to be King. They told him they would stop and let him go if he would just deny Christ, but he refused, even unto death.

Blessed Miguel was a Jesuit priest who operated in secret and refused to stop offering the sacraments to his flock. He was caught and executed while crying out, “Viva Cristo Rey!” or “Long live Christ the King!”

This Sunday, remember those who so believed in Christ the King that they offered up their very lives for the sake of his kingdom.

Snippet from the Show

It’s difficult to protect our kids from everything online, but there’s a simple thing you can do that can have an impact: check their phones.

This will 1.) reinforce the fact that nothing posted online is anonymous and 2.) give them an excuse to opt out of questionable sites and behaviors because they know their parents will be periodically checking up on them.

This goes for apps like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and even gaming platforms. Just having eyes on what your kids are up to on their phones can have a big impact on their online habits.

Snippet from the Show

Many of us are familiar with “The Talk”—the extremely awkward conversation you had with your parents where they vaguely referred to birds and bees and flowers and everyone avoided eye contact.

It doesn’t have to be that way!

By rooting “The Talk” in JPII’s Theology of the Body, we can hopefully change the conversation to be less about sex, and more about the beauty of God’s plan for men and women.

The body of Christ stretches throughout time and space, and the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls Day remind us of that supernatural reality.

One of the ways we know the saints are in heaven is because of their good work on earth. On All Saints Day, we praise God for the example of the saints and we ask them to intercede for the souls on earth and in purgatory.

On All Souls Day, we pray for the “saints-in-waiting”—the souls who are in purgatory. These souls wait to behold the face of God, but the pain they experience in purgatory is productive, perfecting them and preparing them to meet their creator.

Those of us on earth who hope to be saints deal with difficulty each day, but there is nothing we go through that is wasted suffering. Our striving on earth can be offered for our salvation and for the salvation of those suffering in purgatory.

Let’s all strive to be saints. Let’s offer everything we experience in union with the Mass so we can become the saints we were created to be. And if you think you can’t be a saint, remember: your mess is not more powerful than the power of the death and resurrection of Christ.

Snippet from the Show:

Reflecting on Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptor Hominis, Colin reminds us that Christ the redeemer is the center of the entire universe and all of human history.

But is he the center of your own personal universe and your own personal history?

As Catholics, we need to re-situate Jesus Christ as the center of our reality. Everything we do, say and believe should orbit around him.

The devil is looking to sidetrack us and lead us to focus on anything other than Christ the redeemer. For Catholics, it might be Church politics, our families, our work— even a specific spiritual practice— but if we place any of these at our center, we need to re-calibrate our lives and put Christ back in his rightful place. Only when our lives are reordered around him will we be fully redeemed.

_ Snippet from the Show:_

Christ the Redeemer is the center of the entire universe and of human history, but is he the center of your universe?

If you were baptized, you are called to be a prophet. That doesn’t mean that you’ll be predicting the Second Coming, but you are called to speak the truth with clarity and charity. This means comforting the afflicted, and afflicting the comforted.

Comforting the afflicted often mean reassuring people of God’s love for them, and his plan for their life. Afflicting the comforted often means speaking harsh truths that people don’t want to hear.

3 Steps to Afflicting the Comforted

Snippet from the Show

Jesus used parables to explain the Kingdom of God to his disciples to help them understand supernatural truths by relating them to everyday occurrences. So what would a modern-day parable look like?

Maybe it would involve a backpack, lost in a field, that is finally restored after much searching and anxiety. Perhaps there is more joy in finding one lost backpack than in having 99 at hand.

Snippet from the Show