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Rick Becker is a husband, father of seven, nursing instructor, and religious educator. A Catholic convert by way of G.K. Chesterton and the Catholic Worker movement, Rick has studied theology at Evangelical institutions as well as Franciscan University of Steubenville. He currently serves on the nursing faculty at Bethel College, Mishawaka, Indiana. You can find more of Rick’s writing at God-Haunted Lunatic.
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Heaven is the “fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.”
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“It is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities.” (CCC 811)
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“There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle” (CCC 2015)
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“Once we have grasped what the Mass is, there is an exhilaration in thinking about it.”
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Listening to someone’s story – just sitting there and listening and nodding and smiling – could well be the most important thing you do all day.
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“Suffering… is above all a call. It is a vocation.” —Pope St. John Paul II
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“People who would face torture in the arena rather than deny him, cannot bring themselves to affirm him at the dinner table...”
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When contention is unavoidable, we must contend prayerfully, peaceably and virtuously, regardless who wins.
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“I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you...” (Ezekiel 36:26)
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“It’s easier to keep your bearings if you can see it all spread out before you.”
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There’s always something to be thankful for
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We worship God on the Lord’s Day because it’s the right thing to do, whether we receive Holy Communion or not.
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For my son Nicholas, who has Down syndrome, that first step onto the ice would be a challenge — and a triumph.
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Christ took on the sins of the world, and so no sinner is excluded from being taken up into his divine life.
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Everything that goes on throughout the rest of the hospital leads up to and away from what goes on in the chapel.
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St. Hugh’s love of heavenly things made all temporal affairs seem to him burdensome and tedious’
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We may not always want what God sends our way, but we can be certain that it’s always for our good – or the good of others.
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“Happily, the fairy tale lets truth blossom forth in images.” —Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB
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I think every movie is about fatherhood — especially ‘The Greatest Showman’
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The five Luminous Mysteries are like a mini-catechism for ecumenical awareness
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Throughout the Church year, it seems like one moment we’re at the manger in Bethlehem, and the next moment we’re at the foot of the Cross.
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Regardless of what our separated brethren believe about their Lord’s Supper observances, they aren’t doing the same thing we are. They can’t.
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The Church not only nourishes us with Scripture in the liturgy—she also urges us to devour the Bible on our own.
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“The death of a martyr is always comprised of both the love for Christ, as well as, through this love, the exposure of wickedness of evildoers in this world.”
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“A User’s Guide to Death and Dying” — Part 2 of 2
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“A User’s Guide to Death and Dying” — Part 1 of 2
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We live in a world beset by sexual confusion, and all Christians need to be knowledgeable regarding the Church’s tradition of biblical teaching in this area.
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Nick contra mundum – Nick against the world! I’m standing with him.
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Our destination is God himself who is love.
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Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to attune our souls to the cues he gives us each moment and shift our attention – and our postures – accordingly.
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“The Council hopes that the barrier dividing the Eastern Church and Western Church will be removed, and that at last there may be but the one dwelling, firmly established on Christ Jesus, the cornerstone, who will make both one.” —Unitatis Redintegratio
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I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.
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“Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me” (Mt 19.14).
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The story of Ralph Milner is a stark reminder that our prior and overarching commitment is to God himself.
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“God speaks in silence, but we must know how to listen. This is why monasteries are oases in which God speaks to humanity.” —Pope Benedict XVI
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If you think God is calling you to fatherhood, then have courage and start choosing virtue, especially when it's difficult.
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The Creed is a spiritual life vest for me, and I have to get it right. Every time.
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Christianity trucks in reality, and so it will always outmatch the shadows and shimmers of naturalistic belief systems.
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I don’t know about you, but I always look forward to mission appeals. Maybe it’s my evangelical background, but it’s also the prospect of a fascinating, even exotic sermon.
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God has called us to be men and women of granite, to refuse to budge on the sanctity of life.
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‘Wit’ makes me think of what it must have been like for the early Christians to hear Luke’s Emmaus story proclaimed to them in their caves and catacombs.
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It shouldn’t surprise us that our annual observance of Holy Week can bring tears, but we have confidence that the tears will be wiped away in the end.
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“To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way.” (CCC 2478)
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The saints themselves constitutionally dressed up like their holy forebears, and, with God’s grace, joined their ranks.
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Some see the Magisterium as an oppressive force in Catholic intellectual pursuits, but converts from Bible-only traditions know it as a liberating one.
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I’m dusting off a handful of older missionary movies to enjoy and share with my family – maybe you’d enjoy them as well.
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“This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity — this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed — is called ‘heaven.’” (CCC 1024)
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This Christmas season, let us bring our sufferings along with our hearts to the Crib.
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Christmas cheer isn't about corporate market share. It's about extending the peace of Christ to family, friends and total strangers.
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Yes, missionary work is about proclaiming, planting, and, hopefully, persuading, but ultimately it’s about selfless presence – even when things don’t work out the way we anticipated.
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I really blew it last week. Big time. And more than once. Still, I wrested a few timely reminders out of the experience.
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We can’t see with God’s eyes, but we can learn to give people benefit of the doubt. That, it seems to me, is at the heart of mercy.
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Christianity is a demanding religion no matter who’s in the White House.
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Every confession is a first confession – or at least it could be. It should be.
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Almost by definition, “mothering” is equated with self-sacrifice and nurture, regardless of age.
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The point of voting and political action has less to do with how we, as individuals, might contribute to shaping the world than how we ourselves are shaped.
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We’re healed by the outpouring of Christ's blood, and simultaneously we’re called to pour out ourselves in imitation.
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When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him.
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St. John of the Cross said it best: “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love”.
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Bishop Broderick's life, and an overlooked Frank Lloyd Wright house, are potent reminders of the hidden drama that surrounds us daily.
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Life is largely composed not of high points, but of interludes and codas – a rich soil in which the seeds of sanctity can grow.
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Your unruly brood, believe it or not, can become a sign – almost like a living habit that adorns your marital covenant
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