McGrath Institute Blog (80)

Integrating prayer and action, the works of mercy

Posted by Stephen Barany on Jun 12, 2019 7:03:00 AM

The works of mercy are loving acts of service and compassion directed towards the spiritual and material needs of our neighbors. At first glance, it may seem odd to include them alongside other forms of prayer, but we must remember that prayer and the Christian life are inseparable. The love of God that leads us into prayer is the same love that leads us to serve our neighbor. Consider the words of Jesus: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

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Topics: prayer, spirituality, downloadable resources, prayer enrichment series

Stories of Grace: As majestic as the mountains

Posted by Terese Schomogyi on Jun 11, 2019 3:38:00 PM

Three years ago, on the top of a mountain, the voice of a waterfall opened the eyes of my heart. During one of the most amazing journeys of my life, I spent six days strapped into a forty-pound backpack hiking and climbing with eleven other girls and two guides. Six days of hiking led me through forests with alder trees that snagged at my clothes, across slippery logs serving as bridges over rivers and waterfalls, alongside meadows of heather and wildflowers and over boulder fields hugging the sides of cliffs. Six days of hiking gifted me with panoramic mountain views, sunsets more glorious than any seen from sea level and nights spent drifting in and out of sleep underneath the glow of the full moon. The nature around Mount Pearkes, our mountain home, radiated with beauty. It filled our sights with snowy peaks and glimmering ocean water. Needless to say, this trip was incredible.

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Topics: stories of grace

Practical ways to help women facing unplanned pregnancy

Posted by Jackie Appleman on Jun 7, 2019 7:02:00 AM

People often ask me, "What are some real and practical ways I can help women facing unplanned pregnancies?" Fortunately, there are a lot of possibilities and many of them are really simple and easy to do.

Here's a list of ideas to consider if you'd like to help women facing unplanned pregnancy:

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Topics: pro-life, Corporal Works of Mercy, works of mercy

How to pray through fasting

Posted by Stephen Barany on Jun 5, 2019 7:02:00 AM

Fasting is a voluntary abstinence from something good, usually food. It’s a familiar spiritual practice for most of us, but it’s also a practice we tend to take up only during Lent or only when the Church tells us we have to. That’s unfortunate because fasting is, in the words of St. Basil the Great, a powerful “weapon of protection against demons.” Similarly, Christ tells his disciples that certain kinds of demons can only be cast out by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). With this in mind, we should want to be well-practiced at fasting and have this form of prayer in our spiritual arsenal at all times.

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Topics: prayer, spirituality, downloadable resources, prayer enrichment series

Stories of Grace: Coming Home

Posted by Johnny Ryan on Jun 3, 2019 2:00:00 PM

“‘Come. Follow Me.’ It was the Lord Jesus calling.” These words, the very beginning of the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross, seemed to come not from the seminarian who proclaimed them, but rather from the majestic crucifix hanging above the altar. Or they could have come from the flickering flame of the Paschal Candle, standing in the middle of the chapel, giving light amidst the pressing darkness. Regardless of where they came from, whether from the seminarian or the crucifix or the Paschal Candle, these words floated in the air, carried by the blue and purple and green light that shone from the magnificent stained glass windows behind the altar, light that reached even to the back of this ark-shaped chapel.

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Topics: stories of grace

McGrath Institute Blog

Integrating prayer and action, the works of mercy

Stories of Grace: As majestic as the mountains

Practical ways to help women facing unplanned pregnancy

How to pray through fasting

Stories of Grace: Coming Home

Living and Handing on the Faith

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