Essay Excerpt: Love is Always Conditional

Posted by Leonard J. DeLorenzo on Apr 29, 2021 11:48:00 AM

Editorial Note: This excerpt is taken from an essay by the same name originally published at Church Life Journal on December 18, 2018.

We want to say that love is unconditional. It seems right. It is equal parts comforting and challenging. It is comforting because if I am loved, then there is nothing I can do to lose that. It is challenging because in order to love, I have to will to be untroubled by obstacles. We do not want to say love is conditional because we fear submitting love to the twisted logic of relationship terrorism: if you do not meet my demands, I deprive you of what is good for you, or vice versa. We think of conditions as qualifications and we do not want to attach qualifications to love. So we say love is unconditional. But that is wrong. Love is always conditional.

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Topics: leonardjdelorenzo, love, saints, self-giving love, feast days, church life journal

The importance of feasting in the Christian tradition

Posted by Bridgid Smith on Apr 14, 2021 6:01:17 PM

“Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Scripture tells me to “eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks” and rejoice with those around me? Sign me up! For someone who doesn’t require much convincing to call a feast, this reading is a welcome invitation.

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Topics: Practice, liturgy, traditions, feast days

What is Candlemas and how to observe it

Posted by Carolyn Pirtle on Feb 2, 2021 12:47:54 PM

On February 2—forty days after Christmas—the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, calling to mind the Holy Family’s observance of the Mosaic Law (see Leviticus 12:1–8). Mary comes to the Temple forty days after giving birth to Jesus, and she and Joseph offer for her purification a sacrifice of two turtledoves, the offering prescribed for the poor. In addition, Mary and Joseph present and dedicate Jesus to God, as he is Mary’s firstborn Son (see Exodus 13:2–16).

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Topics: family life, holidays, traditions, DIY, feast days

Simple Ways to Start Living Liturgically in the New Year

Posted by Julia Greenwood on Jan 4, 2021 7:02:00 AM

Since I began seeking to live liturgically—that is, to observe the Church’s calendar and traditions in daily life—I have found that even small acts have introduced a new richness and joy into the rhythm of my days. There is a simple pleasure in anticipating upcoming feast days and other liturgical occasions and observing them in ways either light-hearted or prayerful. In recent years, I have celebrated the Feast of the Archangels (September 29) by preparing angel hair pasta to share with a dear friend, and I baked a honey pound cake for my co-workers on the Memorial of the Passion of John the Baptist (August 29), the patron of my parish, who subsisted on locusts and wild honey in the desert (see Matthew 3:4). Marian feasts are always an occasion to dress in blue and wear a Miraculous Medal. The pleasure of brightening an otherwise monotonous week with such celebrations is accompanied, moreover, with the joy that comes from developing a deeper appreciation for the richness of Catholic tradition and entering more fully into the universality of the Church. Becoming more attuned to the feasts and seasons of the liturgical year has helped me to feel more united with Catholics across the globe and throughout the centuries.

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Topics: communion of saints, feast days, liturgical year, New Year, New Year's resolutions

Celebrate Our Lady of Loreto

Posted by Carolyn Pirtle on Dec 10, 2019 10:28:44 AM

For the first time, the universal Catholic Church will have the option to celebrate the memorial of the Blessed Virgin of Loreto on December 10. This past October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Cardinal Robert Sarah announced that Pope Francis had decreed that the celebration should be inscribed on the Roman Calendar as an optional memorial. 

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Topics: Mary, feast days, liturgical year

Living and Handing on the Faith

The McGrath Institute Blog helps Catholics live and hand on their faith in Jesus Christ, especially in the family, home and parish, and cultivates and inspires everyday leaders to live out the fullness and richness of their faith in the simple, little ways that make up Church life.

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