Prayer

The Third and Final Webinar in My Series on Prayer

By Fr. Jeff | 12/03/2021

Last night I offered the third and final webinar in my series, Giving Our Hearts to God: What It Means to Pray. You can view the recording of this webinar and see the slides at www.renewaloffaith.org/prayer2021partIII. The recording is 1…

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Part II of Series on Prayer Now Available

By Fr. Jeff | 11/19/2021

I just uploaded the recording of the second webinar in my new series on prayer, Giving Our Hearts to God: What It Means to Pray. You can view the view and see the slides at www.renewaloffaith.org/prayer2021partII. This presentation focuses on Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and…

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Can the Holy Souls in Purgatory Pray for Us?

By Fr. Jeff | 11/08/2021

In my homily this weekend, I spoke about Purgatory and praying for the dead. Purgatory is an important part of our Catholic faith and understanding of what happens to us after earthly death. Unfortunately, it is not talked about much.…

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Repost with Corrected Link – First Video in New Series on Prayer

By Fr. Jeff | 10/29/2021

I just uploaded the recording of the first webinar in my new series on prayer, Giving Our Hearts to God: What It Means to Pray. You can view the view and see the slides at www.renewaloffaith.org/prayer2021partI. Here’s a description for…

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Using the News to Pray

By Fr. Jeff | 10/18/2021

In previous articles like, “What’s in the News,” I have written about why I think it is important to follow the news. Watching the news we typically hear more discouraging news than uplifting news. Recently, I have begun trying to…

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Praying the Litany of St. Joseph

By Fr. Jeff | 10/01/2021

In my last blog article, “In Struggles We Find Hope,” I reflected on my recent reading of St. Joseph and His World by Mike Aquilina (New York: Scepter Publishers. 2020). Continuing on the theme of the Year of St. Joseph called for…

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New Series on Prayer

By Fr. Jeff | 09/21/2021

Finally, I have the details for my next series of presentations! It will be a series on prayer called, Giving our Hearts to God: What It Means to Pray. Now, I don’t profess to be an expert on prayer. In…

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It’s Worth Doing Well

By Fr. Jeff | 09/07/2021

If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well. I am referring to our celebration of the Mass. It is certainly worth doing! The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith (Lumen Gentium, 11). We know…

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Where Do you Go to Find God?

By Fr. Jeff | 07/09/2021

As I settle into a new rectory, I look to shape the space in which I will pray. This rectory has enough rooms that I am able to dedicate a whole room to prayer and God. Many people may not…

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Charles de Foucauld’s Prayer of Abandonment

By Fr. Jeff | 06/18/2021

In the Lord’s Prayer we pray “thy will be done.” We say it but do we mean it? Are we willing to completely set aside our own will to completely abandon ourselves to God’s Will? I would like to use…

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Reflecting on the Act of Contrition

By Fr. Jeff | 04/22/2021

After we confessing our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receiving a penance, we say an Act of Contrition. This expresses our sorrow for our sins. We say the Act of Contrition as part of the ritual of the…

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Two Images

By Fr. Jeff | 02/19/2021

When I pray, there are two images I like to use. They are images of the same thing. The first image is: and the second image is: One might look at these images and say, “Father, they are not images…

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Our Two Creeds

By Fr. Jeff | 12/15/2020

In our Catholic faith, we have two formal creeds, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. However, having two creeds does not mean we profess two different faiths. The two creeds are very similar in their content (you can see…

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What Do You Seek in Prayer?

By Fr. Jeff | 12/04/2020

We are called to pray. Jesus spent time in prayer. If Jesus prayed, then all the more we need to. When you read the word “prayer”, what comes to mind? Is the Rosary the first thing that comes to mind?…

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The Prayer of St. Michael

By Fr. Jeff | 12/01/2020

In October I wrote two separate blog articles reflecting on The Serenity Prayer and the Prayer of St. Francis. Two years ago, I shared a homily from a holy hour reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer. Today I would like to…

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Pray, Pay, and Obey

By Fr. Jeff | 11/24/2020

In the past, the understanding by many was that Catholics were supposed to “pray, pay, and obey” to be good Catholics. (A search on the Internet shows the order of the first two, pray and pay, are sometimes switched). The…

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Jesus, Human and Divine

By Fr. Jeff | 10/27/2020

Last week I posted an article, “Do People Understand What Jesus Does for Us?” In that article, I discussed Jesus’ action to save us from our sins. My inspiration for that article came from Clear and Simple: How to Have…

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2020: What a Year!

By Fr. Jeff | 10/23/2020

Dear Lord, It has been a challenging year and we still have two months to go.  The challenges have come in various ways. Perhaps the one most obvious to all is the Coronavirus Pandemic.  Our greatest concern is for those…

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The Serenity Prayer

By Fr. Jeff | 10/20/2020

In the 1930’s, Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971) developed the Serenity Prayer. The first four lines have become well-known. God grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. It…

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Reflecting on the Prayer of St. Francis

By Fr. Jeff | 10/06/2020

October 4th is the feast day for St. Francis of Assisi.  He is one of the most popular saints and is known as the patron saint of animals.  So, it is a custom for some parishes to offer a pet…

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Feeling Powerless

By Fr. Jeff | 09/15/2020

Recently I was watching the news about the wildfires on the West Coast. They say that over 4 million acres have burned this year. California has already passed their record for the number of acres burned in a single year…

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The Liturgy of the Hours

By Fr. Jeff | 09/08/2020

One of the topics I have covered a few times during the Coronavirus is prayer (see https://blog.renewaloffaith.org/?cat=12 for those articles & homilies). Today I would like to cover a particular form of prayer required of clergy and religious but an…

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20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 08/16/2020

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AIsaiah 56:1, 6-7Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 (4)Romans 11:13-15, 29-32Matthew 15:21-28August 16, 2020 A Canaanite woman came to Jesus seeking help for her daughter who was “tormented by a demon.” Many people came to…

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19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

By Fr. Jeff | 08/09/2020

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13aPsalm 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14, (8)Romans 9:1-5Matthew 14:22-33August 9, 2020 After sending his disciples on their way, Jesus “went up on the mountain by himself to pray.”  There He encountered God…

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What Should We Pray For?

By Fr. Jeff | 07/20/2020

When we celebrate Mass we are praying together. What do you pray for on your own? How often do you pray? Today, I would like to talk about two of my daily prayer intentions. If you have come to daily…

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