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The Practicing Catholic

Intentionally, joyfully living the faith ... we hope.

love

No Neighbor, I’m Not Carrying Twins

July 15, 2013 by Lisa Schmidt 16 Comments

So what the heck does my ever-expanding belly and a couple rude comments have to do with the Good Samaritan? Here’s the nugget I’ve been chewing on. I’ve three months to go, folks, and I bet plenty more comments about my appearance and weight will still be hurled my way. While my physical posture may stink because of this growing babe in my womb, the posture of my heart doesn’t have to equally stink. True love for God compels us to show charity toward our neighbors, even those who say the darndest of things.

Posted in: Faith, Schmidt, Lisa Tagged: love, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Reflection

“Why I Love My Wife” St. Valentine’s Day Link-Up Event

February 11, 2013 by Deacon Joel Schmidt 4 Comments
Why I Love My Wife

Announcing our St. Valentine’s Day 2013 “Why I Love My Wife” link-up event. Join me in rejecting a culture of locker-room talk that objectifies and degrades the women we love. Instead, let’s proclaim the Divine Gifts that they are to us. Strengthen your marriage by building up your wife. The gushing begins in just three days.

Posted in: Family, Schmidt, Joel Tagged: love, Marriage, St. Valentine's Day, Why I Love My Wife

Forget Not Love: Advice from St. Maximilian Kolbe

August 14, 2012 by Lisa Schmidt Leave a Comment

Saint Maximilian Kolbe often preached, “Don’t ever forget to love.” Kolbe was a red martyr, suffering persecution and death in defense of the faith. We won’t all be called to red martyrdom, but if we are taking our religion seriously, we most likely will experience white martyrdom. Have you been called to love, to place the needs of another before your own? And how far forward have you stepped?

Posted in: Faith, Schmidt, Lisa Tagged: love, saints, St. Maximilian Kolbe, White Martyrdom

Indivisible: Jay Richards on Personal Holiness and Public Witness

August 1, 2012 by Deacon Joel Schmidt 2 Comments
Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before it's too Late

“We’re commanded to speak the truth in love.“ Congratulations to last week’s giveaway winner Marsha Johnson! Enter to win a your own copy of Indivisible! Simply leave a comment here. Next Wednesday, August 8, we will randomly select this week’s winner. Giveaway sponsored by The Maximus Group. You also can buy Indivisible from Ignatius Press … [Read more…]

Posted in: Schmidt, Joel Tagged: Evangelism, Indivisible, James Robison, Jay Richards, Joy, love, Naked Public Square, Personal Holiness, Post-Christian, Public Witness, Religious Right, Sour-faced saints, St. Teresa of Avila, Truth, Voting Guidelines for Catholics

Indivisible: Jay Richards on Morality and Economics

July 11, 2012 by Deacon Joel Schmidt 16 Comments
Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before it's too Late

Distinctions between social and economic issues are artificial. Congratulations to last week’s giveaway winners Jessica Kiesling and Rita Rawson! See details below to enter this week’s Indvisible giveaway. You also can buy Indivisible from Ignatius Press (with Voting Guidelines for Catholics bonus CD). This is the second installment from our interview with Dr. Jay Richards; … [Read more…]

Posted in: Schmidt, Joel Tagged: abortion, Contraception, Economic Growth, Economics, education, Employment, Family, Gas Prices, Health and Human Services, Health Care, Holiness, Hunger, Indivisible, James Robison, Jay Richards, Jesus Christ, love, Marriage, Morality, Obamacare, poverty, Unemployment, Voting Guidelines for Catholics, Welfare

Reconsidering the Seamless Garment

March 21, 2012 by Deacon Joel Schmidt 6 Comments

Well-intentioned axiom has out-lived its usefulness, should be retired. We’ve all been there. You’re way behind on laundry so you dig deep into your closet, rummaging through clothing you haven’t worn in years. Amid all the outmoded items you find what appears to be a gem, something you used to wear all the time. Okay, it … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faith, Schmidt, Joel Tagged: abortion, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholic, Donum Vitae, Eileen Eagan, Fordham Univeristy, Fr. Richard Rohr, Goodwill, Homeless, Human Dignity, Hungry, Jesus, Joe Biden, John 19:23, John Kerry, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Kathleen Sebelius, Law, legislation, love, Michael Uhlmann, Moral Authority, Nancy Pelosi, Prolife, Right to Life, Rights, Scandal, Seamless Garment, Sexual Morality, sin, Social Justice, St. Louis University, The Catholic Thing, The Center for Action and Contemplation, Truth, Unborn, Womb

Do You See What I See?

December 6, 2011 by Charlotte Upah Leave a Comment

Seeing & recognizing the true presence of God in our lives Remember the song: “Do you hear what I hear? Said the night wind to the little lamb. Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb?” As I get ready for Christmas, what do I see? Do I see myself … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faith, Guest Contributors Tagged: Advent, Christmas, Do you see what I see, Hope, John 1: 19-28, Joy, love, Mark 1:1-8, Peace

Holding Back and Hurting Ourselves

September 9, 2011 by Deacon Joel Schmidt Leave a Comment

September 11, 2011: Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Have you ever held a grudge? C’mon, who among us hasn’t? When we have been wronged, our first instinct is usually to get angry. Our second instinct then is to hold onto our anger, because we somehow feel justified in doing so. Forgiveness comes later, much later if … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faith, Schmidt, Joel Tagged: Communion, Debt, Ego, forgiveness, Grudge, Healing, Judgment, justice, Kindness, love, Martyr, mercy, Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Paul, Peter, Psalm 103, Reconciliation, Resentment, Revenge, Romans, sacrament, sin, Sirach, Trespass, Wisdom

Spiritual Sticker Shock

August 25, 2011 by Deacon Joel Schmidt 1 Comment
Sticker Shock

August 28, 2011: Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time The juxtaposition of this week’s readings against last week’s readings is hard to ignore. Last week, Peter was “all in” when Jesus commanded him to build a Church, essentially to marshal a spiritual army of disciples and storm the gates of the sinful world with the power of … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faith, Schmidt, Joel Tagged: Devil, Discipleship, Evangelization, Faith, Follow Me, forgiveness, Gary Zimak, Gift, Great Deceiver, Heaven, Jeremiah, Jesus, love, Offer It Up, Passion, Persevere, Psalms, Punsihment, Rock, Romans, Satan, Scripture, St. Paul, St. Peter, Will, witness

God’s Plan for Parenthood (Part 2)

July 26, 2011 by Renee McGuire 3 Comments

In honor of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, please once again welcome contributing author Renee McGuire to The Practicing Catholic. Renee and husband Kerry are fellow parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines, IA, where they also teach NFP classes. Part 1 of their story appeared yesterday. Pick-up from Part 1. … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faith, Family, Guest Contributors, Natural Family Planning Tagged: Birth Control, Contraception, Family, Fertility, Fertility Care, Humane Vitae, love, Marriage, Miscarriage, Natural Family Planning, NFP Awareness Week, Parenting, Pope John Paul II, Pope Paul VI, Pregnancy, Prolife, Theology of the Body
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