godiscallingyou

Rosary Priest

The Servant of God Fr. Patrick Peyton, popularly called the Rosary priest, may be one step closer to beatification. A possible miracle attributed to his intercession is being looked into. Read more about this possible miracle from Catholic News Agency. Fr. Peyton coined the now popular expression 'the family that prays together stays together.'

 

Psychology and Discernment

 

Leave it up to Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR to provide great insight into the use of psychology and evaluations in determining whether a person has a vocation or not - read the interview from Inside Catholic.

Bishop O'Connell in Princeton

Bishop O'Connell was recently at Princeton University for an interfaith service on Repsect Life Sunday. At the service he gave an impassioned speech on abortion - take a look below.

Psychology and Priestly Formation

 
Seminaries and vocation directors have being using psychology for quite some time now in priestly formation. In the recent past, concerning the scandals, we have seen some of the weaknesses of the over reliance on psychology. Yet, the merit of psychology in formation continues to be invaluable. Recent documents like Pastores Dabo Vobis and Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood have given added clarity to the role of human development and psychology in priestly formation. Came across this great article on the National Catholic Register's website about this important issue - take a look.

Psychology and Priesthood

The priests of the Archdiocese of New York were recently given an opportunity to learn from Clinical therapist and counselor Peter Kleponis who works with the Institute for Marital Healing. Peter Kleponis shared his insights in dealing with men who are addicted to pornography - what he spends much of his clinical work doing. You can read a summary of this important seminar for priests from OSV. At the bottom of the link is some practical advice to provide in the confessional when dealing with men in this particular struggle.

Marriage and Priesthood

Marriage and priesthood are intimately linked to one another - priestly vocations are easiest to nurture in stable Catholic families. The voters of California voted not long ago to protect marriage as a union between one man and one woman.  A district judge in California is going against the will of the people by saying their vote is unconstitutional. This could have ramifications that extend well beyond the state of California. Read the statement from the US Bishops. Also take a look at all the resources the US Bishops have on their Defense of Marriage page. Take a look at a more lengthy explanation about Prop 8 from Catholic News Agency.

Contraception and Vocations

 

By now almost everyone knows that the Catholic Church opposes contraception in the martial act. The Church has repeatedly talked about the damaging physical and spiritual effects of contraception on the family, world and Church. Rev Dwight Longenecker, a popular convert and writer, has written an insightful article on how contraction has added to the lack of priestly and religious vocations in the world today. Fr. Longenecker demonstrates how contraception has weakened the family and led to less vocations from Catholic families. Read the whole article from InsideCatholic. 

Celibacy

 
 

In our world today it is often thought that celibacy can be dangerous to a person psychologically. Yet, rarely do you her about the psychological damage that is caused by a culture that is so casual in regards to human sexuality.

Zenit recently conducted an interview with Dr. Aquilino Polaino Lorente, a physician and psychiatrist who teaches courses on psychopathology at the University of St. Paul in Madrid. Dr. Lorente spoke about the value of celibacy and how it can be healthy for a person from a psychological point of view. Read the whole interview here.

Military Chaplain

 
It is not unusual to see priests walking the hallways of hospitals throughout the world bringing the healing presence of Christ to the sick. Capuchin Father James Stump is one such priest. Fr. Stump brings Christ healing power to wounded veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto. A difficult ministry to work with those who have been injured serving our country. Read about Fr. Stump's ministry and life from Catholic News Service.

WWJD - About Aliens?

A young priest from our Diocese recently wrote a Commentary for the National Catholic Register about, well, aliens or as the author prefers extraterrestrial intelligent life. Fr. Dave Swantek of St. Mary's Parish in New Monmouth is not trying to prove or disprove the existence of aliens. Rather, he is trying to engage what the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life could mean in relation to other things like the Incarnation, salvation, engagement of faith and science to name a few. A good read that tries to show a little more nuance than there's nothing out there. Read here.