I can hardly tell you how often I’ve had the following thoughts lately: “She’s married with three kids and she is only a year older than I am, what am I doing with my life?“ “She’s traveled to six different countries in the last three years, what on Earth have I been doing?“ “He’s got a great [...]
When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four [...]
After listening to a great talk issued by Lighthouse Catholic Media’s new young adult line, Truth be Told, I found myself greatly in need of an emotional chastity makeover. The talk, entitled “Why Do Women Do That?” and given by Lisa Cotter, examined the way a woman’s mind works, how men should best respond, and [...]
God has called the members of His Church to a specific state in life. He has called some to the priesthood, others to the consecrated life, others to marriage, and some to the single life. Over the years, I have seen numerous online articles and debates that discussed which vocation should be considered the greatest. [...]
Dear Discerning Young Catholic, Underachieving in the realm of morality has become so commonplace in our world that we have begun to pretend that sin is transcendent behavior just to make ourselves feel better. There is nothing transcendent about sleeping with someone on the first date, but these days an astounding number of romance movies [...]
Never mind the circumstances; they are odd. I have recently begun teaching full-time at a high school (whereas previously I was only a part-time instructor). Spending all day in this environment has completely overturned the way in which I look at the relationship between God and Man. I spend a long time each evening drafting [...]
A male reader of my post “This Modern Love” wrote an aside of how “man conquers woman” in the courtship process. He gave a personal example and said that though he did all the right things (e.g. gave her flowers, wrote her letters), he did not win her heart. He also wrote that, at one [...]
The other day I walked into our bathroom to encounter a small stack of towels, folded on the floor—the same stack my wife had earlier asked our eighth grade son to put away. She hadn’t told him to put the towels on the shelf rather than the floor. Hence the stack on the floor. This [...]
Last year, I helped teach high school students at my parish’s faith formation program in St. Ignace, Michigan. We took the students to exposition, and afterward, one of them asked me how to tell when she is hearing God’s voice. This is an edited version of the letter I wrote her. Dear M., I’m glad [...]
To pursue, or to be pursued? That is the question. ‘Tis nobler in the mind to date until your breath is taken, or heart is broken… Dating – in the man-meets-woman, man-asks-woman-out way**- may sound outdated to those more liberated in their feelings. Instead, people get to know each other by hanging out and never [...]
There are as many paths to God as there are people, said Pope Benedict XVI in his 1999 interview with German journalist Peter Seewald. That being said, the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger continued, all paths lead to Christ Jesus, who is the way, the Truth, and the light. When living out one’s vocation, one must think of [...]
I live in Christchurch, New Zealand. A city that over the past few years has been struck by several large earthquakes. As a result our city doesn’t have that many buildings left standing. Most of our churches are gone. Masses are celebrated in halls or parish centres. Whole parishes themselves don’t exist and our city is [...]
It all began on an average day at work. Morning schedule and then mass. I am blessed to work at a place where mass is available to the employees daily. Today was different though. In the back of the chapel was a young man I had never seen before praying. At first I thought he [...]
I feel I can speak for many people that Catholic teaching on sexuality comes across most of the time as a big laundry list of NOs. For example: no masturbating, no fantasizing about sex, no acting out same sex attraction, no extra-marital affairs, no contraception, etc. There is nothing wrong with that, on one hand. [...]
There is a great fear among women that we are being under-appreciated. It’s not that we women want all the power; we just want credit for sharing it! In Amanda Mortus’s “To Be Used or Appreciated?”, she laments how tired a Proverbs 31 woman seems, and wishes more of those holy verses spoke intimately of [...]
The morning after my future sister’s wedding, my fiance and I attended the family brunch and were asked the question: short or long engagement? B. said “short” and I said “long” – the listeners laughed. We’ve been engaged for eight months now; four more months to go. It’s been a struggle intertwined with the joy [...]
Last year, Sr. Lisa challenged me to examine my vocation and I did… kind of. Tony called me on my bull you-know-what, correctly so. I spent the next while asking a lot of questions I never wanted to fully explore.
Life has a way of coming up and tossing you the unexpected, and I encountered a new twist in life just recently when I got engaged. You see, for years I had prayed, dreamed and waited for that special someone to come into my life. I surrounded myself with like-minded girlfriends and my beloved sisters. [...]
The contributors here at Ignitum Today have been chatting a lot lately about improving our singles’ section. The idea is to give more attention, encouragement and support to young Catholics who are searching for a spouse. Honestly, though, I haven’t the foggiest idea what to offer by way of dating advice (and frankly, relationship pointers [...]
In what can only be described as “true love,” I agreed to marry my fiance without ever dancing with him. Perhaps this seems impossible, improbable, or a smallish point in the grand scheme of our love. But I tell you, it is not. I come from a dancing family. My mom and dad fell in [...]
Written by Rev. Hillary Agbenosi (A Ghanaian Deacon about to be ordained a Priest later this year) The Lord has promised to always provide for his people shepherds after his own heart. In fulfillment of this promise he constantly calls young men to his vineyard, first of all, to be with Him in order that [...]
The hubris of the Catholic Church is often a huge turn-off to many people. How can she, the Church, this whore (my mother), claim to know the will of God? After all, everyone knows her reputation. Everyone knows her mistakes. Everyone believes they know all about her and her kind- those “Catholics” who “claim” to [...]
A wise friend once asked me, “Do you want to marry him or do you just want to get married in general?” Am I really responding to what God asks of me and who He places in my life, or am I grasping with my own strength, trying to achieve a picture-perfect dream that I [...]
Q. How do you pronounce “ignitum”? A. Well, you have some options. The Romans would have said ig-NEE-toom. In church, we’d say “in-YEE-toom.”
Why?
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