Posted by Samantha Laveau on 12/24/18
This month, I am going to deviate from the typical apologetics subject to shed light on the historical Christmas event. Thanks to archeology, advanced scriptural scholarship and a better sense of non-biblical writings, we have more knowledge of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus than the people who ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 12/17/18
I like to bring humor into classes I teach and homilies that I preach, because I think humor is a good way to get through to people about the importance of faith.
As I look back on my ministry I remember many times when certain points of ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 12/10/18
Hands down the most heavily attended Mass of the entire year in my experience is thevigil Mass (the early one) on Christmas Eve. This is the Mass where the ushers have to bring50 to 75 folding chairs from the church basement to accommodate all the people. I like ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 11/30/18
Last weekend we celebrated the Feast of Christ the King: the last Sunday of Ordinary Time. It is one of my favorite liturgical feasts because it was established by one of my favorite popes, Pius XI (1922-1939) and because it was written to stave off a growing secularism in society.
And there is no better example of that growing secularism than the crazy commercialism of Christmas. We celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah in Christmas, and yet nearly every mention of Him is done away with. It’s like celebrating your child’s or friend’s birthday and telling them about how great the party is going to be but then asking them not to come. It is ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 11/26/18
The month of November happens to contain one of my favorite feast days. Since 1925 the last Sunday of ordinary time has been dedicated to Christ the King. It’s one of my favorites because it was established by one of the most underrated popes in recent history, Pius XI (1922-1939).
Pius established the feast in his encyclical letter, “Quas Primas,” which was written to address a growing secularism in the first part of the 20th century. We would do well to read the writings of this pope, who reigned between the two world wars, to see how he was a prophet for the world at the beginning of the 21st century. In fact I would say as a certified “popeaholic” he is certainly in my top ten popes of all ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 11/26/18
Encyclicals are letters of high importance. Traditionally issued by any bishop, in recent times they have become an exclusive activity of the Bishop of Rome.
They are generally written to the entire church, and often a pope’s first encyclical will give a pretty clear indication where and how he ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 11/20/18
On Nov. 21, the church celebrates the liturgical feast called the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast commemorates the event of Mary at the age of 3 being brought to the Temple in Jerusalem and left there to be raised by holy women. It is a feast ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 11/08/18
As I wrote a couple of months back, as of this summer I am assigned to a new parish, St. James in Duluth. Being new here, I am still getting used to the space, and one challenge is that there are two main entrances to the church. One ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 11/05/18
I am a news-aholic. It is not uncommon for me to turn the radio on at the top of the hour to catch the headlines five or six times a day. One thing I have observed in the media over the years is how often newscasters will say something ... Read More »
Posted by Samantha Laveau on 10/31/18
At Mass, Saints Are With Us, Body and Soul
Here is an interesting fact that I suspect many people are not aware of: Embedded inside the altar at your parish church there is a small fragment of a saint’s body.
Yes, most altars have a small, square piece of ... Read More »