YOUCAT*: Baptism is the way out of the kingdom of death into life, the gateway to the church, and the beginning of a lasting communion with God. [1213-1216, 1276-1278] Most of us don’t remember our baptisms because we were babies. And, we hear a lot about baptism, especially when someone we know has a new […]

YOUCAT*: When we pray for the universal accomplishment of God’s will, we pray that on earth and in our own heart it may become as it already is in heaven. [2822-2827, 2860] This week’s Catechism Corner is inspired by my friend, Dann. Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Thy will be done, […]

YOUCAT*: No. Someone who prays only when he feels like it does not take God seriously and will leave off praying. Prayer thrives on faithfulness [2650] “Pray without ceasing.” (1Thessalonians 5:17) How many of you read that Scripture verse and think to yourself: “Yeah, right. How can we pray all the time?” Well, we can. […]

YOUCAT: Evil is only apparently worth striving for, and deciding in favor of evil only apparently makes us free. Evil does not make us happy but rather deprives us of what is truly good; it chains us to something futile and in the end destroys our freedom entirely. [1730-1733, 1743-1744] In the last issue, I […]

YOUCAT*: Freedom is the God-given power to be able to act of one’s own accord; a person who is free no longer acts under the influence of someone else. [1730-1733, 1743-1744] “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed […]

YOUCAT*: 1. In the name of the Father. 2. Apostles’ Creed. 3. Our Father. 4. Three Hail Marys. 5. Glory be to the Father. 6. Five decades each with one Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and a Glory be to the Father. The month of October is the month of the Rosary. There are four […]

YOUCAT: No. Jesus is the only son of Mary in the physical sense. [CCC 500, 510] I volunteer at my parish in our middle school youth ministry, and at a recent youth night one of the teens asked if Jesus had any brothers. Great question! Mary was a teen herself when she had Jesus, so […]

YOUCAT:* “God’s grace is freely bestowed on a person, and it seeks and summons him to respond in complete freedom. Grace does not compel. God’s love wants our free assent.” [CCC 2001-2002, 2022] A few weeks ago, I participated in my parish’s catechist retreat. Our pastor, Sacred Hearts Father Richard McNally, facilitated the day. The […]

YOUCAT*: “All men have the same dignity, but not all of them meet with the same living conditions. In cases where injustice is man-made, it contradicts the Gospel. In cases where men have been endowed by God with different gifts and talents, God is asking us to rely on one another: in charity one should […]

YOUCAT*: Baptism does snatch us from the power of sin and death and brings us into the new life of the children of God, but it does not free us from human weakness and the inclination to sin. That is why we need a place where we can be reconciled with God again and again. […]