This past Sunday ended the Year of the Family that began on the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 2021. As a parish, St. Mary of the Angels started the year of the Family earlier, in July 2020. So, it has been two years of special focus on the family. Strong Catholic Parents—Strong Catholic Marriages […]Read more

Jesus Christ became man to reveal to us God the Father, so we will love God as a father, as our true Father, who loves us just as we are, with our smallness and weakness. Even on Corpus Christi Jesus reveals the paternal love of the Father, as he taught us in his famous Eucharistic […]Read more

Small children usually need punishments and rewards to help them acquire virtue and self-control. Adults take ownership of their lives, shaping themselves by the repetition of good acts and avoiding the near occasions of unhealthy and sinful behavior. To acquire digital virtue, start with setting goals for yourself (and your children), such as: • how […]Read more

The addictive nature of screens, computer games, and social media means that sometimes “the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38), that is, sometimes we know and desire virtuous behavior but our flesh gets the better of us and we compulsively fall into old patterns of vicious behaviors. So, it can […]Read more

Computer games and other apps on the phone, tablet, or computer tend to trigger the release of chemicals (dopamine, adrenaline, norepinephrine) in the brain. This drives addiction, finding ways to reduce and control the release of those chemicals can be key to acquiring true virtue in the use of technology. One way to do this […]Read more

Virtues are habits we develop through repeated action, mastering our impulses in ways that make it easier to develop good relationships and to seek and maintain the common good. Vice is disorder, a lack of self–mastery that damages and destroys social life and personal well–being. For example, a lack of mastery over alcohol leads to […]Read more

As war and civil conflict plague us daily, instead of escaping into alcohol, social media, or entertainment, let’s learn to pray, reflecting on these tips from St. Josemaría. 1. Foster in your heart and soul—in your mind and will—a trusting spirit of abandonment to your heavenly Father’s loving Will. From this will arise the interior […]Read more

Parents are naturally concerned for their children, not just that they eat and sleep enough, but that they are safe from anything harmful. So when it involves technology, a parent needs to be available to supervise and guide their children, as well as exemplify responsible behavior. Yet all of us need the help of others […]Read more