MyFaithJourney

My Methodology: I have several main areas of focus for my studies: To record the sequence of events and teachings across chapters, from Jesus’s birth through His death and resurrection. By no means do I intend to list every event, just the ones that I find help me have a sense of the flow and context of Jesus’s life as offered in the Gospel of St. Matthew. When I say main events that occurred, I include miracles. The first appearance of key figures in the story of Jesus. I’m focused on “good guys” here, not the bad guys. I’ll catalog Jesus’s parable teachings, including in which chapter each of the 20 parables is found. It may not be anything extraordinary, but perhaps by doing so I’ll gain insight into the evolution of Jesus’s ministry. I won’t try to re-teach the meanings, those are well done in countless books. For the purpose of this study my interest is the location within Matthew’s gospel. St. Matthew goes to great lengths in his telling of the gospel to point out, either directl...

For most of my life, I've heard and read the Bible. Some people think us Catholics aren't "Bible believing Christians." They're wrong, but to be fair, we Catholics also adhere to a tradition rich with religious and biblical scholarship, and accept the Magisterium (i.e. the authority) of the Catholic Church. If outsiders watch us practice, they don't see the Bible as the centerpiece that their tradition may make it. If the Bible is allegedly missing in our Church, if it's hiding in there, it's hiding in full and plain sight. How can you miss it? My Ascension Press Note Taking Bible. For me, I am happy to say that I'm finding it rewarding, I can use the word fun even, to study sacred scripture and learn more and more. A little insight into my Bible study as it is evolving into practice. As I've stated before, I started my study with the Gospel of St. Matthew. I'm learning all about it: when it was written, the context as written, all kinds of...

It happened again. Everything I'm working on on my faith journey came together. It all fit together perfectly, intersecting in the most right places, and all in beautiful harmony. This past Thursday I read the Chapter of the book I'm working on that dives into the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 5. My study of St. Matthew's Gospel continues, using the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Last Thursday, I studied Chapter 5, which is the first of three chapters in Matthew well known as "the Sermon on the Mount." Jesus starts with the famous Beatitudes, and then gives authoritative instruction to His followers on following Jewish religious law. It's an important passage, and Chapters 5 - 7 warrant considerable time and attention. Prior to this beautiful re-awakening of my faith, I was, of course. well acquainted with the Beatitudes portion of the Sermon, and the "Our Father" from Chapter 6, but truthfully, most of the rest of the sermon hasn't su...

Happy St. Valentines Day, friends. With the way the Liturgical Year falls here in 2026, it falls on the last weekend before Lent begins on Wednesday. I'm still working on a plan for my personal Lenten observances. Last night I went through the calendar and also latest the Sacred Heart Mass Bulletin, to try and formulate a schedule. I also found that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) publishes a Lenten Calendar, which is helpful. Some observations, and things I learned that I didn't know before: 1. Ash Wednesday isn't a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. Despite it NOT being a required day for Mass, Sacred Heart has 4 Masses scheduled: 7, 9, 11 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. That's a busy schedule for a day when Mass isn't required. 2. Catholics don't eat meat on Friday's during Lent (at least, we're not supposed to), and Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting. I knew both those things, but what I didn't know, is that the USC...

In Catholicism, daily and Sunday Mass readings are selected and mandated for the whole of the Church. The technical word they use is "the Lectionary." I think Anglicans, Episcopalians, and some other churches follow the prescribed readings, too. I sometimes read the daily and Sunday readings, either from the Daily Roman Missal, which is pretty cool, or from the little Catholic prayer and Mass reading magazine, Magnificat. My Daily Roman Missal. 2508 pages. I love it, but it's a little much to carry to Mass. Magnificat is cool because it's pocket size and easy to take to Mass or anywhere. Something I sometimes like to do, in conjunction with the daily or Sunday Gospel reading, in addition to reading it for myself, is to listen to the Daily Exegesis from an app called Hallow. In the Daily Exegesis, a biblical scholar, whose Australian accent is quite pleasant to listen to, actually, gives a breakdown of the Gospel reading from the Lectionary every day. Yesterday's G...

As I've mentioned before, my reversion journey journey started with a video I saw on YouTube. A young woman named Justine Donahue gave a beautiful testimony about how she went from being a devoted and active Evangelical to Catholicism. Her story wasn't my story, but it caught my interest, and as I listened, it became the spark that re-lit the fire of my faith. A couple of days ago, I was surfing YouTube for some inspirational Catholic content. I came across a video by a woman named Ana Munley. I've watched a few of her videos before. Her stuff is really good, but usually it's not exactly in line with where I am currently in my spiritual journey. But the title of the video I came across is, "My Catholic Reversion Story." That got my attention. That seemed like something I might be able to relate to, so I gave it a click. I'll include a link. I recommend it, especially if you're like I was, a Catholic, just not practicing. On the sidelines. Sitting a fai...