Faith

Q. I have been really hurt by people in my life. But most of the bad stuff in my life is my fault. Still, I can’t stop blaming myself and blaming them for hurting me.

The first reading’s narrative from the book of Maccabees this weekend of the martyrdom of seven brothers also contains sure testimony to belief in the resurrection.

A litany is a prayer that consists of a series of invocations, each followed by a response. A litany may be recited or sung with a congregation with the invocations given by a priest, deacon, cantor, lector or layperson and the responses made in unison by the congregation. A litany may also be prayed privately by a single person who recites both the invocations and the responses.

My mother is 92 and still lives in the house I grew up in. For most of my adult life, every time I’ve gone up to visit her, we’ve played Scrabble — several games of Scrabble. I usually win and win big. But even at 92, she insists on playing.

Before I entered the seminary I worked in a small community bank.

Q. I have heard that curiosity can be considered a vice. That doesn’t make any sense to me. The advances of science, technology, and social reforms wouldn’t have happened if people had suppressed their natural desire to venture into the unknown and ask questions that challenged the status quo. It seems more like an intimidation tactic on the part of institutions.

Eucharistic devotions are spiritual practices outside of the Mass that give honor to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament, as well as opportunities to pray to Jesus in an intensified and personal way in his very presence.

In the unsettling parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, Jesus speaks of the fate of a rich man who enjoyed everything that money could buy yet insulated himself from the needs of the poor.