The words “Church” and “strategy” are not often used together. There are many reasons for this. The Church is a longstanding institution...

Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, 1308-1311 Growing up, my dad’s job at Rocky Flats made our family move around a lot. I transferred schools every year from the 2nd grade until the 8th grade. More than anything, I desired a “best friend” and simultaneously considered the pursuit of one to be a fool’s errand, a feat of impossibility. Thus, friends were easy-come, easy-go realities of social self-occupation. So when Jesus claims, “but I have c

Photo by Lia Mendoza via Cathopic Catechetical School Instructor for the SJV Lay Division St. Thomas Aquinas is probably best known for his impressive theological works, but during his life he also composed beautiful prayers and hymns that we still sing in the Church today. Among these is his Adoro te devote , often known under the English title “Godhead Here in Hiding,” a translation into English by the 19th-century English poet and Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins. This

Photo by Grant Whitty via Unsplash In the 1930s, during Stalin’s rage against all things religious, St. Louis Catholic Church in Moscow was the only Catholic Church still open in all the USSR. As detailed in the marvelous book, In Lubianka’s Shadow, Catholics from all over the USSR would travel hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles, to receive the sacraments. St. Louis Church was located on a side street, just across from the infamous Lubianka KGB Prison. The KGB kept carefu

The words and actions of a man in the last conscious moments of his life in this world are always charged with deep meaning. The last days of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God made man for us and for our salvation, also possess that special density. At the Last Supper with his disciples, Christ left us the Holy Mass. From that moment on, it can be said that the Church lives by the Eucharist. In this mystery of love is fulfilled the promise of Christ: “the bread th

By Father Greg Cleveland, OMV Director of the Lanteri Center for Ignatian Spirituality Decisions matter. Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you. We all know how difficult it can be to make decisions, and sometimes we prefer not to make them. Fortunately, we are not alone in making our choices. God comes to our aid with his Holy Spirit and equips us in myriad ways so that we can do his will. During the Archdiocesan Discernment Process, we have been co

Did you know that God still speaks today? Have you ever asked yourself that question before? God, indeed, still speaks today! This conviction was fundamental to the whole archdiocesan discernment process. Throughout all the planning, the Synod Team never doubted that God would speak clearly to all of us, but the question was “What will he say?” The parish phase of the discernment process took place in January and February and asked God to reveal his mission for the archdioces

Photo by André Escaleira, Jr. One minute, a family rejoices at the discovery of their pregnancy, excited to welcome a new life into their arms. The next, they suffer miscarriage, stillbirth or another tragedy that claims Baby’s life, whether inside or outside of the womb. This is the awful, heart-wrenching reality of thousands of women and families. Precious Lives, a ministry of Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services, seeks to step into the void of this very type of loss to f

What does it mean to be pro-life? At its core, it means to recognize every human being as who he or she is: the intentional creation of God, who has deliberately called this person into life. Whatever a human being’s condition, young or old, healthy or sick, law abiding or criminal, as disciples of Jesus we are called to see Jesus himself in this person and to respond to him or her in a way that befits the Imago Dei. We are to see every human being as an actual or potential m

Newly-launched Catholic home hospice has nearly 100 years’ experience of clinical and spiritual care Building on their loving service to the Denver community for nearly 100 years, Dominican Home Health Agency has transformed with a new name and focus: Emmaus Hospice . The four Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor who founded this organization came to Denver in 1923 to provide authentically Catholic care for the city’s residents in their homes. From day one, this included end-of

picture of Ultrasound of baby in mother's womb. 24 week. “What is truth?” (Jn 18:28). Pilate speaks for many today, even as Truth itself stood before him. We as Catholics have accepted a basic definition of truth: the conformity of the mind to reality. We know the truth if we understand the nature of things, making proper judgments about what is and is not correct about the world and ourselves. Getting things right can even be a matter of life and death. Truth has been eclips

Are Catholic schools places of refuge or centers for mission? Many people may come to our schools simply to escape the negative influences of the culture or the ideology permeating public schools. Even so, when they arrive, they should find a mission-focused community of disciples, living out an apostolic mandate to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Even if enrollment at a Catholic school cannot make the negative influences of the culture disappear, as places where Jesus i

“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” – Ephesians 2:19-20 I used to have a basic agreement with God: I will go to Mass on Sundays, try to be a decent human being and avoid the really big sins.  God, your part is to provide yours truly with a comfortable life.  I understand if it’s t

“Do this. Don’t do that.” My first tour through the Gospel of Matthew at age 15 was an unfortunate exercise in reducing the person of Jesus Christ to only these kinds of straightforward moral sayings. I was young, enthusiastic and longing to live for Christ and to be pleasing to him. In my immaturity I believed that the simplistic view I had of morality was the way to do it. When I go back now to that tattered, red cover, paperback New American Bible from my high school confi

Are you convicted of the primacy of the power of the gospel? By Mallory Smyth Catholic Speaker and Writer Start with the Why Why do some organizations inspire great and lasting change worldwide and others don’t? This is the question that Simon Sinek, a well-known business thought leader, posed at the beginning of his world-famous Ted Talk, “Start with the Why.” Why is it that a computer company like Apple can crush competition year after year and innovate at record-shattering

By Edward Sri Senior Vice President for Apostolic Outreach at FOCUS When Jesus cast the vision for what it means to be a disciple, he used the most startling image: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). That’s crazy! Of all the symbols for discipleship Jesus could have used, why the Cross? The image would have been utterly abhorrent to his original listeners. Though we today might be accustomed to seeing crosses

(Photo by James Baca) By Deacon Derrick Johnson Permanent Deacon at Assumption Parish in Welby For many years in my life, I believed that happiness was easily figured out. Growing up in poorer parts of Denver, happiness was defined by a nice house, an abundance of material goods and money, physical security and safety. Society has a way of exponentializing these tendencies, inclinations and desires. I dreamt of a day when I could define and achieve happiness on my own terms.

The Descent of the Spirit, Gustave Doré, ca. 1880. Jesus makes a startling statement at the Last Supper: “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). What could be better than Jesus’s presence alongside us? Only his presence within us, made possible by his gift of the Holy Spirit! The Spirit, who Jesus calls the Counselor (advocate or helper), will lead his followers, movi

Ordination, Nicolas Poussin, ca. 1636-1640. Beginning on the Feast of Christ the King and going through the season of Advent, the parishes of the archdiocese will be re-proclaiming the kerygma — the Good News of the Gospel — in what is intended to be an archdiocesan-wide retreat. Over the next four weeks, the Denver Catholic will publish guest reflections penned by priests of the archdiocese on the four main parts of the kerygma:  Created (read  here ), Captured (read  here )

Andrew Mantegna, La Résurrection, 1457-59. Beginning on the Feast of Christ the King and going through the season of Advent, the parishes of the archdiocese will be re-proclaiming the kerygma — the Good News of the Gospel — in what is intended to be an archdiocesan-wide retreat. Over the next four weeks, the Denver Catholic will publish guest reflections penned by priests of the archdiocese on the four main parts of the kerygma:  Created (read  here ), Captured (read here ),