FRESHLife Blog – FRESHImage

The Delusion of Replacing God: Yuval Harari’s Dystopic Vision

I have always enjoyed conversations with a young professional I have known for several years. Based on my long-term observations of his life choi...

Live as a Beacon of Freedom: St. John Paul II's Message to America

Not long ago, I reflected on the shared history of the cathedrals in St. Louis and New Orleans. A discussion of the historical connection between...

The Sister Cathedrals of St. Louis:

San Louisians are justifiably proud of our beautiful and cherished landmark, the Basilica of St. Louis. Besides being a place of worship, the sea...

Lauda Sion: St. Thomas Aquinas & Corpus Christi

The period spanning from late April to early June is characterized by a rapid succession of significant Church feasts: Ascension, Pentecost, Trin...

7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching: 5-The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

“Human labor must be honored not because it is labor, but because it is human” Anthony Elson (Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching, 141). Thus ...

Music as an Instrument of Prayer

Personal prayer, alongside active participation in the Eucharistic liturgy, stands as an indispensable tool for cultivating and nurturing our rel...

7 Principle of Catholic Social Teaching: 4-Preferential Option for the Poor & Vulnerable

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me…” (Matthew ...

Understanding Active Participation in the Liturgy: Part 2

In part 1 on this series on active participation in the liturgy, I discussed the topic in a general way, covering some aspects of the concept's h...

7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching: 3-Rights and Responsibilities

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he ...

Usury and a Christian Response to Debt

“And that uncleanly image of deceit Came up and thrust ashore its head and bust, But on the border did not drag its tail. The face...

7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching: 2-Call to Family, Community, & Participation

“The family is the basic cell of society. It is the cradle of life and love, the place in which the individual ‘is born’ and ‘grows’” (Pope St. J...

Understanding Active Participation in the Liturgy: Part 1

Although not new, the issue of active participation in the liturgy came to the fore in deliberations and ensuing documents of the Second Vatican ...

7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching: 1-Life & Dignity of the Human Person

“The glory of God is the human person fully alive; and the glory of the human person consists in beholding God” (St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against H...

Rejoicing in the Eucharist: Controversy Becomes Celebration

The Church’s teaching on Christ’s Real Presence is one of the Catholic faith’s central tenets and defines Catholic identity. It is also one of th...

Fear of the Lord: The Path to Perfect Love

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear” 1 John 4:18 In the first episode of the Chosen, Jesus finds Mary Magdalene in a d...

The Celebration of the Lord's Presentation

As the season of Christmas is definitively over, one can ask a perennial question: if we take December 25 as the first (and not the last) da...

All Souls of the Order of Saint Benedict: Fraternal Charity unto Eternal Life

We beseech Thee, O Lord, be merciful to the souls of all your servants and handmaids of our Order for whom we humbly entreat your majesty; that b...

Mary: Mother of All Alive in Christ

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church Happy Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church to you! Today’s c...

Mary and the Economy of the Gift

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15) The Visitation is a familiar scene to us Catholics who reflect upon it...

Ascending to a Culture of Life

In celebrating the Ascension, we remember that Jesus, the Head of His Body, the Church, has gone before us to Heaven. We the Body remain below, b...

Why Pray The Stations of the Resurrection?

While not yet as popular as the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross), or, the Stations of the Cross, the Via Lucis (Way of Light), or, the Stations of t...

The Saints Respond to Bullies

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When som...

Mary: A Woman of the Word

Happy Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary! “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). With this short statement, Mary gives us the Christian progra...

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Blessed Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels to you! Today’s celebration of the Guardian Angels has the tendency to take us back to childhood....

Holding on with Open Hands as Imitatio Christi

“So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6). Contrary to ...

The Second Vatican Council: A FRESH Look

Standing before you I tremble somewhat with emotion but am humbly resolute in my purpose to proclaim a twofold celebration: a diocesan synod for ...

Cultivating and Sharing the Fruit of the Spirit

If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit (Gal 5:25). In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He warns: “Beware of false prophets… by the...

Prophets and Profits: Fulfilling our Baptismal Responsibilities in Business

“And you, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High...” Benedictus (Lk 1:76) “It’s not personal, it’s just business,” a common ph...

Learning Everything That Is, Is Holy with Thomas Merton

We do not detach ourselves from things in order to attach ourselves to God, but rather we become detached from ourselves in order to see and use ...

The Hopeful Message of Ash Wednesday

The Lenten Season begins tomorrow with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. And, while there is, to be sure, a certain solemnness to this celebratio...

Learning to be Alone

The truest solitude is not something outside you, not an absence of men or of sound around you; it is an abyss opening up in the center of your o...

When Home Décor becomes Doxology

As we welcome you into our humble Catholic home, you will notice in the entryway a modest Hobby Lobby quote block that reads: “As for me and my h...

Sowing in Tears

Imprisoned for the first time in her young life (of the at least dozen times from 1917-1955), Dorothy Day lay in her cell shivering from the cold...

Thomas Merton on Integrity in the Search for the Self

We hear from the Gospel for Gaudete Sunday Year B; the account of John the Baptist declaring his mission of salvation. In the Gospel, John t...

Thomas Merton on the Unity of All Things in the Love of Christ

A man cannot enter into the deepest center of himself and pass through that center into God, unless he is able to pass entirely out of himself an...

Christifying Thanksgiving: The Thanksgiving Table Blessing

The celebration of Thanksgiving naturally lends itself to being understood by Christians through a Christocentric, or, more to it, Eucharistic le...

Joining the Divine Dance: Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

November 21 Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of the Presentation of Mary. This celebration has traditionally been kept with greater so...

Seeing God in All Things with Thomas Merton

Father M. Louis, OCSO better known as Thomas Merton, was a monk of Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey near Bardstown, Kentucky. He is one of the most p...

An Epiphanic Visit: Following the Example of St. Vincent de Paul

At the center of Jesus's teaching in the Gospels stands the greatest commandment, which is twofold: love of God and love of neighbor (Mat 22:34-4...

“Imitate the Earth” - St. Basil the Great on the Principle of Detachment

“Imitate the earth... Bear fruit, as she does. She produces her fruits, not that she may enjoy them, but for the service of others”, so St. Basil...

Co-Responsible for the Mission of the Church

This month, Pope Francis invites us to pray with him that the laity, particularly women, embrace our baptismal responsibility for the mission of ...

Mr. Church and Finding the True Self in a Complete Gift of Self (Spoiler Alert)

By Tony Crescio “Henry Joseph Church could’ve been anything he wanted to be, he chose to cook, the key he said, jazz.” These are the opening lines...

Blood Father & Restoring Innocence (Spoiler Alert)

By Tony Crescio Mel Gibson stars as John Link in the 2016 film, Blood Father, the story of a down-and-out, ex-con father looking for his estranged ...

Anne Rice and the Story of Love

In writing of her approach to the novel, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Anne Rice describes the challenge of being able “to take the Jesus of the Gosp...

Pasolini and the Jesus Question

By Tony Crescio When asked if the Gospel was a source of consolation for him, Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, replied that when it came to th...

Andrei Rublev: A Journey to the Divine

Andrei Rublev: A Journey to the Divine By Tony Crescio The Russian historical drama, Andrei Rublev, is based on the life of the famous icon pain...

Praying as Jesus Taught Us

It may not be so surprising to us that when Christians are asked (be it in survey or interview), if there is one area in their life that they str...

True Freedom and the Beautiful Life

On July 4th, our country once again celebrates the day of our independence. Independence Day is rightly commemorated because of the victory won f...

Echoing Switchfoot

By Tony Crescio Many of us who were coming of age in the early 2000’s remember the alternative rock band from San Diego, Switchfoot. Though having...

The Door to Love

By Tony Crescio “He who is forgiven little, loves little.” These are the words Jes...

What Makes Us Human, Makes Us Beautiful

By Tony Crescio What is a human being? I know, this sounds like a silly question, ...

Living Sermons

By Tony Crescio Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. So go...

Making God's Dreams Come True

By Tony Crescio In his latest Apostolic Exhortation, ...

The Gospel of Beauty

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity As we celebrate the mystery of our Triune God this weekend, we are called not only to remember that this dy...

Love Cannot Be Contained

By Tony Crescio The Easter Season celebrates the transformational power of the resu...

An Encounter With Mercy

By Tony Crescio Pope Francis has declared this year to be an extraordinary Ju...